Bobby Jones published golf tips in various newspaper columns in the 1920s. Fifty of these columns were compiled and printed in a book entitled The Best of Bobby Jones on Golf, published in 1996. Jones was quoted: “Stay behind the ball is a splendid maxim. point in swing, it will certainly result in a bad shot. “

In Harvey Penick, The Little Red Book, published in 1992, page 75 is titled “Stay Behind the Ball.” “All great golfers move their heads slightly back before and during impact, but never forward. A golfer must stay behind the ball. I means to stand with your head behind the ball and keep your head behind the ball. If you move your head forward during the downswing or on impact, you will hit a small, ugly shot, probably a thrown cut “.

Tommy Armor, in How to Play Your Best Golf All the Time, (1953) emphasizes: The cardinal principle of all golf strokes is that if you move your head, you spoil the action of the body. In his book’s 12 Key Point Summary, Armor lists Key Points 5, 10, and 12 identically as “keep your head steady.” Interestingly, however, in all the golf shot images throughout the book, the head is seen behind the ball through the area of ​​impact.

David Leadbetter in 100% Golf, 2004, states: “The head and upper body remain behind the ball as it swings and accelerates towards impact.” Try to maintain the angle of your spine from setup to impact and don’t worry if your head has a little lateral movement. Your head and spine are behind the ball on impact.

Jack Nicklaus is the most assertive when it comes to head movement. In his book Golf My Way (2005), Nicklaus offers this warning: “If you hope to improve your game through these pages, but you cannot or do not want to learn to keep your head steady throughout the swing, read no further. nothing that I, or anyone else, can do for their game of golf. Any movement of the head, anywhere in the direction of impact, will alter the arc and plane of the swing, which, if not a totally destructive factor It is certainly a complication. ” All of Jack’s swing footage shows that his head remains steady, but also well behind the ball until after impact.

Like many golfers, I have tried dozens of tips and instructional techniques, all with little to no results. It wasn’t until I focused on this aspect of the swing that I finally broke the 80s, and that was at 65. Since then, I have broken the 80s several times and can finally enjoy the game. Learning to keep your head back was not easy. It required considerable practice, much of which was done without hitting balls. You had to learn a new muscle memory and it wasn’t easy, especially at my age. But with tactile feedback in your head, you could overcome the bad habit of “looking up.”

Tiger Woods published his book, How I Play Golf, in 2007 and it has already become a best seller. He writes: “The impact should look like one direction. The angle of my spine is the same and my head is practically in the same place.” The attached image shows that his head is well behind the ball. He concludes: “Show how easy the golf swing can be.”

What complicates the golf swing is the often conflicting instruction that can be found in print and by word of mouth. Some professionals will teach you that the head must remain steady throughout the swing. Some will preach that it is okay to have some backward or lateral movement on the backswing and just before impact. Others will say keep an eye on the ball. But NONE will suggest that the head come up or move forward from the ball until after impact. As previously written, most, if not all, professionals will agree that the head MUST stay behind and behind the shot through the impact zone.