Topping driver...

[JR93]

Been playing well recently - striking the ball well with irons, however for some reason every other drive results in me topping the ball. One drive will find fairway with a nice connection and then very next drive is 70 yards infront of me feeling like I've almost missed the ball.

I don't feel/notice myself doing anything different which is the annoying part as I can not put my finger on why this is happening all of a sudden.

For reference, steady 8 handicapper for which driving is used to be a strong point.

Is there any common mistakes that lead/set up for topping the ball?
its not something I've experienced before.

any drills/feedback/tips would be welcome

(yes I am booking in for a lesson but always good to hear peoples thoughts!)

 

[Kennysarmy]

Hmmmm

I'm not a golf coach, but if this was happening to me I'd be looking to ensure I stayed "behind" the ball and was "hitting up" on the ball with a nice high tee.
Feeling like the low point of the swing was definitely BEHIND the ball....

 

[bobmac]

Where is your ball positioned ?

 

[JR93]

@Kennysarmy - during previous lessons I have worked on the feeling of hitting up on the ball to give a positive angle of attack, changing to a bigger tee - (from pink to orange)

@bobmac - ball position around two balls inside of left heel (right handed golfer)

 

[bobmac]

@Kennysarmy - during previous lessons I have worked on the feeling of hitting up on the ball to give a positive angle of attack, changing to a bigger tee - (from pink to orange)

@bobmac - ball position around two balls inside of left heel (right handed golfer)

That's not helping.
I would suggest you move it forward to your heel or even your instep

 

[JR93]

@bobmac - interesting as i would have thought it be the other way round.
topping the ball (hitting the top of the ball with the very bottom of the club) i would have thought moving the ball forward would increase this as the clubs moving on an upwards arc - i will give it a go at the range!

 

[bobmac]

Does the ball sometimes make a pitchmark in the ground just in front of the tee peg and then bounce down the fairway or does it shoot off like a rocket but not get above 10 feet?

 

[JR93]

Pitchmark infront and has a strange flight normally (can see it spin/knuckle?) but does go straight, occasional get a really low one

 

[bobmac]

Pitchmark infront and has a strange flight normally (can see it spin/knuckle?) but does go straight, occasional get a really low one

That would suggest you're hitting it on the way down.
Try experimenting at the range with the ball forward and a high tee.
I'd even say left big toe and see what happens, I'll bet you don't top it from there

 

[clubchamp98]

Pitchmark infront and has a strange flight normally (can see it spin/knuckle?) but does go straight, occasional get a really low one

Sounds like some of mine.
hitting down on the ball and delofting the face
usually because I/ you have swayed towards the target and getting ahead of it.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

I know why I occasionally but very easily top tee shots with my driver, and the solution for me is not really any of the above. In fact I do it because I feel I have to get more behind the ball, get it more off my left heel, and hit the ball on the up. To do that my head tells me to sway backwards on the backswing to reset the ball position to where my head thinks it should be - and obviously it tells me to stay back…as a result I can easily top the ball.

What I have to do comes from my personal perception and how for 20yrs I saw the driver clubhead and clubface at address - and I was very steady and consistent off the tee. But with a new driver (with a regular when previous was stiff shaft) and changed swing path, that old way will no longer work, but it is very hard to change my head‘s perception of what is right and what is wrong.

How am I getting over this? I position the ball to my eyes (to reiterate - my own personal perception is all in this) well inside my left heel, indeed quite far back from it (it probably isn’t) and as a result address the ball with what looks to me to be a very delofted clubface. My head tells me I’ll really struggle to get the ball up in the air, but I tell myself (I literally quietly speak the words to myself as I address the ball) to TRUST my address position and to concentrate on not swaying back on the backswing. And that does it for me.

 

[bobmac]

I know why I occasionally but very easily top tee shots with my driver, and the solution for me is not really any of the above. In fact I do it because I feel I have to get more behind the ball, get it more off my left heel, and hit the ball on the up. To do that my head tells me to sway backwards on the backswing to reset the ball position to where my head thinks it should be - and obviously it tells me to stay back…as a result I can easily top the ball.

I think you're describing a thin not a top

 

[Deleted member 31467]

Check to make sure you're not swaying.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

I think you're describing a thin not a top

You are quite right…def I thin it rather than a top it. As my driving was good, and I am a steady 8-9 handicapper whose driving was my strong point, and what @JR93 describes as his issue is just like me, maybe he’s thinning it rather than topping it?

 

[bobmac]

You are quite right…def I thin it rather than a top it. As my driving was good, and I am a steady 8-9 handicapper whose driving was my strong point, and what @JR93 describes as his issue is just like me, maybe he’s thinning it rather than topping it?

Hence my question in post no.7

 

[JR93]

You are quite right…def I thin it rather than a top it. As my driving was good, and I am a steady 8-9 handicapper whose driving was my strong point, and what @JR93 describes as his issue is just like me, maybe he’s thinning it rather than topping it?

maybe true, could be a thin and I've just got mixed up - I just assumed i was 'topping' the ball as it almost feels like I am hitting the very top edge of the ball with the underside of the driver/ or almost completely missing the ball with the driver going over the top of ball (never actually going to happen i hope!)

 

[Deleted member 31467]

I wouldn't get too hung up on whether you are thinning or topping the ball, it's basically the same thing just different accentuation of the same fault. As previously said, check ball position and see if you are swaying backwards on your backswing and not getting forwards again on the downswing.

 

[Deleted member 1147]

Check to make sure you're not swaying.

Fat or thin, swaying is always my first point to check.
I think that came from Bobmac

 

[bobmac]

I wouldn't get too hung up on whether you are thinning or topping the ball, it's basically the same thing just different accentuation of the same fault. As previously said, check ball position and see if you are swaying backwards on your backswing and not getting forwards again on the downswing.

Topping is normally caused by getting too much body passed the ball causing a steep angle of attack, driving the ball into the ground producing a pitch mark. Thinning is normally caused by too much weight on the back foot promoting a shallow angle of attack resulting in hitting the ball on the way up on its equator, especially off a lower tee.
In my opinion, it's important to find out which problem the OP has in order to offer any help.

 

[bobmac]

Fat or thin, swaying is always my first point to check.
I think that came from Bobmac

I agree, a sway is sometimes the fault but which is easier....cure the sway to stay more centred therefor improving the angle of attack or move the ball position to match the angle of attack.
As an 8 hcp who strikes his irons well, I'd be inclined not to mess around with a swing that works well and just experiment with the ball position with the driver.