Learning how to stop topping your iron shots is not difficult, but like everything else in golf there is a mental aspect to improving this area of your game, as well as several swing adjustments that you will need to make and a practice regimen that would be good to run through several times prior to playing your. I think everyone would agree optimizing your angle of attack improves the distance you will carry the ball with a driver. This helps me to hit the ball high by catching it either exactly at the bottom of the swing arc or very slightly on the upswing. If you swing from inside out, your bad shots tend to be topping the golf ball.
Adding yardage to your tee shots can be done through a number of outlets, be it a lengthening of your backswing, a speeding up of your followthrough, or, in some cases, a changing of equipment. Staying flat also helps you get under the ball as you swing and move your weight. Not to mention the fact that your golf ball will still be very close to the tee many skied drives go almost as high as they go far. Lets deal with cause and effect obviously the effect is a topped ball sitting on a tee. One of the reasons you top the ball and dont hit it on the sweet spot is too much body movement during the golf swing. If youre hitting the ball on the top side of your driver, youre swinging the club on too much of a downward arc. If you dont want the ball to hit the top of your driver, you want the ball to be half way above your driver face. If youre noticing a theme with these tips youre right. Every golfer wants to hit the ball farther off the tee. All else being equal, youll hit the ball farther with a driver than any other club in your bag. We give you stepbystep instructions so that you never make this golf beginners mistake ever again.
Stop topping your driver dan whittaker golf tips national club. But because its the longest and leastlofted club other than your putter the driver also can be the most. The big question is how much farther do you carry the ball when your aoa is optimized vs a poor aoa w a higher lofted spinnier driver. A topped approach shot into the green isnt usually that destructive the ball typically stays straight and can travel a fair distance, but its thoroughly dissatisfying and does little for your confidence. If your ball flies too high dont feel as much weight on the right foot. Top 3 ways to stop topping the golf ball ah, the topped shot. Then using your other hand drop the golf ball from about 12 inches 30 centimeters above the club onto the center of. Lesson tee lives annabel rolley shares a drill to keep your body level in the golf swing and prevent topped shots.
Add weight to your driver golf club for more distance pga. How to stop topping your golf shots golf practice guides. At the top of your backswing, the club should be parallel with a line. I am having a problem with topping the ball with the driver and three wood off the tee. The following checkpoints assume that youre swinging a driver and that youre righthanded. Few shots in golf are more embarrassing than the topped tee ball. I wish golf had been taught to me in this simple manner several years ago. Like me, most of us have probably tried to hit the living daylights out of the ball when hitting our drivers and sometimes youll only catch the top of the ball. They want to help the ball up in the air, and the most logical way to do that is to swing upward. In order to make sure you give yourself the best possible chance of not topping your fairway woods, there are a couple things you can do. The golfers youre playing with might yell out something about making it rain. I know i cant stop topping the ballbut maybe if i ignore the problem, it will just. Topranked teacher butch harmon on how to stop topping the ball. After you start hitting your shots higher forget favoring the right leg like this.
Even worse, the ego damage is compounded by a lousy. The ball initially starts fairly straight, but as it gets to 100, 150, or. Looking up from the shot and raising out of the golfers stance. Stop lifting up to stop topping the golf ball free. Stop topping the ball only the very bottom of the club head makes contact with the ball resulting in it scuttling along the turf. Even just striking the ball out of the bottom of the clubface can seriously affect distance and dispersion off the tee.
Other times its because the golfer does not know how to pivot co. When you stop topping the ball with the driver it can be a rather dispiriting thing to see as the ball just hits down into the ground, pops up in the air, and tumbles down the fairway or off the tee. I am also in the market for a new driver and i liked the feel of the 915 d3. I was hitting my 7 iron 200 yds without effort and my driver close to 300 yds. Ive made varsity on the golf team, and i used to shoot in the low 40s.
A great way to start the process is by understanding why you hit behind the ball and what you can do to correct it. Simple corrections to stop slicing the ball golficity. Unless the ball is sitting up on thick grass, which would give you a chance to get under it, youll either swing up on the ball as with poor ball position or stand up during your downswing. You might even scuff up the top of your driver, or even, if its a particularly bad mishit, dent the crown of your driver. Even worse, the ego damage is compounded by a lousy result, which moves you only a little closer to the intended target. The key to correcting your slice is to make sure your fundamentals aim, grip, and impact are executed correctly. By hitting with your heels down, you keep from topping the ball during the downswing. Then tilt your shoulders back just a little bit, so you can get the ball up in the air easier, and it makes you more confident in your swing. It would have taken out a great deal of frustration.
