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Renowned golf coach Peter Kostis has set out to dispel golf advice he believes can cause injury to players.
Kostis targets those who speak those dirty words: 'Hey, put your head down'.
The teacher says it doesn't help many golfers to focus on 'keeping their heads down', especially when you consider a good swing requires keeping your head up at the right time.
“There might be nothing worse than, 'Hey, keep your head down,'” Kostis said on a recent episode of Kostis and McCord's “Off Their Rockers” podcast. “Keeping your head down is a disaster.”
Kostis explains that the biomechanics of a swing means that your head needs to be elevated to ensure that you have the range of motion to follow through the swing at all.
“Your spine has three parts: you have the lumbar spine, you have the thoracic spine and you have the cervical spine,” says Kostis. “And when your head is down, you close the cervical spine. What will that do? It will reduce your ability to bounce back. And if you keep it low in the future, you won't have any kind of following to speak of.”
He says the key to a great swing is efficient swing and proper head movement is part of that, as he puts it.
The head needs to rotate
“I will face my head on this stick, correct my posture,” he said. “So now I've set my spine angle, I've set my head behind the golf ball. Now, what am I going to do? Well, I'm going to rotate my head a bit to the pre-set position so I can do my full turn. Then as I come forward, I will sit back with my head there. And then when I swing, I let my head spin.”
Kostis is not against the use of cliche when there is a strong strategy in truism and says the players are right to focus on keeping their eye on the ball.
“This allows me to keep my spine angle coming forward and allows me to release the club from under me rather than out of my side,” Kostis said. “Like any other sport, you want to keep your eye on the ball.”
He feels that players who try to strengthen their heads are still putting themselves at risk of injury.
“That's the only way you can complete your pursuit,” Kostis said.
READ MORE: 50 Greatest Golf Tips – author John Richardson on how to make your dream come true
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