9 Proven Drills to Help You Stop Coming Over the Top
We all know that coming over the top in golf is a pretty significant mistake. It causes inconsistency in strike, ball flight and distance.
The problem, of course, is fixing this over the top golf swing.
Here are a few of the best drills to help you fix your coming over the top problem. You can work on them in any order, just choose the drills that resonate the most with you and use the equipment you have on hand.
Key Takeaways
If you don’t have time to try out these drills right now, here are some of the most important concepts to take away with you.
- If you come from the inside, you won’t come over the top. This can be exaggerated and cause other issues, but start by creating the opposite of your problem and using it to help you straighten the shot.
- Your wrists control the clubface. If the lead wrist position is flat or slightly flexed at the top of the backswing, you will have a hard time coming over the top.
- Use visual aids to help you see the proper path for your club. You can use tees, headcovers, alignment sticks, etc.
- Play around with the ball position to ensure you are not causing this over the top issue by playing the ball too far forward.
- Control timing and tempo so the transition from backswing to downswing is more fluid. You’ll be able to feel that slightly inside path to the golf ball.
Contents
1. What do you want to improve in your full swing?
9 Drills to Help You Stop Coming Over the Top
Palms Together Drill
Having a golf club in your hand can actually be a bit distracting. If you want to stop coming over the top, try this drill where you don’t hold a club.
Instead, you’ll put your palms together and imagine you have a book between them.
As you swing back, try to turn the book towards the sky. On the way down, turn the book towards the ground. This motion should help improve natural rotation in the wrists and increase flexion through impact.
Water Bottle Drill
The water bottle drill works best if you can find one of those larger, square-style water bottles. You’ll fill the bottle about halfway with water. As you swing back, the water stays in the bottom of the bottle, but on the way down, you want it to try to pour out the opposite end.
While doing the drill, you won’t actually pour water; it’s just a feeling or concept that gets the club back behind you on a shallower plane. You won’t be able to take the club over the top in the same way.
Once you do this drill a few times, switch to your club and hit some shots to see if it helped you improve.
Headcover Drill
The head cover drill is probably the simplest of all over the top golf swing drills.
Simply place the head cover behind your golf ball, swing out over it on the way back, and on the way down, make sure you miss the headcover and attack the ball more from the inside.
Rotate the Face Drill
This drill from Chris Ryan Golf is a unique perspective on how to stop coming over the top. Sometimes, all it takes is a unique feeling or concept to get the club in the right position to attack the ball.
With this drill, you will hold the club out in front of you, rotate it back, and then learn to rotate the face closed (using a more flexed wrist position).
From this spot at the top of the backswing you won’t be able to come over the top because of the angle of your wrist.
If you enjoy working with this drill, you can make it even more effective by incorporating the HackMotion wrist analyzer.
Stripes On the Golf Ball Drill
Luckily, most golf range balls have some stripe or logo on them. This drill from Alaistair Davies encourages you to use the stripes on the golf ball to help you avoid coming over the top.
Find the stripe on the ball. Your straight line will be 12 o’clock on the clock. Don’t align the stripe on the ball down the straight 12 o’clock line; instead, turn it to 2 o’clock.
As you swing, think about hitting the ball and swinging out towards this 2 o’clock position.
This is a simple drill, and you won’t need much equipment to do it.
Set Pause Drop Drill
This drill from Scratch Golf Academy helps you feel the way the golf club is supposed to move in the swing. You’ll be less worried about the golf ball and more interested in that feeling of striking the ball from the inside.
Use a tee when practicing the set pause drop drill. Without the tee, you may lose confidence in the drill.
To do the drill, set the club, pause, rotate back and drop the club into place. It’s supposed to be smooth and it will help you keep the arms from overworking on the downswing.
Play the Ball Back
Chris Ryan has a lot of actionable advice for golfers of all levels. This drill shows you the power of moving the golf ball in your stance. If you play the ball too far forward, it could be part of your problem with your over-the-top swing.
You will tee the ball up again for this drill to make it a little easier to strike.
Play the ball off of your trail heel and use something like a 7-iron. This is only a drill, and you won’t keep the ball here long term. The sole focus of this shot and setup is to hit the ball cleanly. You may hit a draw, and you may leave it a little out to the right.
However, you won’t be able to hit the ball from the inside, which is a tremendous benefit.
Pause at the Top Drill
The pause at the top drill is the best place to start if you are looking to stop coming over the top and become a better ball striker. It’s easy, requires no equipment, and won’t mess up your golf swing!
Many golfers face issues transitioning from the backswing to the downswing. The transition is often rushed, and the wrists are too extended, causing more of an over-the-top motion.
Instead, pausing at the top for just a few seconds will help you feel the arms fall into place and get on the proper plane. You can make this transition if you work on it for a drill.
However, when you go back to hitting traditional shots, you can think of the pause. You don’t have to do it.
Pause at the Top Drill: Take your normal backswing, but pause for a few seconds at the top before starting your downswing. This helps you feel the correct transition and path down to the ball.
Under the Arm Drill
This last drill from Matt Fryer Golf is a good option if you need help with the concept of what it feels like to come from the inside and stop swinging over the top.
Take your normal setup and then hold the top of the club with your lead hand so it is vertically out in front of you.
Lean on the top of the club as it pushes against the ground.
Now pretend you have a club in your trail hand and swing back. If you make an over the top movement, you’ll hit your lead arm. If you swing from the inside, your arm will fly under your trail arm, and you’ll feel the proper path of the club.
1. What do you want to improve in your full swing?
Final Thoughts
We can talk about swinging over the top and how bad it is all day. If you want actionable drills and tips to fix the over-the-top motion for good, this is how it’s done.
All of these drills can be done on the driving range. Some will help you get the feeling instantly, and others you can use over the course of a few months.
The HackMotion is a great tool to incorporate when swinging over the top. With the correct wrist position at the top of your backswing, you’ll have a much easier time eliminating the over-to-top motion.
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