Casting or Over The Top?

[kid2]

Im presuming these are the same.......
What causes them and whats the best fix for them....
Im guessing that this happens me at times as my ball shape is either straight or a fade but following on from my other post yesterday about Divots i must be hitting the ball out to in......

Iv seen Alvaro Quiros's swing at the weekend and onlineand its very compact for someone that hits a ball so far......His backswing seems to stop when his hands reach his right ear or just above......

Would shortening your backswing decrease the change of an out to in path and how much distance could be lost if any?

 

[Region3]

Paul Casey stops the club short of horizontal on the backswing too, and he hits the ball further than 3/4 of us on here

The real answer is 'not a lot', but then when you start hitting it well you'll be tempted to swing further back to get a few more yards.

For us mortals, I think the main benefit of a shorter backswing is to stand more chance of hitting the middle of the face, to take advantage of all that lovely trampoline effect that the nice people spend literally pounds and use space age materials in their drivers to bestow upon us.

 

[Swinger]

Casting and coming over the top are caused by poor transitions from backswing to downswing. Generally this is because the player starts the swing too fast and to maintain a gradual acceleration throughout the swing they end up having to throw themselves at the ball which begins from the top of the downswing.

To stop it you just need to work on swinging with a smooth tempo and work on starting the swing a bit slower. If your still struggling there will probably be some other reason for the re direction of the club which could be a range of set up things.

 

[FourPutt]

I had this very problem and have (pretty much) overcome it by slowing down the backswing and not trying to smash the hell out of the ball. I found this actually gave me extra yards as opposed to taking them away. Hit the ball better, not harder.

If you slow down the backswing, you're more likely to have your body in a correct position at the top. If you swing back too quick, there may be a tendancy to pull your right shoulder behind you too much, which will mean that your body will block your swing path and you have nowhere to go but over the top. You can also try to get the feeling of your right shoulder passing underneath your left in the downswing, which will encourage you to come from more inside. This may or may not work for you, but it worked for me and pretty much cured my slice.

Another thing to think about is your alignment. If you stand closed at address, it will cause you all sorts of problems. I found that most of my swing problems stemmed from poor alignment. Set up is key. If you don't set up correctly, it doesn't matter what you do from there on in!

Hope these help, they helped me and I have shot an 85 and an 80 in the last couple of weeks. Handicap will be tumbling soon!

 

[bobmac]

Sorry Kid2 but they are different beasts.

Over the top is generally considered to be an out to in downswing.
Casting is an early release of the angle set between your forearms and club (as you would when making a cast when fishing.)
As a drill for cureing the out to in swing, try this.
Lots of golfers have a loop in their transition
The backswing goes back one way and a loop takes the club down a much steeper path.
Try a reverse loop.
Swing back a bit straighter and in the change of direction, try looping the club the other way to swing down more in to out.
If you manage it and it feels in to out, you may get a straight up and down swing.
Why not film the 'before and after' and see if it looks the same as it feels
HTH

 

[Tommo21]

Im presuming these are the same.......
What causes them and whats the best fix for them....
Im guessing that this happens me at times as my ball shape is either straight or a fade but following on from my other post yesterday about Divots i must be hitting the ball out to in......

Iv seen Alvaro Quiros's swing at the weekend and onlineand its very compact for someone that hits a ball so far......His backswing seems to stop when his hands reach his right ear or just above......

Would shortening your backswing decrease the change of an out to in path and how much distance could be lost if any?

Straight or with a fade.............give me that any day. Over the top will give you a pull or a pull hook....Bob.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QL_6M_xZvq0

 

[FourPutt]

Over the top will give you a pull or a pull hook....Bob.

It can also give you a wicked slice as the path of the club head at impact is cutting across the ball from outside the target line to inside.