Why Do I Top the Ball in My Golf Swing?
- Standing Up. In the proper address position, you should bend at the hips and flex your knees. ...
- Poor Ball Position. If the ball is too far forward in your stance, it's easy to hit it fat. ...
- Helping the Ball Up. ...
- Throwing the Clubhead. ...
- Reverse Pivot. ...
Full Answer
What causes 'topping' the golf ball?
Dec 19, 2011 · The clubhead reaches the bottom of its swing arc before it gets to the ball. If you adjust your swing so you don't hit the ground, the clubhead will be swinging upward by the time it …
How do you stop topping the golf ball?
Aug 06, 2018 · Chris Ryan shows you 3 of the most common causes of the dreaded top shot with your irons clubs.If you struggle with thin or topped shots then there is a very...
How to stop topping the ball in golf?
The reason you’ll be thinning it or topping it for most players is that the bottom of your arc, the lowest point of you swing, is too early. If you’re a right handed player it’s too much to the right side of the ball. You’ll just miss the ground. The club …
Why do you hit the ground before the golf ball?
Here’s how he does it. 3. Fix your poor weight shift It’s true that the reverse pivot is a leading cause of slicing. It’s also responsible for a large percentage of topped golf shots. Briefly, a reverse pivot is when your weight shifts to the left on the backswing, then right on the downswing and follow-through – the reverse of a correct transfer.
How do I stop topping the ball in golf?
1:156:55HOW TO STOP TOPPING THE GOLF BALL - 5 EASY TIPS IN UNDER 5 ...YouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipBut most of your irons are going to be around about the center if not just a little bit furtherMoreBut most of your irons are going to be around about the center if not just a little bit further forward if you can get that ball positioned correctly and directly under your sternum.
What makes you top a golf ball?
Typically, a ball is topped because the club has not gone far enough down towards the ball or you catch the ball on the way up, instead of at the bottom point. A lot of things can cause this to happen: A club that's too short. An awkward stance.
How do you stop topping hybrids?
2:597:15HOW TO HIT YOUR HYBRIDS - STOP TOPPING SHOTS - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipWorks great when i'm into the wind trying to hit a low running shot whereas if i want to fly. HigherMoreWorks great when i'm into the wind trying to hit a low running shot whereas if i want to fly. Higher stop it i would use my hybrid club personally. So these are a little bit easier to get airborne.
Why am I topping my tee shots?
As you approach impact, you lose your original address posture and spine inclination to the ground, which causes you to practically swing over the top of the ball. This is often caused by the urge to help the ball into the air.Sep 21, 2017
What happens if you swing too far forward?
If the ball is too far forward in your stance, it's easy to hit it fat. The clubhead reaches the bottom of its swing arc before it gets to the ball. If you adjust your swing so you don't hit the ground, the clubhead will be swinging upward by the time it reaches the ball. When that happens, you have no chance of hitting the bottom half of the ball.
How to get more clubhead speed?
Throwing the Clubhead. Sometimes you try to gain extra clubhead speed by flipping your wrists at impact, but all you do is straighten your wrists before the clubhead reaches the ball. That makes the club reach the bottom of its arc farther back in your stance, instead of in front of the ball. The clubhead then swings upward sooner ...
Who is Mike Southern?
He is the author of the instructional golf book "Ruthless Putting" and edited a collection of swashbuckling novels. Southern was trained in electronics at Forsyth Technical Community College and is also an occasional woodworker.
What happens when you lean toward the target?
If you lean toward the target at the top of your backswing, you'll tend to lean away from the target during your downswing. This changes the bottom of the swing arc. If you manage to avoid hitting the ground before you hit the ball (a fat shot), the clubhead will be swinging upward when it reaches the ball – and that's the recipe for a topped shot. ...
What is the most common miss in golf?
One of the most common misses is topping or thinning the golf ball. Often, a thin shot can be recoverable, but topping can be a score-killing shot, and immensely frustrating if you don’t know what’s causing it. In simplest terms, in order to get the ball up into the air — and not rolling across the ground — is to hit down into the dirt.
