golf mag tip.....maintain seperation between head and left shoulder in downswing to correct over the top

I am plagued w over the top swing

recent golf mag tip suggested 3 ways to cure this problem, one of which was to hold your head back as your shoulders swing thru the ball...........this has worked pretty well for me. Another suggestion was to start the downswing with left knee motion.......which i find very difficult to do.

how have you cured over the top problems

check to make sure your backswing is on plane.

I thought my backswing was on plane and that i had some weird over the top problem.  When I started taking lessons I couldn't believe how far inside i was taking the club back.  After some drills, I felt like I was taking the club waaaayyyyyyyy outside and thought my coach was turning me into Jim Fyurk.  Then he showed me the video and I was perfectly on plane.

Try bringing the club back more outside than your comfortable with.  When you bring it too far inside you'll create a loop in your swing and most likely come over the top.  Bring it outside and you'll have a loop that will bring it back inside.

Look at a slow mo swing of Rickie Fowler.  The way he starts his backswing is a good drill to use.  When the club shaft is parallel to the ground it shouldn't be parallel to the target line.  The club head should be in front of your hands at point.

Thanks for the videos Mike.  I have been having a horrible time on the course hitting everything fat and right lately.  I dug a 2" deep trench with my 5 Wood, it was so bad yesterday.  After seeing the video, I went in my home office/golf practice area to check my wrist and low and behold, I was letting my left wrist break down.  Hit a few balls making a conscious effort to keep the hands forward, flat left wrist and contact seemed to improve, although I can't really tell hitting off the mat, which got me in trouble in the first place.  Diggers and mats don't get along well.

In order to keep the flat left wrist, it seems that my hands are pretty far forward at setup, more-so than I see or notice with any of my playing partners.  The butt of the club is actually pointed in between my left belt loop and the inside seam of my left pocket.  Is that getting the hands too far forward or is this what I need to be feeling to correct my blocks to the right?  It'll be a couple days of rain before I can get out and see my ball flight, and I just want to make sure I'm on the right track.

Don't forget, you can take it away on the back swing on plane, but if your first move is to cast the club (even a slight bit) will cause a OTT move. Make sure the sequencing is correct. A good swing plane only stays on plane when you can start the down swing with the proper parts. The rest just happens.  Have you ever read about hip-to-shoulder disassociation? I really struggled with OTT move my my longer irons, and woods until i read that i need to let the hips work, without getting the shoulders involved until is was their turn in the sequence.