Saturday, July 31, 2004
Keep your head down no
no no no
An incident I witnessed recently reminded me that it's time
for my periodic rail against the worst advice in golf: "Keep
your head down." Two young fellows arrived on the driving
range and started hitting. It was apparent that one had play-
ed for some time and the other was new to the game. The be-
ginner took the driver and made a beautiful, athletic swing,
but missed it completely. He then made another move at the
ball and hit it about 260 yards down the middle with a slight
hook. His third attempt was another "almost-right" whiff, so
his friend decided it was time to help him. You guessed it --
the friend told the beginner to keep his head down, and pro-
ceeded to demonstrate by hitting three 180-yard slices. No
slouch as a learner, the beginner then copied him perfectly.
He kept his head stock still and hit a weak slice that
started left then cut back into the middle of the range
about 180 yards out. "There, now you have it," his mentor
said, although it would have been more accurate to say,
"There, now you've HAD it." The new player hit the rest of
his bucket, never again duplicating the 260-yard bomb --
another budding golf career nipped in the bud by bad advice.
The moral of this sad story: To preserve the athleticism of
your swing, let your head participate as your body rotates;
it swivels as you do.
custom golf clubs
custom golf clubs
An incident I witnessed recently reminded me that it's time
for my periodic rail against the worst advice in golf: "Keep
your head down." Two young fellows arrived on the driving
range and started hitting. It was apparent that one had play-
ed for some time and the other was new to the game. The be-
ginner took the driver and made a beautiful, athletic swing,
but missed it completely. He then made another move at the
ball and hit it about 260 yards down the middle with a slight
hook. His third attempt was another "almost-right" whiff, so
his friend decided it was time to help him. You guessed it --
the friend told the beginner to keep his head down, and pro-
ceeded to demonstrate by hitting three 180-yard slices. No
slouch as a learner, the beginner then copied him perfectly.
He kept his head stock still and hit a weak slice that
started left then cut back into the middle of the range
about 180 yards out. "There, now you have it," his mentor
said, although it would have been more accurate to say,
"There, now you've HAD it." The new player hit the rest of
his bucket, never again duplicating the 260-yard bomb --
another budding golf career nipped in the bud by bad advice.
The moral of this sad story: To preserve the athleticism of
your swing, let your head participate as your body rotates;
it swivels as you do.
custom golf clubs
custom golf clubs
