bouncing up on throughswing

as a beginner i have taken some instruction by local pros on my swing basics but i am still having problems topping the ball on almost all my shots.

is there a drill or something i can do other than driving a stake in the ground and tieing my head to it. i seem to be in the right place in my practice swing but usually come up to top most shots. getting a nice straight 100 yd shot along the ground with my driver....lol.

can someone suggest a drill or something to work on staying down on the ball?

thanks

john

Usually a topped shot occurs when there is a change in body height during the backswing,or possibly to severe a backswing lifting club up to early.


Not sure on drills but good remedy to try is firstly exagerate what is called the 1 piece takeaway especially the driver,move the club head back about 1-2 feet depends on your arms length on a very low shallow plane,just be carefull when your doing this that your not dipping the left shoulder(if right handed))the left shoulder needs to turn on a nice good tempo,remember the only purpose of the backswing is to take the club to the top so do not hurry.

While the left shoulder turns it should then start to drag the hips,the hips will turn about 45deg while the shoulders complete a 90 deg turn,do not rush the downswing go for a nice easy controled shot and the mistake would be to think about distance,if hopefully you start to make progress do not rush into doing full swings.keep that tempo going even if it is only a 3 quarter swing for about 1-2 weeks depending on your patience so that you groove the swing without rushing into it.

Also since you mention you are a beginer,probably about 70% of beginers are far to active on lifting there left heel far to high,a slight lift is acceptable but make sure it is the first reverse move on the downswing which is to replant that heel down again.

One final check is to make sure you are not teed up to high most players prefer the top of the driver to be about half ball and the ball should be about level with left foot but you can experiment a little here with that.

http://www.easy2.com/golf.asp

This website is an excellent place to start play the videos and look them over every single day,as soon as you watch it go into your garden and practice what it says while your memmory is fresh,if after you do all this and your still getting no where then visit a pro whom can offer atleast 2 leasons with video playback.

The above information may not always be accurate it is what I do and can only be taken at face value,I do not accept liability for any bad play or any injuries

thanks andy.

never would have thought that the problem could be in the backswing but that is exactly what i am doing.

i will work on keeping the first part low and see if that helps.

while i was checking out the link you gave me i see a couple other things i am doing wrong as well that lead to topping the ball.

again, thanks a lot and i'll post the results on the forum.

john

I think most topping trouble comes from being to eager - trying to knock the skin off the ball then looking up to see where it's gone. Every week in practice I spend a half hour or so making absolutely sure my head doesn't move, usually right through to the finish. Of course you're head will always move but I try to keep it still. Actually, it's not the head that moves up and down (though it does turn sideways a little) it usually starts at the knees but keeping the head still definately helps me.

The idea in golf is to build a repeatable action so keeping the address in uniform shape should help you build a good foundation to the swing. It could also be that your legs are too bent at address, rather than just broken, so they feel springy, as they should be. If you can't ground the club at address don't compensate by bending the knees more. You should always bend from the hips which will put you more over the ball when using a pitching wedge etc.

When practicing the address stance, and this is, I think, you're mainly problem here, I find this little saying helps.

* Stand at attention (feet together, chest out and chin up)

* Stand at ease (don't slump just widen your feet .. keep the chest out and chin up)

* Bend from the hips ( Don't let the chin drop when doing this and remember the chest ... I also like to feel the muscles on my calves pull a bit)

* And flex the knees ( now relieve the pressure off your calves)

Paul