You're Correct!

Lack of attention to this is a common fault amongst amateur golfers and beginners in particular. As the swing gets underway, players will often try to rotate too much causing the spine to straighten.

This immediately lifts the level of their head meaning that perfect timing on the down swing is required to get back down to the starting height in time for impact. This dipping up and down will cause inconsistency in strike and also direction because it will promote a lot of lateral movement during the swing which will in turn upset the swing path.

Lateral movement tends to be the biggest fault of amateur golfers as they work so hard on creating a full 90 degree back swing that that their weight shifts quite a lot to the right side. These two movements influence the lateral movement of the head most likely causing the fat shot where the club strikes the ground first, or the thin shot where the club doesnt get back down at all to the ball and strikes the middle of it with the bottom of the club.

Keeping the eyes level throughout the swing will allow the swing to move freely around the spine angle without dipping up and down, which will improve the consistency of strike.

A good drill to help this would be to put some alignment sticks or even your empty golf bag on the outside of your right foot so when your rotate on the back swing, you stay inside the bag while trying to get the feeling that you are keeping your head still. This is perfect on a sunny day so you can watch your reflection without looking up!

Another good drill would be to have someone standing in front of you holding a club or a stick to the right side of your head so that when you rotate into the back swing you do not make contact with the stick.

“Keep your head down” - the lovely statement made by 95% of club golfers after you hit a poor shot! This is quite possibly the worst piece of advice you can receive whilst on the course. If we all swung trying our hardest to keep our heads down, the swing would barely occur. With this forced movement, body rotation will stop because your shoulders can not rotate past the chin which is now been pushed into the upper chest area. This will stop any rotation around the spine, therefore hip turn will stop and the only possible way to move the club and hit the ball is by using the arms which will create much less power, and contrary to beliefs, much more inconsistent shots.

This statement is certainly true to an extent, but what about that key word we all love to repeat – consistency.

Golfers are out on the golf course from three to five hours at a time where the weather elements, the fatigue of the player and the terrain of the course play a major role. How does allowing your head dip and lift on a consistent basis lead to striking the ball to the best of your ability to produce controlled shots?

During practice, find a mirror and swing into the mirror whilst looking at your own eyes, or even mark on the mirror a point in which to focus whilst swinging. This will give you the feeling that youre barely even moving at all, but it will be the first steps to creating a consistent swing and better strikes in the future.

Lateral head movement is a huge cause for poor ball striking as when your weight shifts to the right side during the back swing and doesnt come back it is predominately promoting a heavy contact on the ball with the turf being struck first, which will obviously hinder distance. Lateral movement can also start with a reverse pivot whereby the weight shifts to the left side too early and then on the down swing it will then shift further to the left causing the head and body to be ahead of the ball at impact. This will again cause a fat shot or even the dreaded and rather embarrassing topped shot.