Why do I 'top' my drives?

[monkeyallen]

Hi all, I'd have thought this would be a common question but I've googled away and can't find anything on the subject. Maybe I'm using the wrong terminoligy??

Anyway, the issue I have is when I hit my drives, I regularly 'top' my shot (i.e. I seem to hit the top of the ball, resulting in a shot that rolls along 40 yards along the ground)

Anyone have any suggestions of what might be causing me to do this and is there any drills or tips I can use to help me resolve it?

Thanks very much in advance for any help offered.

 

[JustOne]

Loss of spine angle
Teeing the ball too low
Bad ball position

a) Ironically if your spine is too bent over at address then there's a tendancy to pull up out of the shot thinking that you might 'fat it'. Try standing TALLER at address and you might find you can comfortably sweep the ball away off the tee.

b) Tee the ball up high enough, at least 1½ inches for a driver. The driver should be hit just slightly on the way up, sweeping through it. If you tee it too low then there's a tendancy to swing in too steep, panic, pull up (loss of spine angle again) and top the ball.

c) If the ball is badly positioned then it won't be right at the bottom of your natural swing. You need to experiment with this. Generally having the ball set up somewhere approaching your left heel is considered about right, and a comfortable distance away from you.

hope this helps.

 

[RGDave]

Do you top any other type of shots?

Although I can top almost any shot (rarely, though) it should be difficult with a big headed driver and high tees.

I agree with the normal checks on ball position and tee height.

 

[Putting_Green_Pro]

iv followed the rule 1/2 the ball over the top of the driver face and it has worked for me. well it has worked to the best of my abilities

 

[monkeyallen]

Loss of spine angle
Teeing the ball too low
Bad ball position

a) Ironically if your spine is too bent over at address then there's a tendancy to pull up out of the shot thinking that you might 'fat it'. Try standing TALLER at address and you might find you can comfortably sweep the ball away off the tee.

b) Tee the ball up high enough, at least 1½ inches for a driver. The driver should be hit just slightly on the way up, sweeping through it. If you tee it too low then there's a tendancy to swing in too steep, panic, pull up (loss of spine angle again) and top the ball.

c) If the ball is badly positioned then it won't be right at the bottom of your natural swing. You need to experiment with this. Generally having the ball set up somewhere approaching your left heel is considered about right, and a comfortable distance away from you.

hope this helps.

Cool, thanks very much for this. I've been positioning my ball just inside my left heel so I don't think that C) is the problem, it sounds more like a) or b). I've been hitting my shots off castle tees so I've been teeing up at a consistent height, and since I've hit some shots well using these tees I presumed that they were the correct height but I will try hitting off standard wooden tees and teeing the ball higher. Also option a) sounds very likely so I'll definately try this out the next time I'm at the course.

Thanks very much!!

 

[bobmac]

M.Allen, before I would offer any advice, I would like to know if you are topping it or thinning it. 2 completely different problems.
All the advice so far is to cure a thin but no use if you are hitting the top of the ball i.e.topping it.
So I would start by asking are you coming in shallow to the ball and hitting the ball on its equator sending the ball screaming 6 feet off the deck, or are you coming down steep into the ball driving the ball down into the ground and bouncing it down the fairway and sometimes taking divots?

 

[JustOne]

hehe...

this shows just how ambiguous golf advice can be...

How to cure a top - chin up
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVbakExgtmE

How to cure a top - chin down
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kI492DDmMcw

There are many reasons topping the ball can happen, trying to hit the ball into the air instead of hitting down on it, getting ahead of the ball, falling back off the ball, head moving too soon, etc etc etc. In my opinion topping is generally due to people standing up (loss of spine angle) during the shot. So my cure is to stand up taller so you don't feel the urge to pull up half way through your swing.

 

[bobmac]

 

[Gustavo]

I think the best advice I could give is go and have a lesson or two.

On my first lesson, my address position was altered to lift my chin up a tad to allow my shoulders to be able rotate correctly. When I do occasionally top or thin a shot, I know it's down to me moving my head to follow the ball before I've actually hit it !

I can't recommend a lesson enough, you'll be surprised on how much better you'll feel and be striking the ball after your first lesson.

 

[Paul2009]

just try and keep your head down when hitting your drives - rather than looking to see where they go. Thats the most common wrongdoing that leads to a 'top'.

 

[monkeyallen]

M.Allen, before I would offer any advice, I would like to know if you are topping it or thinning it. 2 completely different problems.
All the advice so far is to cure a thin but no use if you are hitting the top of the ball i.e.topping it.
So I would start by asking are you coming in shallow to the ball and hitting the ball on its equator sending the ball screaming 6 feet off the deck, or are you coming down steep into the ball driving the ball down into the ground and bouncing it down the fairway and sometimes taking divots?

Hi Bobmac, thanks for your reply. In response to this, I would say I am hitting the top of the ball and sending it rolling down the fairway - so definately option 2 (coming down steep into the ball driving the ball down into the ground and bouncing it down the fairway and sometimes taking divots) rather than option 1.

Cheers,

 

[bobmac]

Thought so.
And I guess your divots are pointing a little left and when you DO hit the ball cleanly, it moves left to right in the air (assuming you're a right hander)?

 

[monkeyallen]

I wouldn't say that my drives move left to right when hit cleanly, but I do notice occasional left to right movement and I would definately agree that my divots point to the left.

 

[bobmac]

Monkey, dont dispair.
I'm afraid its the old out to in swing again.
When a player swings out to in on the downswing he/she is also above plane, therefor swinging with a steep angle of attack.
In your case the club is coming down on the top of the ball driving it down into the ground leaving a 'pitchmark' just in front of the tee. The divot pointing left is the give away.
To get into this position, you must be getting your upper body too far passsed the ball at impact. Try keeping your head behind the ball at impact. Feel as if the driver is coming in at a more shallow angle therefor no divots and the ball will start to fly again.
Dont worry about the direction of the swing as you say it stays fairly straight. If it does start moving alot to the right, come back and tell us.

 

[CrapHacker]

Monkey, dont dispair.
I'm afraid its the old out to in swing again.
When a player swings out to in on the downswing he/she is also above plane, therefor swinging with a steep angle of attack.
In your case the club is coming down on the top of the ball driving it down into the ground leaving a 'pitchmark' just in front of the tee. The divot pointing left is the give away.
To get into this position, you must be getting your upper body too far passsed the ball at impact. Try keeping your head behind the ball at impact. Feel as if the driver is coming in at a more shallow angle therefor no divots and the ball will start to fly again. Dont worry about the direction of the swing as you say it stays fairly straight. If it does start moving alot to the right, come back and tell us.

If this is the case, your set up position might not be helping. I used to set up with my shoulders far too square to the ground - nearly parallel in fact.

When I took my stance, my pro got me to remove my right hand from the club

place it on the top of my right thigh

then slide my hand down towards my knee

then replace my right hand.

It basically had the effect of getting my head and body more behind the ball at setup, and giving me a much better shoulder tilt. Couple that with a slow low takeaway, and I got into a much better position to attack the ball on the downswing.

The other drill he gave me was to check the club position halfway back on the backswing. The clubhead needs to be level with, or slightly in front of your hands. If it's behind you might end up swinging too flat and end up casting from the top to compensate.

If that makes sense, please try it, but do note this is me passing on a couple of tips that worked for me - I'm no expert.