Adventures in topping

Played a round today. Right from the first tee I started topping the ball, until I got close enough to use the wedges, then no problem. It was very annoying, especially in light of the fact that I haven't been topping as much lately as I used to. I was beginning to think I was past that, but it came back today with a vengeance.

It was killing me off the tee and on (what should have been) long fairway shots.

I really focused on keeping my head still, but that didn't fix it. I worked on keeping my left arm straight in the downswing; that didn't fix it either.

I kept my composure, forgot about my score and just tried to figure it out. I went to a gentler swing, thinking maybe I was swinging too hard and that was causing it somehow. That helped a bit, but the problem didn't entirely go away.

I checked my posture and discovered that I was leaning over pretty far, so I took a more upright stance, thus moving a bit closer to the ball.

Fixed!! The toppers went away from that moment. Apparently I was leaning over and then pulling up--something I've noticed before. In fact, this was why I gave up on the one-plane swing. I found that the increased leaning angle was inherently unstable for me. It may be that my tendency to address the ball a bit farther away from me than I should is a hangover from my One Plane Swing days, or it may just be something that tension makes me do.

I ended up with a 115. While that's terrible, you have to understand that it's better than my typical 120. And in fact, when I finally cracked the code I was playing decent golf (bogey golf, which for me is terrific), but it was too late too do anything about my score.

I figured I'd share the story in case it might help someone else who gets into the same rut.

__________________
Todd
Philadelphia, PA
USA

The reason the pro tells you to keep your head down is so you can't see him laughing. ~Phyllis Diller

Any time you can find out the cause of a major flaw that is ruining a round, that is a victory. Grats and glad to hear it went better for you.

ubizmo,
Good to hear your adjustments worked. "Golf is a game of recovery..."

On a side note, ...and no offense intended here, but everytime I see your avatar pic it just creeps me out. I think its the shades.

I have not topped a ball for a long time. Was on a 490 yard par 5. Hit a good 280 yard drive. leaving 210 yards, Pulled out a 3 iron. wham topped it and it only went 100 yards along the ground. thank goodness it was a par 5 and got up and down with a nice pw into the green for birdie.

I played yesterday and topped only one ball, and that was a tricky lie where the ball was well below the level of my feet. So I was pretty pleased with myself.

Meanwhile, I'll shop for a new avatar...maybe something with a goalie mask.