topping the ball

[joey1234]

Any one have any good drills for someone who is topping the ball.... I just went to the range to hit some woods. i seem to be topping everything....Very frustrating....................

[dlaville]

  joey1234 said:

Any one have any good drills for someone who is topping the ball.... I just went to the range to hit some woods. i seem to be topping everything....Very frustrating....................

Stop trying to hit up on the ball. Topped shots and fat shots are caused by the same thing, hitting up. Hopefully your woods have enough loft to get the ball airborne without you needing to help it. Todays woods are available in less lofts and golfers are buying these less lofted woods thinking they're going to hit the ball further. When they look down at address they see little loft on the clubface and then swing up trying to add loft leading to what causes topped shots. Fact is recent test have shown most amateurs will get better distance using higher lofted woods, 11-12 degrees in the case of a driver.

One way to stop topped shots (and fat shots) is to image a park bench about 5 feet in front of your ball. Try to hit the ball under the bench. You'll come into impact with your hands leading and the shaft leaning forward, two vital elements of proper impact geometry. David Laville, G.S.E.M. The Golfing Machine Authorized Instructor

[joey1234]

my woods definitley have enough loft - driver is 13.5 and the 3 wood is 16 --------if i hit them clean - i absolutley smoke the crap out of them, but - i have been topping every shot - i will try to imagine the park - bench thing but for some reason i am not "seeing" it right now....

[J_Bone]

If your consistently topping the ball the same way, i.e..bouncing it before or coming down on top, It might just be a matter of ball placement.
It was for me. I struggled with my 3wood for 2 months. As I figured out, I was placing the ball to far forward and I was coming down on it. I put the ball back in my stance and make a nice swing through the ball with out trying to lunge forward (in my case). I'm now using it off the Tee box because my driver always gets me in trouble.

[twomey7]

I used to top the ball constantly, it was strange. But then one day all of a sudden I started hitting it solid, and haven't stopped since. You just have to relax, focus, and swing away. Make sure you have a proper grip too.

[beung]

My friends who top the ball have problems with their spine angle, it changes during the swing.

Check to make sure you are not standing too close to the ball. If you stand too close, your body doesn't have enough room to move out of the way. So to make room it straightens you up making it hard to get the club back to where it started.

Drive your right shoulder through the shot, this will help keep you from straightening as well. Don't swing at the ball with your hands, it may cause you to get flippy.

At the range, when working on something do the extreme. So if you are topping it with the heel of your club, then move way away from the ball (almost like you are going to be falling over) to the point where it is uncomfortable, then swing. Now you will probably toe them or still top them but more in the middle of the club. Once you can get your body to adjust to the new feeling you will start making pretty good contact. Then I would move a bit closer to the ball (not as close as before) and hit some shots.

[king]

heres a drill that makes me make a bigger divot apposed to catching it thin, hold the club to your chest parallel to the ground. make your normal body turn for the backswing then do the same for your downswing, but on the downswing the clubhead should be pointing at the ball. sorry if thats a bad explanation.

[Leek]

Tough to say for sure without seeing your swing. This usually comes from one or two things:

Either you are losing your spine angle on the downswing, which is most likely caused by thrusting your hips forward (when someone says keep your head down, unknowingly they mean this), or you are flipping.

[joey1234]

  king said:

heres a drill that makes me make a bigger divot apposed to catching it thin, hold the club to your chest parallel to the ground. make your normal body turn for the backswing then do the same for your downswing, but on the downswing the clubhead should be pointing at the ball. sorry if thats a bad explanation.

i cant picture what your saying....

[joey1234]

its wierd - when i was in the simulator last week i could hit ever shot awesome with my 3 wood - i go on the course/range and i keep topping it - i feel like kevin costner in tin cup when he gets the shanks.....

[tigerwoo]

I use to top at least once or twice a round using my woods in the past. Be it with my fairway wood off the deck or my driver off the tee. I don't do this anymore and it's mainly because I now keep my body QUIET throughout the swing. What I mean by that is I use to transfer my weight from front to back and back to front during my swing with a more pronounced lateral movement. Essentially I was 'swaying' from left to right and right to left. This can be a powerful move IF your timing is bang on, IF it isn't you end up behind the ball which tends to result in a thin shot with a wood.

By staying 'QUIET' the weight transfer is all in the coil of the body as you swing back and through. A drill that I used was to practice swinging with a mirror in front of me until I could keep my head steady and level throughout my swing. No lateral movement whatsoever! Doing this has allowed me to produce a swing that allows the clubhead to come back to essentially the exact spot as it was at address and thus produce (most of the time) some outstanding shots.

Next time you watch a PGA tour event, watch the super-slow-mo cam they have on players during their swing on certain holes. Most of them will not move a single body part outside of the arms and shoulders.

[joey1234]

so i went and played some golf last night at the lighted course by my house - wasnt topping the ball at all!!! instead i chunked 80 percent of my shots..... at least i improved on the ball topping......

[supercow]

Watch your posture. When mine gets sloppy (especially in the lower back and the distance I stand from the ball) I tend to hit it everywhere. I normally chunk it when I bend over too much and top. Any chance we could get a picture of your swing?

[Jeremy517]

How tall are you? Are your clubs custom fit?

[Soup Fan]

This is not a joke.

I just took a silver sharpie and wrote:

HEAD
DOWN

on my woods and it did help me stop topping them off on the tee.

[joey1234]

im pretty damn short - or vertically challenged........ the clubs were not custom fit.... i didnt want a fitting when i first bought my irons because i thought i would for my swing to get better.. thats why i bought forged... i hit a set of pings, which i almost bought beofre buying my current irons, only reason i didnt was because they were stif shafts, anyway the clubs were orange dot (2+ flat) also 1/4" short..... So when I bought my clubs i had them bent 2* flat which improved the direction of my ball flight immediatly, everything suddenly went straight... instead of left.... I didnt get them shortened - i figured Id wait until I had a proper fitting......

you think it may be tim eto get a fitting????

[Soup Fan]

[joey1234]

if it was as simple as me keeping my head down i wouldnt have this problem... keeping my head down is the first thing i learned from my instructor..