Moving up during backswing and/or downswing

 One of the main causes of topping the golf ball is standing up during the backswing and / or the downswing. Even a slight straightening at
the hips can cause you to top the ball so it’s really important that you maintain your posture throughout the swing.
 A great indicator of whether this is happening during the backswing is to hold a club horizontally across your shoulders with the handle
pointing towards the target.
 Make your backswing and see where the grip now points to. If you have maintained your correct posture, the handle should point directly to
the ball as you complete your 90 degree shoulder rotation.
 Lifting your chest during the downswing is one of the biggest causes of topping or thinning the golf ball. People often confuse this with lifting
the head, but in reality lifting the chest should be of much greater concern to you.
 As you make a series of practice swings, feel how keeping your chest down and maintaining your posture from address will help you scuff
the ground and start to take a divot. Apply this feeling when you swing at full speed and see how your strikes can improve.

Do not bend arms, keep left arm straight

 Start by making some smooth slow practice swings, only taking the club to chest height on your follow through. At this height, ensure that
both arms remain straight (pictures 4 & 5).
 Repeat this exercise until it feels natural to maintain that straight arm follow position, and then start clipping the ball from a tee peg without
any real power, again checking your follow through arm position. Gradually, as you gain more confidence, increase your power but always
maintaining straight arms past chest height.

Ball Striking Drill Description

 Place a ball one inch in front of your front foot; it may help if you tee the ball up to start with. Having the ball further forward than you would
normally place it with your driver may initially feel very awkward, but stick with it.
 Now go ahead and sweep the ball off the tee and into the air with a nice smooth swing. Really focus on your body weight and how it should
move aggressively to the left in your downswing.
 Shifting your hips to the left before impact will mean that when the club strikes the ground it will no longer be behind the ball. This should
start to give you more confidence that striking the ground and taking a divot is a very positive part of hitting great golf shots.

 A lot of fat or heavy shots are caused by poor body weight transfer. This is one of the best drills for helping you to transfer your body weight
correctly into impact.
 Although hitting the ball fat and hitting the ball thin (or topping it) may seem very different faults, they both have similar causes. Master this
drill and you’ll cut both fat and thin shots out of your game.
 Place the golf ball level with your little toe of your left (front) foot. This may seem extreme but it is a great way of feeling how your body
weight can shift to the left side during your downswing.
 You may want to start by taking some practice swings into this area then maybe hit the ball from a small tee peg, but eventually try to
remove the tee peg and strike the ball off the turf with a clean contact.

Golf Fat Shot Drill

The drill above is great for getting a feel for proper and complete weight transfer.
Don’t be put off by how difficult it might look on camera – it doesn’t take a lot of practice to master the sequence and even though you won’t hit the ball
perfectly every time at first, once you’re confident with this drill it will do wonders for your confidence over standard golf shots.

 Use a short iron and tee the ball up on a small tee peg.
 Start by taking your normal set up. As you swing back slowly, allow your left foot to come completely off the ground and bring it next to your
right foot, so that both feet are together.
 At the top of your backswing, as you move into the downswing, shift your left foot back across and plant it on the ground in it’s original
position.
 Accompany this move with a big drive from the hips and a nice, committed weight shift into the newly planted left foot.
 This is a difficult drill to master at first, but when you do you’ll be the best ball striker you know!