What Is The Fastest Way To Stop 'Topping'?

'Topping' is a certain shot that can definitely debilitate your game, particularly when using a fairway wood. The cause of this shot is from three main areas: head stability, weight transfer and wrist angles. If you find that the cause is a combination of all three areas and you have a game just around the corner, trying to fix all three, is nearly impossible. Therefore, I would focus on the two that's most prevalent which is typically head stability and weight transfer.

Focusing on head stability and weight transfer can typically mask any issues you have with your wrist angles. Of course, at some period of time, it would be useful to also focus on wrist angles if it is appropriate to do so. Now the best drill to accomplish head stability and weight transfer is placing your feet close together. and doing half swings. You want to use a short club to start with such as a PW or a 9 iron before venturing into your woods.

Now once you have your feet close together, you want to imagine that you're inside a phone box or a confined space. You then want to start the backswing and simply feel as though you're rotating your body within that confined space. This will then start to keep your head quite stable. Once you have this feeling, you then want to feel that you're breaking out of the phone box on the downswing. This means that you're transferring your weight onto the front foot as you swing through the ball.

Once you have you accomplished a certain amount of reps, you will then have the feeling of staying on top of the ball on the backswing and then covering the ball with your body on the downswing. This is the key to stop 'topping' as when you 'top' the ball, the primary cause is for the weight to be staying too far on the back foot. Now if you have that game just around the corner and you really haven't had a chance to hit many balls, I would even be tempted to play your next game with your feet closer together.

If you'd like any further information regarding how to overcome the 'top' shot, just contact myself at David Waters Golf located at Emerald Lakes Golf Coaching Centre.