| Re: "Over the Top" and "Casting" (slice problems)
Your question, in 1 way or another, is one of the most common questions teaching professionals get asked - casting & over the top and what's so bad about them than causes or aggrevates a slice.
Right, let's deal with casting first because that is the easiest one to answer. When you swing back, there is an angle between the club and the left arm. Look at pic 1 ... I have marked the angle for you. When you cast the club on the downswing you straighten the angle between the left arm and the club. When you cast badly, the club and left arm form a straight line very early on.
Okay? So that is what a cast is ...
A cast is bad news because leverage and power comes from keeping that sharp angle between the clun and left arm for as long as possible. Ideally, in a powerful swing, even when the club gets to hip height on the downswing you could/should have a 90* angle. (See pic 2)
To stop casting, work on keeping the wrists hinged for as long as possible.
Contrary to what a lot of people think, casting doesn't result in a slice. You can cast and still keep the club either on plane or have a flatter plane. Experiment with it and you'll prove the point.
Right, now lets deal with your more difficult 'over the top'. Question one is "over the top of what?" Well, let me explain that with a picture. Look at picture 3 where I have marked the upswing swing plane. Now, if the club travels on the BLUE side of the line marking the swing plane, the club is coming over the top. So, when we say "over the top", we mean the club travels back to the ball above the upswing swing plane.
Ideally, we want the downswing to be on a slightly flatter plane, "below" the upswing swinh plane (the yellow section).
Okay? Got it so far???
Now, let's quickly deal with what causes an 'over the top' start to the downswing. There are lots of causes, but the most common is starting the downswing with the shoulders and that pulls the club over the upswing swing plane. Try it ... swing to the top and now turn your shoulders and see what happens to the club?? See how it moves over the swing plane line??? That's OTT ...
Now, what's bad about OTT is that it causes a swing path that is from outside to inside and that's a classic slicer's swing path or a pullers swing path.
Okay - so hopefully you know what casting is, what OTT is and how they cause or aggrevate a slice.
Finally, if you swing OTT from the outside, the ball will definately start left of the target line becuase the ball has a huge velocity and won't get affected by the side spin yet. If you hit the ball with an open club face, as the ball starts to slow down, side spin plays a more-and-more important role and it'll start to curve to the right. A SLICE!!!!
If you have the same swing path with a club face that is square tothe swing path, it'll go straight left. With a closed club face, you'll pull-hook the ball.
This is a rather large amount of info but I have you now get the whole picture.
__________________ Golf is easy ... once you know how. Graham Arnott, teaching professional Kelrosa Golf Studios www.kelrosagolf.com Class 'A' PGA Member Full Member: World Golf Teachers Federation (GB&I) |