How can i stop topping my drives video by pga instructor peter finch. If it flies too low check your grip to make sure its neutral and feel more weight on your right foot when you swing. My current r1 driver is at 9 degrees with a stock stiff shaft. The easiest way to keep your swing on plane is to have a series of checkpoints.
I used to be able to hit my drives about 260290 yards, but now it is just plain embarrassing shooting in the 50s. Half of the ball should stick above the face of the club. Most impressive was the direction the bal, it is traveling straight. But if you swing from outside to in, its easier to hit it fat than topping.
Golf channel academy lead coach rob strano shows off how you can stop topping the ball with the mini me drill. Topping the golf ball out on the course, in front of your playing partners, can leave you feeling frustrated and even a little foolish. How to level your body to stop topping the golf ball. Im sure you are picturing in your mind right now when you first started playing and would wack the ball a whole five yards in front of youtime and time again.
First, make sure your ball position is correct at address. This will help you hit over trees in some fairways that are protected by. In an excerpt from the jack nicklaus book, golf my way, he states, i tee the ball fairly high for a normal drive, usually so that center of the ball is about opposite the top edge of the club face. So, your head is too far in front of the ball toward the target side of the ball and your left shoulder is too low at impact bad news for your driver. Think of the difference in pressure you will apply to the ball if you get a lot of the club face flat on the back of the ball as opposed to just contacting the ball with the thin leading edge.
How to stop topping your iron shots beginner golf swing tips. When you slide to right during the backswing, the axis of your golf swing will also move to the right. How to avoid the topped tee shot for now and forever. Once you have a good grasp of this new move, grab your club and make some practice swings without a ball to get the feeling down.
With any miss hit or fault there can be so many causes. If more than half of the ball is above the face, you will likely hit the ball too high on the clubface. How i hit drives 56 yards farther with one adjustment. The driver is a highrisk, highreward club for many golfers.
Top 3 ways to stop topping the golf ball golf info guide. In this section, ill talk about how to stop topping the golf ball with fairway woods. I can still hit my irons relatively pure and long, but i top the ball every time i use my driver. If you are topping the ball, you may standing too far away from the ball. Place your golf ball on the tee as your normally would, and then place your driver behind the ball in your normal stance. You may be lifting your body away from the ball on your follow through or your left arm bends at impact. Id like to launch the ball a bit higher and get more carry distance. Tips and drills to fix topping the golf ball golf tips. Problems with hitting the driver in golf healthy living. I wish golf had been taught to me in this simple manner several years.
Then add a ball and start with half swings, before moving to full swings once you can maintain this move with consistency. Hold the shaft of your driver in your hand about six to 12 inches 15 to 30 centimeters from the club head with the club face pointing to the sky. Stop topping your driver, mike sullivan golf school youtube. For my swing speed i should be able to carry it more than 240. If you are hitting behind the ball, you may be standing too close. Even the best players in the world lay the sod over it from time to time. Whats the best use of my time at the driving range. So, if youre trying to stop slicing the ball forget the gimmicks and dont try to pile on a million little adjustments. The number one struggle of beginning golfers is topping golf shots. Topping the golf ball is a common fault you see among average players.
However, it is still an issue with long irons and fairway. Lets look at it based on an actual shot you may hit. Lets find that cause start by teeing a ball on the range, and lets examine the height at which it is teed up. Commonly with topped drivers the player is actually falling back through the hit instead of shifting their weight through the shot. Falling back causes you to swing up too soon and hit the top of the ball. Eliminate toe hits with this drill the golftec scramble. How can i stop topping my drives video by pga instructor. How to stop hitting the golf ball high on the clubface. Theyre worried about where the ball is going to go. Its the golf ball spinning to the right after it hits your golf club that is causing the golf ball to turn to the right. It is rare to see a professional top his driver nowadays, due to the larger club head. This causes them to swing up too soon and hit the top of the ball. But it still happens with irons and fairway woods when the ball is on the. Your stance should be wide with the ball toward your left heel.
Hitting your driver is an important part of maintaining a low score on the links. Topping the driver is not as much of a problem today. The ball will flatten against your club face and rebound or push itself back off at high velocity. It may seem counterintuitive, especially when theres so little loft on your driver face, but you need to stay down and let the club do the work for you. With modern deepface drivers, you can tee the ball so much higher. Remember the shafts on the long irons and woods are longer than your regular irons, but shorter than your driver. Your shoulders should be parallel to the target line with the back shoulder some five inches lower than the front shoulder. Some teachers say that topping is a good players mistake. In this video well cover some tips to stop topping, thinning, or chunking the driver, all while improving key fundamentals.
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