Today, we are going to study the “head” of a pro golfer.  Last time I did a Down-the-Line swing analysis of Adam Baddeley, but today we will do the front view.

How much should your head move during your golf swing?

Most good pros, including Tiger Woods, will move about 1-2 inches on the backswing and come back to the same head position addresss at impact.

Let me prove the point by going through Adam Baddeley’s swing:
(Note the red line I put on Adam’s left ear.)

Notice Adam’s head moved about 1-2 inches already on the takeaway?

This is good, Tiger does this too.  But it doesn’t matter whether you move that head on the takeaway or at the top of the swing, it just matters you do move it.

Note: Moving the head means you have successfully transferred some of your weight to your right foot, critical for hitting the ball straight and far.

Look at the top of his swing, it’s now clear he’s in perfect position. 1-2 inches of head movement is usually the best.  Anything more or less means you are either doing a C-reverse-weight-shift OR you are swaying too much.

Note: Sometimes even I sway a lot by overswinging (thus my head moves about 3-4 inches), simply keeping a keen eye on your head movement will help you not overswing plus stay in perfect balance.

Notice that Adam’s head has come back to the same position at address.  This is a good sign he’s transferred his weight back to the left foot.

Here, Adam actually pulls his back a little.  (Your goal is try to keep it near where the head was at your address)  He might be trying to hit it a little hard here but it’s not going to affect his shot that much.

Notice how the head now is way right of the original red line.  This is good and shows that you’ve completely transferred your weight to the left foot “after” hitting the ball.

Today’s Lesson?

Take a video shot of your swing from the front like Adam’s swing shown above.  Then download the free V1-Home software and see how your head performs.

It’s a very simple but effective way to correct your swing, by looking where your head is.

I assure you if you can achieve that 1-2 inches consistently, you will hit the ball consistently too and hit the ball farther and straighter.

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Well, while analyzing swings of the great pro golfers, I got the desire today to go out to the range for the first time in weeks.

I hit the ball great and here’s why.

As you can see in the address, the shoulders  are parallel to my target line and my clubface is about 8 degrees open to hit a power fade. (My video camera is a little off…)

My stance is closed, which is a natural habit I get into but I should really open up more.

At 1/2 way point, My club is in perfect plane from the ball through the middle of my right shoulder socket. This is the the plane Tiger Woods follow and me three.

At top of my swing, the butt end of my club shows that I am still in plane. I also have a very good triangle going, which is good. The only bad part about this backswing is that I just finished working out before hitting balls so my muscles are too tight. Tightness is not good for golf but oh well…

On the downswing, I dip my head a little, which is my bad habit and I am also slightly inside of the plane. (probably because of my slightly closed stance)

At impact, I hit the 3 wood perfect. It makes thing really big “ping” sound.

My shoulders are about parallel to my target line.

My clubface is actually open and I am trying to hit a power fade here.

My followthrough is slightly flat. Meaning I came over the ball a little. This is partly due to my slightly closed stance.

I might block the ball 1 out of 10 balls or pull it because of the closed stance.

If I opened my stance, most of my problems would probably be solved.

Oh well, next time I get to go hit balls, I will probably have “other” problems but yes alignment is probably the most important. You have wrong alignment at the beginning of your swing and you can have all kinds of problems.

Overall, I hit the ball great today. I feel like I can try out for the PGA Tour the way I hit the balls today.

Well, even with the closed stance and my bad swing habits, I hit a lot of good shots at my target. Well, good scores are about good short game mostly anyways.

What is my long term goal?

Well, it has always been to play pro golf. Now, I make money online to feed my family and make a living. Once I can get that going faster, I might have more time to practice and eventually start playing in some mini-tour events again.

Will it happen?

Of course, my dreams never die. That’s probably why I made this blog. Once I can build up my blogging business to about $20K per month, I should be able to spend more time golfing and of course, blogging more often on here too.

Here’s a video of the 3 wood power fade I hit just perfectly about 270 yards:

Click Here to View in Full Screen Mode

Don’t blame me if my swing sucks right now, I go to the range about once a month.

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Click Here to View in Full Screen Mode

(Driver)

Click Here to View in Full Screen Mode

(Iron Shots)

John Daly has been one of my favorite golfers of all time. Although he may do outrageous things like getting too drunk, that’s not my concern and his still my hero for being one of the most unique golfers in history.

What most people to realize is that John Daly does not “Grip and Rip”, he actually has one of the best rhythms out of all the pro golfers. The “Grip and Rip” really refers to really going up to the ball and emptying his mind.

Even if you look at his driver swings carefully, you will realize how great his overall swing rhythm is. It’s probably as almost as good as Freddy Couples, but it’s hard to see due to his long backswing.

I even read John’s Grip and Rip It, it’s a great book in which he discusses the details of how he plays golf.

What to learn from John Daly?

Well, he does use a “trigger” type grip in which his right index finger is gripping the club like holding a gun trigger. Btw, . Greg Norman use to touch his index finger with his thumb. (I think he still does…)

Both these methods are trivial to the onlooker but they do great job of keeping your right hand out of your swing. You can experiment and see if it works for you as I have used it before with good success as I tend to use my right hand too much too.

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Here’s Jim Furyk’s perfect golf swing.

Why do I say it’s “perfect”?

If you look at Jim Furyk’s swing very carefully, you can note the following things:

1. Jim’s swing at the top of the backswing looks very unorthodox but it is very very similar to how Jack Nicklaus swung during his prime. Jack Nicklaus always advised golfers to swing in a very upright fashion, and he did say that this is great for hitting the ball high with long irons.

Mind you, Jack Nicklaus was the greatest “fade” long iron player in the history of golf and he did hit them very very high.

Now, this “upright” backswing can be seen in players like Jim Furyk, Jack Nicklaus, and John Daly from what I can remember.

This “upright” backswing can work for you or it may not. Depending on how rest of your swing is like and what your physique is like, this maybe be a good factor in your perfect swing.

2. At follow through, both of Jim’s arms are straight out, completely extended, a trait that almost all great players in the world carry including Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan, etc…etc…

Now, it may look to the naked eye that Jim Furyk’s swing may look unorthodox as some say. But remember in golf, there is no such thing as “orthodox”. All golf swing concepts are made by people and not even single one can be named perfect.

Even Ben Hogan or Jack Nicklaus once said, “I hit maybe couple perfect shots in a period of year”.

The important thing to realize is that everyone has their own “perfect” swing whether others think that looks unorthodox or not.

It’s very important for you to find your own swing, a swing that can work for you whether you are playing a round for fun or you are playing for $100 per hole skins.

In this case, Jim does have a “perfect” swing which I have admired over the years and amazed at how low he can go under tournament pressure.

Next time you see a golfer with a bad swing and a bad grip on the course, be aware, he maybe the best golfer you ever played with.

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Click Here to View in Full Screen Mode

Here’s the swing keys for today on video:

1. Really feel the shoulders and large muscles do the work on your backswing. What do I mean? You can only feel this is your grip is very very light. In other words, grip light and try to feel your left shoulder turn on the backswing.

2. On the downswing, really try to feel that your stomach is controlling the arms and the hands.

P.S. I didn’t hit a good shot on the video but that doesn’t mean this isn’t a good swing key. So go ahead and try it next time you are on the range, not on the course.

On the course, you should play to score, never try to fix your swing on the golf course. If you are hitting it left consistently on the course, don’t fix your swing, simply aim more right. This might be the best lesson for today.

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