What happens if you stand too far away from the ball?
If you stand too far away from the ball at address, it’s almost difficult not to top the ball without a heroic move. Reaching for the ball — where your arms often get into a diagonal position — will often lead to a thin shot or a top.
How to get the ball down to the ground?
1. Bad Posture. Good posture is the basis for solid contact. Bowing forward from your hips so that your hands can hang below your shoulders can put you in balance and also get the club down to the ground. Too much knee flex or squatting can often make it extremely difficult to get the club down into the turf, and therefore get the ball into the air.
What ruins a golf swing?
Nothing ruins a great golf swing like a loss of balance. Assuming you’re in a good set up to start, it only takes a small loss of balance to cause you to top the ball. A good check of balance is holding your finish until your golf ball lands.
How to improve your swing?
Maintaining momentum to the swing can often be a great help to this athletic movement. 10. Make up your mind and commit. Sometimes, to make a change, you have to commit to making an uncomfortable motion. It’s okay to make the opposite mistake and hit too much ground on the way to improvement.
What happens if you hit the ball too far left?
If you’ve got the ball too far left (closer to your lead foot) at address, your swing will find its bottom point before it reaches the ball. By impact, the clubhead is traveling up and over the ball, usually clipping it above the equator. If you’ve been topping the ball often, check your ball position first.
What is reverse pivot?
It’s true that the reverse pivot is a leading cause of slicing. It’s also responsible for a large percentage of topped golf shots. Briefly, a reverse pivot is when your weight shifts to the left on the backswing, then right on the downswing and follow-through – the reverse of a correct transfer.
Is the topped shot embarrassing?
Ah, the topped shot. It’s embarrassing, all right. Even worse, the ego damage is compounded by a lousy result, which moves you only a little closer to the intended target.
What Causes Topping Shots?
Topping shots are caused by one of the three fundamental causes below. All have to do with the position of the bottom of the swing arc, either vertically or horizontally.
Golf Swing Errors Related to Topping Shots
The following golf swing errors can lead you to topping golf shots. Make sure none are to blame by going through the list and if you find a situation that resembles yours, read on for clues on how to fix and correct the situation.
Address Position Issues Leading to Topping Shots
In addition to the swing errors above, some address and setup positioning errors can also explain why you are topping some golf shots. Review the following for possible clues.
What is the most important fundamental in golf?
Ball position is one of the most important fundamentals. All it takes is playing your golf ball a fraction of an inch too far forward for you to chunk the ball. I often say to my students: “you hit the ground where the golf ball should have been.”
How to make good contact in golf?
1. Crowded posture. Proper posture is one of the most important fundamentals to good contact. Giving yourself enough room to bow from your hips so that your hands can hang below your shoulders puts you into a balanced position that allows you to be athletic throughout your swing.
When you set your golf club on the ground behind your golf ball, is it important that you set it properly?
When you set your golf club on the ground behind your golf ball, it is important that you set it properly. This can often look odd to golfers when it is correct, in particular for the more lofted clubs in your golf bag. The aiming line on a golf club is the leading edge and the more lofted the club the more crooked the top line may look.
What happens if your stance is too wide?
Ideally, for a ball on the ground your stance should be approximately hip width, give or take a little. If you stance is significantly wider, it can often cause your hips to move too much side to side and your hip seeks being over each foot.
How to avoid chunked shots in golf?
Another insurance policy you can take out against chunked shots is to keep your sternum and head target side of the golf ball. By getting into good posture and placing your upper body and club shaft evenly forward of your ball, this will produce a bottom of your arc that happens after your golf ball. The club may make a bit of a digging feel into the ground but the ball will already be gone. This allows you to use lower-lofted clubs, producing more roll and distance. Even though they have a sharper leading edge, it will contact the ground after the ball producing a crisp, low and running chip or bump and run.
What does it mean when you get stuck in your backswing?
If your backswing is a straight line back that tends to go toward the sky and is just a lifted motion, all you will have is straight down, which tends to get stuck. It reminds me of the letter V. Straight back and up equals straight down and dig.
