I started off slicing again today with the driver at the range so I was trying all kinds of different things (probably just adding to the confusion). Choking down a little helped (that I remembered from last weekend), and then towards the end of my bucket, I lifted my chin (I remember an old golf instructor telling me I was crowding my left shoulder rotation with my chin down). This seemed to work wonders, but then I topped a few - just because I wasn't keeping my eye on the ball -haha.

So what do you guys think of head position at address? Chin up? Chin down? I found it kind of awkward to look down at the ball while my head was relatively level, but it did seem to free things up. I hit a whole additional bucket and probably 95% of my balls were relatively straight with only a few mishits. Logically, it would seem like this would benefit distance more than straightness, but it actually straightened me out.

Stange. Thoughts?

Ron's instructions to me, which work just great for me (sorry I can't tell you the mechanics of why, just know it works for me):
Spine is pretty erect up to the neck, but chin is very down and relaxed, and my head is turned to the right so I'm looking at the ball out of my left eye.

BUT.............What if you're right eyed dominant?
Bill

Chris,
Your chin should always be high enough so your shoulder will clear your chin. When your chin is below your shoulder line, it causes your shoulder turn to move your head away from the ball, which means your have to get back to the ball. If you don't, and most people don't, it will cause your to.............guess what?
...............slice.

If you would, email me two pictures of you addressing the ball.
Take a picture from the front and from the line of flight behind the ball.

Bill

Dunno. I'm extremely left eye dominant, and am lucky enough to be on the track to understanding my own swing. I only claim to explain what works for me.

By the way, Ron tells me that my head is going to move to the right during the backswing as part of the turn, and it's going to stay there until well into the downswing, and that's part of how power gets delivered to the ball. I can see Hogan's head move to the right in the videos, and it works fine for me. Obviously, there is more than one style of swing out there.

I used to go over to Hogan's place every year and we'd talk with Ben and watch him hit balls. I remember how we marveled at how much motion was going on below a perfectly still head.

Go to youtube.com, type in Ben Hogan, go to 3 wood slow motion. It lasts for 11 seconds.

So me, hmmmm. Not sure where my chin is. I know my shoulder clears it ok but beyond that, I don't think about it. I do try to keep my head BEHIND the ball at all times. Ever since the Florida-Driving range pro told me to do the 'pillow' drill, where I would keep my head tilted as if I had a pillow there, as a way to keep my head behind the ball, I've been able to work from my slice to a draw. So Chris, maybe try to think about keeping your head back.

What if you are "fat" and "double chinned"...? Ha, Ha...

Dunno, Bill. I watched the video. I see his head move to his right (obviously not a big motion). I know that, the way I feel things in my body, if I think "keep the head still," I will have a screwed up swing. My right elbow starts winging out. If I think "turn," I will, if I notice it, feel that my head moves to the right in the way I think I see Hogan's head move. I've watched him thousands of times on video. I think it's just enough movement to get the weight properly onto the inner right foot. But "turn" is the key, and if I were to pay attention, I would feel my weight shift to my right inner heel and my left forefoot, and feel that my right hip ends up facing the target at the top. The most I would think when I'm playing is "turn, easy, turn." Perhaps our takeaways differ because you say that you pull with your left side on the downswing, and I push with my right side. But that's just a random thought.

By the way, I know you're Yoda.

I think everyone is a bit different in this respect but if you watch the pros, they seem to have their head up more often than not. My dad told me to look where I want the ball to go and not where the ball is. I'm too new to know if that's correct but so far, I'm not doing too terrible.

We can come up with all the diviations we want, but I only know one thing, if your chin is below your shoulder line, you can't make a shoulder turn without pulling yourself off the ball...........and that's not good.

And I'll add, that for me, if I try to get my back straight so I'm in a good golf posture, it's sort of hard to have my chin down. When I setup and get my spine angle correect, my chin is just sort of naturally up.

I have always been taught to keep your chin up when you swing. Back straight (good posture) and chin up. I've also been taught to point your chin towards your ball until the club hits the ball. This will keep your body in alignment which will make your shot a good one.

Bad shots are from bad posture and moving you head around when your are swinging the club.

Of course this is just what I was taught. I'm sure everyone is different, and what works for me might not work for you.

Like Bill stated, you HAVE to keep your chin up high enough so your shoulder doesn't more your chin off the ball during your swing. I'd recommend you listen to what Bill types, as he knows more about the golf swing then the rest of us combined.

Ok, now that there has been more explanation, it seems that I'm in agreement with you all. My chin is nowhere near my shoulder. Even though my head is relaxed forward, and my chin dropped, my straight spine doesn't allow my chin to get anywhere near my shoulder.

As for where the chin points, my understanding is that it depends on eye dominance.

Don's right, Bill is our only true expert. I really appreciate the opportunity to have my ideas critiqued by him, so I keep expressing them.

Somewhere on the internet there is a series of still photos of Hogan's swing. A fan is standing not far behind him, making the movement of his head easy to see. I bookmarked it on a computer that I no longer have access to, and can't find it. Ron said that he gradually came to a total loss of vision in his left eye, a result of the accident. This forced him to modify his swing in his later years. He said that he then stopped his head movement, and then he showed me how he had to modify his swing motion, and said that's why he couldn't hit it far enough as he got older. But I didn't understand that part and let it drop.

My pro tells me head down chin up. Usually works for me.