Why Do I Top the Ball in My Golf Swing?
If you've played golf more than once in your life, you've done it: You stand on the first tee with grand thoughts of a spectacular drive in your mind and instead barely clip the top of the ball, sending a weak dribbler 75 yards into the thick rough short of the fairway. A common playing partner response is just as inevitable: "You looked up." But that's only one cause of a topped golf shot.
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OK, You Looked Up
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Sometimes your partners are right. In anticipation of hitting a long ball straight down the middle, golfers sometimes look for it before they hit it. Not only does taking your eye off the ball early reduce the chances of making good contact, but the act of turning your head early creates other issues. "Keep your head down" is perhaps the most often-repeated and unsolicited advice in golf, but it's also a good place to start to get rid of a topping problem. Watch your club head hit the ball before continuing through your swing.
Ball Position
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Where you play the ball in your stance varies depending on the club you're hitting---the more lofted the club, the farther back it should be---but topped shots are often the result of playing the ball too far forward (toward the left foot for right-handed players). This results in the club arriving at the ball when its already well into its upward path, clipping the top instead of making direct contact. The simple fix: Move the ball back in your stance.
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Posture
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You've made a perfect, relaxed practice swing with your knees flexed, brushing the grass perfectly, but when it's actually showtime, the tendency is to straighten your knees to put a little more oomph into the swing. You become taller than you were during the practice swing, and the result is that the club arrives at the ball a fraction higher than it was at setup, resulting in a top. The solution is to keep your knees flexed and relaxed and your back heel on the ground as long as possible, focusing on swinging through the ball.
Scooping the Ball
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Because you're trying to hit the ball off the ground and high into the air, a natural tendency is to try to lift it up, using the club as a kind of long spoon. To aid that effort, you might keep your weight on your back foot throughout your swing as you attempt to "wrist" the ball upward. Trust the club to do its job and hit down and through; your weight should go from mostly on your back foot at the top of your back-swing to mostly on your front foot at the finish.
Swinging Too Hard
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When you set up behind the ball, your arms are fully extended. But when you try to swing too hard, your arms bend ("chicken arms"), shortening the real swing arc from the one you had on your practice swing. The result is again a topped shot. The remedy is simple: swing easier. Slow down and keep your arms relaxed through your swing.
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References
- Photo Credit golf image by Arraial from Fotolia.com
