Putting Greens News & Blog

The Importance of Head Position

Thursday, July 6th, 2006

It isn’t possible to stress enough importance of keeping a solid, steady head position during your swing. It’s the first lesson in golf: the swing requires a firm fulcrum from which to generate power and speed, and keeping your head in the right place is the keystone to creating good form.

But while it’s easy to see how this might be useful for drives and your longer game, it often gets neglected in the short game. People assume that since the hole is so close, they can start slacking on their fundamentals. After all, they’ve managed to get this close already, and it’s a lot harder to hit a golf ball two hundred yards than six feet, right?

Wrong. The basic movement is the same, and it’s the distance that is irrelevant.

With putting, the need for solid head position might even be greater. People are inclined, since they’re already so close to the hold, to line up their shot, get into position for a stroke, and then keep looking over at the hole again and again to make sure they’re lined up correctly.

A good rule to follow is this – line yourself up for the putt when you check your lie on the green, but when you step up to the ball to take your stroke, don’t look again at the hole. You already have everything you need to take the shot then, but most people keep looking just to make themselves feel better about the shot. The problem is that if you’re inclined to keep looking up all the time, you’ll do it automatically as you’re taking your shot, and when your head comes up, the stroke will be off-target.

Remember your fundamentals. Golf is a game of focus, and if you have habits that take away from your ability to keep your mind on the shot, your scores will suffer. Keep it simple and you’ll improve, and that’s all there is to it.