TIP OF THE WEEK
WHEN you first start playing golf, you will top the ball a fair bit of the time.
Unfortunately, you will be told by other golfers that you have definitely lifted your head and that is why you have topped your shot.
The reality of topping comes with a couple of technical issues and an issue of experience.
Beginners predominantly top the ball because they haven’t made enough quality repetitions to develop a consistent impact position.
They also are not aware of what a quality impact position should feel like, as a result they are really inconsistent.
Whether their head is down is not part of this equation.
Golfers at all levels of experience will have trouble with topping if their weight shifts back away from the target as they are making contact. This is particularly so on chip and pitch shots.
If your weight is back then the club head will bottom out before the ball, the club head will be moving upwards at impact and a topped shot is likely. If this is you, then practice moving your weight forward as the club moves through impact.
This forward movement is critical to good golf.
The other main cause of topping is found in the way your arms and wrists behave through the impact area.
Instead of your arms straightening at the impact point the arms have started to bend in the downswing and continue to fold.
This movement pulls the club head up and away from the ball at impact.
This position is commonly known as a chicken wing and is so common.
Remember good contact comes from a downward angle of attack. If you have trouble with topping then it is really important you identify why you hit the ball on the head too often. Then you can work on the correct technique and save yourself heaps of shots.