How can I stop myself wobbling when I look round?

[goldfinch]

I find it easier to look back if I grip my hand close to the center of the handlebars.

[malkin]

I think I grip further out on the side away from where I am looking.
Not completely sure about this.

[PamNY]

I wobbled a lot at first -- what solved the problem was lots and lots and lots of practice in a safe place. I would focus on an object in front of me, turn and look behind, then focus back on the object.

I also use a mirror, but sometimes you need to look.

[lph]

Try practicing moving your chin to your left shoulder, while still glancing forward. That's the basic movement.

[Owlie]

Keep your shoulders parallel to the horizon and your core in line with your shoulders. The only things that should be moving are your neck and chin.

[Cyclingfun]

Thank you, thank you THANK YOU ALL! All your replies are so generous with experience and creative ideas and it's given me some useful pointers. I think neck flexibility may be part of the problem so trying some flexing exercises should help. Thinking about the altered pressure on the handlebars had not occurred to me, nor had using a forward fixing point (do you mean like a spinning ballerina does?). Holding eyes to the front till moved head will be useful... Well it's ALL useful and I've got lots to practise. Where I live is a bit limited on quiet carparks for practising - but I've realised there are plenty of modern housing estates with very quiet roads, where the odd wobble wouldn't be a disaster. Although I realise that a mirror would be an undoubted help, I do agree that, anyway, turning one's head is essential to deal with blind spots. I've never noticed a racing/road bike with mirror and don't have one myself - but will think about it. I imagine our roads are much narrower in the UK than yours in the USA and also much more congested on average, so skilled bike/traffic handling is very much a life/injury/death matter. Lucky for me I live in a beautiful and less-populated rural area of the UK but if I want to ride with groups I've got to get this right. So thanks again to all of you for your thoughts.

[lph]

PS! When moving your chin to your shoulder you might want to think about moving your left shoulder forward to meet your chin. That counteracts the tendency of the opposite shoulder following your head and therefore turning the bike.