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Lifting head up on downswing

I had a tendency to lift my head up to see where the ball is going and top the ball. This is particularly true when I have a difficult target or trying to avoid an obstacle.

Is there a tip that might help me become aware of this problem so that I can avoid it in the future?

5 comments

5 Comments

Tom Saguto

Aug 23, 2021

@Russ Choyce - I suppose at the heart of the matter is whether you can actually time your "curiosity" in order and cause you head to pop up at that precise moment, or is something in the swing making this happen - as @Joshua Flynn is suggesting - even if seemingly only on these more difficult shots?

Have you taken any video of your swing? If not, I strongly suggest that you make it part of your routine as the camera never lies. Then if you'd like you can post your swing videos here in this area of the Forum for others in the community to review and offer their commentary.

Beyond this, you may wish to give some thought to the V1 Swing Video Analysis - an effective and inexpensive service that I highly recommend to everyone in the school. This enables me to put my eyes on your swing and offer some very specific observations and corrective action plans if applicable. I liken it to bringing your swing into the shop for a tune-up or minor repair. Scheduling one on a quarterly basis for preventive maintenance will do wonders for keeping things humming along nicely, and it's also a great tool for pinpointing and resolving any issues that arise. The process involves downloading the free V1 app and then submitting two videos to me through the app - one down-the-line (captured from your stance line, not the target line) and the other face-on. You'll find more information about the V1 Analysis halfway down this page on the Saguto.Golf site.

Tom

Russ Choyce

Aug 23, 2021

Worth considering, but my playing partner observes a 1-2" head up under the aforementioned circumstances.

Joshua Flynn

Aug 23, 2021

Replying to

Without knowing anything about your swing or being able to really see it, the thing about “lifting the head” is that it’s really hard to actually do it. Your your head is set on certain point on your neck and you don’t swing a golf club with any part of your head. So it’s not actually your head lifting up it’s other parts of the swing that is contributing to your contact point being raised. Your shoulders, your arms, standing up on downswing instead of going forward. I’m not saying you don’t technically raise your head, just that it’s not the reason you’re topping. It’s other parts of the swing that need to get addressed.

Joshua Flynn

Aug 23, 2021

I can’t say for certain but when I was topping the ball after stack and tilt I thought it was my head but it turns out my shoulder wasnt down far enough

Joshua Flynn

Aug 23, 2021

I would say it’s not particularly your head. It may feel like that that but the reality is your lead shoulder doesn’t have a relationship with the ball and isn’t pointed down enough. Not pointing down fast enough will cause your contact point to be too high but will feel like it’s your head.