Monday, November 25, 2013

The unusual athleticism of the head drop in the golf swing

I can't remember which golf forum I was reading wherein a high-mileage member was looking for a swing that would be easier on his back.

Some well-intentioned poster advised him to watch some Moe Norman videos.

That struck me as funny since I recalled that Norman had a pretty significant head drop at impact. This move has always struck me as one of the least discussed hallmarks of a certain kind of atypical athleticism. Looking at Norman and Trevino I can only imagine how hard the drop was on their backs. I know it hurts mine just mimicking this kind of drop working on my swing in the mirror. People talk about flipping and casting; try to flip or cast from a posture anywhere close to what Norman and Trevino achieved. Impossible. It's the opposite of the coming out of it move that most high handicap players have perfected.

I recall when Hank Haney was working with Charles Barkley that Haney missed this completely. A head drop like Norman's (maybe six inches) is tough, Trevino's had to be closer to a foot and I recall Barkley's was even more than that (as well as a part of a wildly ugly, almost tragic swing). My approach with Barkley would have be to have him start his swing at the top of his backswing. Then, his job would have been to swing down toward impact while keeping his head at position he had set at address. It was the transition that destroyed Barkley's,

Anyway, the dynamics of the good player head drop are interesting to me.



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