Anybody have any tips for me…?
I’m a very inconsistent golf player cuz a good chunk of the time I’m topping the darn thing
Today I was about 3 yards off of a 115 yard shot… Used a 7 iron and was against the wind
I got underneath it, but that was about my only good shot of the day
Lots of them I would get the ball just to cruse low to the ground or to go up in the air and do a weird swoop that it made it go back down
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Here is a golf school that has some great golf tips. They have video, animation and other types of golf tips. You may find some video that will help you improve your shot.
http://www.sdgagolf.com/golf_tips.php
Hope this helps
I suggest one of two things
I’m not an expert but I know that the first thing to do is to keep your eye on the ball no matter what. it sounds obvious but it helps.
Second of all is to turn your hips more through the ball. I have found that doing so keep my arms from coming up too fast
I have the same problem sometime when I’m at the range. What I do to avoid topping the ball is
1. Work on maintaining a descent club grip throughout the swing.
2. Make sure the club face is not closed or to open.
3. And finally Swing the club in a nice tempo – not to fast.
there is a good drill for this that is posted in many publications and tip sites…when youre on a tee box, take out an iron and hit old tees till you can hit them up off the deck cleanly…costs nothing and works…note how far your feet are apart when you have a comfortable swing and hitting tees high and use that for a measure when you have a tight lie on approach to a green…good luck!
just before you start your backswing hold your chin up a little more it helps me keep my head still
Lifting your head cliche? Lift yours while swinging & see what happens.
Hit the ground before you hit the ball.
From you description, I would be welling to bet you that either:
1) Your feet are too close together for the iron you are using….or,
2) Your weight transfer is off.
I used to have a "topping" problem, too…and – now, if anything, especially late in a round, or if I’m getting tired…I have a tendency to hit the ball "fat".
Make sure that your first motion is "back" – and that your weight goes onto your back foot as you take the club away. As you come through, concentrate on a single dimple at the BACK of the ball…and transfer your weight to the forward foot.
"Topping" is most often a problem of a "reverse" wight transfer…rocking forward…THEN back…and trying to "scoop" the ball.
Bobby Jones used to say: "Trust the club (loft) to do the work."
The "lifting your head" cliche should be ignored, as Scott said.
I top the ball a lot and found these three things:
1) changing my spine angle on down swing
– corrected it by standing with less knee flex so I am more comfortable at setup
2) setting up with too much weight on front foot
3) swinging too fast and out of balance!
Try a couple of things:
First, you top the ball because the lowest point in your swing was behind the ball and the clubhead was rising when it got to the ball. The opposite "baddie" is a "gunch." That is when the clubhead hits the ground too far behind the ball, resulting in a divot, a bad shot and probably a very sore arm.
The perfect shot occurs because, using many actions, you come through the ball at the right time, with your whole body in the right position. Practice, practice, practice…this will get what is called a "grooved swing."
First, stance is important. Grip the club comfortably. Stand at a distance from the ball so that when you put the clubhead down it is behind the ball without you leaning way over.
Do a little wiggle to get your feet firmly planted…that’s not an act golfers are putting on…it helps stabilize themselves.
Now the big trick is to "stay within the barrel." Pivot; don’t sway back and forth over the ball. A good trick is to use wiffle balls and hit them over and over again. With a wiffle ball you don’t look up to see where the ball went and distance is worthless.
A wise man once told me, "Listen to hear the ball drop, don’t look." That means, as the first person said, keep looking at the spot where the ball is…and was…with your eye nearest the hole.
I had a personal trick that worked for me. I would concentrate on a piece of grass approximately 1" ahead of the ball, then swing. Miracle of miracles…I would actually hit the ball before I got to the spot…(p.s. I had a 6 handicap so it’s not oo much rubbish.)
As with all golf – it’s what works for you. Experiment and don’t let people laugh at your little tricks. Show them! Good Luck and especially – Have Fun!
There are many reasons that can cause a person to top the ball. So understand that unless you have a low handicap player watch you swing and tell the exact reason we can only speculate and give you the most common reasons.
1. Don’t listen to the "your lifting your head" cliche. Although manytimes moving your head is not the best advice Anika Sorenstam pull her head up and looks forward well before she makes contact… She is pretty good.
The essential reason for someone topping a ball is one of a couple of reasons.
1. The swing is on the upward path… meaning the ball is too far in the front of your stance. The longer the club the closer to the front heal (left heal for a right handed golfer) you should position the ball as a general rule and the shortes club should be towards the back of the stance (your stance should be narrower too for shorter clubs).
2. You are changing the position of your body from your stance at address. Basically, if you are taking a correct stance as you address the ball and are topping it, at some point you are moving some part of your body to cause your club to raise hitting the top part of the ball.
The most common reasons I have seen are
a. You change your spine angle while swinging
b. You are changing the bend in your knees
c. You are moving your head back and up which usually causes your spine angle to change
3. Reverse pivot. A reverse pivot is when a player shifts his weight to the opposite sides of the body than they should. The correct method of weight transfer is to have player move their weight to their left side during the back swing and then onto their right side during the following through (opposite for leftys). Often high handicap players move their weight onto their left side during the backswing and to their right side during the follow through. This results in a more baseball move into the ball ,where you are hanging back on your left side to drive into the ball. Make sure you are finishing with all your weight on your left side…. sometimes I practice making a step forward as part of the follow through as a drill… This helps prevent me from hanging weight back…
Anyway… try to keep your body angles the same back and through the swing and don’t let your head move up and down. You will often see Tiger loses his drives to the right when he dips his head too much. Jack Nicklaus believed you shouldn’t move your head at all for the most part. Put the left eye on the ball and don’t move your head until your right shoulder hits your chin…. Some players move their head more (Tiger & Annika)…
I hope this helps…
You can go to http://www.pga.com improve your game section for some great tips
reasons for topping
1.When you start taking the club back lifting your body up. This is done by straitening the knees. Try to keep them bent the entire time. The ball is 1.5 inches so it only takes a little movement to cause a top. Here is how you try to prevent this – Take some practice swing hitting something the size of penny. You have to concentrate on it to make sure you hit it. That is the same thing you need to do with the golf ball. You want that concentration to keep you from moving away from the ball.
You have to keep that left arm straight. You bend it ½ and inch and your in the middle of the ball. This is where you use your hand eye coordination. The right arm just keeps things going, don’t let it over power your left or you will get those deep bone jaring divots. You do not want that.
The answers given before mine are correct, but they are packed with too many info for you to digest and think abt during your swing.
Allow me to simplify them for you:
You have stayed on your back feet in effort to get the ball into the air thus your club’s leading edge contacting the middle of the ball on the upswing.
Need to rotate & move your hips and legs to the left (i.e. transfer your weight first) during the downswing. This will enable you to strike the ball on a downward blow.
Also remember keep your spine angle constant through impact. That should do the trick. Do let us know when you have solved this problem.