How to stop topping the golf ball

Topping the golf ball is right up there among the game’s most frustrating things. You’ve found the fairway, you’re eyeing up a par (or even a birdie) and then, from nowhere, you top it.

It will then—at best—leave you with another approach with your head scrambled, questioning everything about your swing.

So, how does topping the ball even occur in the first place? One of your playing partners might suggest that you’ve lifted your head, but the likelihood is that something else has happened during the swing.

In this blog, we’ll examine several techniques for learning how to stop topping the golf ball and some of the reasons it might be happening.

Understanding the top

If you want to learn how to stop topping the golf ball, you first need to understand why you’re doing it in the first place.

1. Ball position

The first thing to understand is that the club moves around your body in a circle, and the bottom will be somewhere in the middle between your heels. If the ball is too far forward (or too far back), the circle will be broken, which can lead to a ‘top’.

Your ball position will vary depending on which club you’re using. However, if you’re using a 6 to 8-iron, for example, it should be in the middle of your stance and underneath your sternum. 

2. Head position

Now, we’re going to talk about your head,  but in the context of the backswing. If you move your head too much in the takeaway, that circle we mentioned previously will move off the ball, which makes topping it very easy to do.

Bring your head back if you find that you’re moving it away from the ball.

3. Weight on the front foot

We often hear about this when it comes to chipping. Our weight needs to be 60/40 on our lead side (less so with irons). With irons, we want our weight to be around 75% on our front foot instead.

If the ball is not on a tee, you want to hit down on the ball. Some golfers think that we need to help the ball in the air, but we want the opposite to happen—i.e., hitting it down into the ground.

4. The importance of the arms

Think about your arms and their radius throughout the swing. Your arms will be straight at address, but there’s always the tendency to move them towards your body at impact. This is often due to us trying to loft the ball into the air rather than hitting into the ground.

5 tips to stop topping the golf ball

So, now you know why you might be topping the golf ball—but how do you stop it?

1. The tee peg

Place a tee peg the width of the clubhead ahead of the ball in the ground. Now, practice hitting some iron shots and focus on taking the tee peg out of the ground.

To do this, there can’t be any backing out of the shot or trying to help the ball in the air. Instead, you need to keep the left wrist form and hit down on the ball. Try this with a few half swings and then work up into some full swings, and you should notice a much-improved ball strike.

If you do top a few shots out on the course, pick a spot in front of the ball, and concentrate on staying down on the shot and hitting the turf ahead of the ball.

2. The alignment stick

Place an alignment stick or club down on the ground and have it in line with your ball position. This provides a handy visual aid to what your head is doing when you make a backswing and whether you’re moving away from the ball.

If possible, video a few swings and watch what your head is doing afterwards. It might surprise you.

3. The elbow drill

If your arms are lifting through impact, then try this drill.

Hit some 50-yard shots with a 7-iron and concentrate on the inward pressure of your elbows at impact and follow-through. This will encourage you to keep that circle together rather than trying to do anything unnecessary with your arms.

4. The half-swing drill

You can use any club for this, and when you take the club away, check where it is at the halfway point in your backswing.

You want your club, hands, and chest all lined up midway through the takeaway and then rotate through to the same position. If your arms have folded, your hands will be too close to your body, but if you’ve made a nice circular swing, you know you’ve made the right move.

Practice making a series of half swings and work your way up to some full swings, too. Think of how Tommy Fleetwood swings the club, with a real focus on punching the ball away. This can also be great ball-striking practice. 

5. Everything in a line

Think about what your shoulder, left knee, and left foot are doing. This is great if you struggle to get your weight onto your lead side in the transition.

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