11 Common Golf Swing Mistakes & Their Simple Fixes

Every golf swing may be unique, but there are some swing mistakes that are common among all golfers.

In fact, issues like swinging over the top or leaving the clubface open at impact are issues that almost every player deals with at some point in their golf game.

We picked the top 11 most common golf swing mistakes, broke down their causes, and gave you some simple fixes to help get your golf game back on track.

If you’re struggling with just about anything, you should be able to find your solution here.

Key Takeaways

If you don’t have time to work your way through all of these common swing mistakes and their fixes, here are some of the most important takeaways:

• Most swing mistakes start before impact. From over-the-top paths to casting the club early, poor sequencing and setup can lead to weak contact, slices, or fat shots.
• Wrist action is important. A lead wrist that stays extended in the downswing often leads to an open clubface and a weak slice.
• Poor weight transfer is a problem. Reverse pivots, early extension, and loss of rotation all trace back to bad balance and timing. Drills focused on lead-side loading and hip bumping can bring back your power and consistency.

Don’t forget tempo. A rushed backswing or stalled finish throws off your entire sequence. Use a simple 3:1 swing tempo count or HackMotion’s real-time feedback to build rhythm that holds up under pressure.

11 Common Golf Swing Mistakes and How To Fix Them

Over-the-Top Swing Path

The over-the-top swing path happens when the downswing starts with the shoulders and arms leading instead of the lower body.

The club tends to cut across the ball, and the shots are pulls when the face is square or powerless slices when the face is open.

If you are swinging over the top, you’ll likely see your divot pointing left of the target.

How to Fix an Over-the-Top Swing Path

1. Flare your trail foot 20-25° to unlock hip turn.
2. Hands-to-Pocket Drill: from the top, feel the hands drop toward the trail?hip pocket instead of getting out and away from your body.
3. Incorporate the lower body to add power and make sure you are staying more connected.

Early Casting / Loss of Lag

Casting the golf club when the trail wrist is straightened too soon and you lose your lag before impact is often a result of trying to gain power.

What happens instead is a high, weak ball flight and sometimes even fat shots.

The HackMotion Casting Drill will help you learn to start your downswing with a small hip turn and maintain your trail wrist extension through impact.

How to Fix Early Casting

1. Pause at the top.
2. Start down with a small hip bump while keeping trail?wrist extension.
3. HackMotion biofeedback: green = stored lag; red = cast.

Insufficient / Excessive Shaft Lean

Forward shaft lean tends to confuse golfers. It’s important to have a forward shaft lean at impact, but just how much tends to be an issue.

Some players have no forward lean or too much, and then pair that with an open clubface. If you don’t have enough forward shaft lean, you may see shots that are too high or weak blocks and fades.

Too much shaft lean could lower the ball flight and make it difficult to get the ball to stop when you need it to.

How to Fix Shaft Lean Issues

1. Take slow-motion swings and check your impact position.
2. Handle ahead of clubhead and lead wrist flat/bowed.
3. Hit waist-high punch shots, freezing the club at waist level.

Cupped Lead Wrist at the Top

The wrist position at the top of your backswing will greatly impact your clubface angle at impact.

If the wrist is too extended, it opens the clubface, and you’ll have to do a lot of work on the way down to square it up.

Work on getting the clubface in the correct position at the top of the backswing with the combined top drill.

How to Fix Cupped Lead Wrist at the Top

1. Address the ball normally with HackMotion on. Make a rapid backswing, just like a real shot, without pausing.
2. As soon as you reach the top, look to see whether you hit the desired wrist position in the HackMotion green zone.
3. From that checked top position, continue down smoothly. The idea is to blend the correct top-of-swing wrist angle into your normal downswing sequence.

Lack of Rotation / Poor Weight Transfer

When you contact the golf ball, your weight should be on your lead foot.

If the weight stays back and you finish on the trail foot, you’ll notice thin shots and sometimes a strike behind the ball.

Sometimes the fix is as simple as staying more on the lead side right from the start.

How to Fix Lack of Rotation

1. Address with 60% weight on lead foot.
2. Feel like you keep your weight on the lead foot in the backswing while still rotating around your spine.
3. Combine hip bump + HackMotion Casting Drill to sync lower body and lag retention.

Early Extension (Standing Up)

Early extension happens when your pelvis thrusts towards the ball on the downswing. Many times it happens as a reaction to an open face or a steep attack angle.

You’ll lose your posture and hit a heel shot or even a shank.

How to Fix Early Extension

1. Make sure your clubface is square at the top with a flat lead wrist.
2. Place an alignment stick behind your back and rest your backside against it, keep gentle pressure against it in the downswing.
3. If you still stand up on the downswing, make sure your setup and posture are correct. Also, check the clubface angle and ensure it’s square.

Disconnection (Arms Separate from Torso)

If your arms outrace the body, you may notice the trail elbow flies or the lead arm lifts instead of rotates in the backswing.

Below is what your hands should look like during the backswing.

This simple drill is a great warmup, even if you are not struggling with disconnection. It should help you become more consistent in your ball striking.

How to Fix Disconnection

1. Keep a golf glove or tee under your armpits.
2. The glove should stay trapped through impact.
3. Start with half swing shots and then move to a full swing, maintaining the position of the glove throughout the swing.

Stalling Through Impact

If you are still feeling like you stop at the ball instead of swinging through it it’s causing you to lose power and maybe even hook your golf shots.

Learning to compress the golf ball and get as much speed as possible through the ball will help you from stalling at impact.

How to Fix Stalling Through Impact

1. Hit punch shots with full intent.
2. Stop the club just past impact.
3. Check to make sure you had lead wrist flexion and the hands are ahead of the clubhead.
4. Do this with half swing and then add some length to the backswing.

Clubface Open at Impact

A clubface open at impact is the reason you are slicing your shots. This open clubface is caused by the lead wrist staying extended in the downswing instead of moving towards flexion.

You’ll notice the ball starts right and then curves even further right. Your shots will feel like you swipe the ball instead of compressing it and hitting it well.

How to Fix an Open Clubface at Impact (Motorcycle Drill)

1. Address the golf ball as you normally would and swing to the top of your backswing.
2. On the downswing, “rev the throttle” (add lead-wrist flexion) until the shaft is parallel to the ground (P6).
3. Hold that flexion through impact, then release naturally.

Reverse Pivot

The reverse pivot is when your weight shifts forward in the backswing and backward in the downswing. The better action is for the opposite to happen.

Golfers with a reverse pivot often have weak contact and sometimes hit fat shots.

Dialing in your weight transfer throughout your swing will help improve contact and accuracy of your strikes.

How to Fix Reverse Pivot

1. Film yourself hitting shots face-on.
2. Ensure the upper body doesn’t lean toward the target at the top.
3. Focus on weight starting on the lead side, transferring back slightly and then being back on the lead foot at impact.
4. Maintain your spine angle and posture to improve issues with reverse pivot.

Poor Rhythm & Tempo

Finally, you’ll probably notice lots of inconsistency in your golf game if you struggle with poor rhythm and tempo.

One of the most important things to focus on when working with your tempo and rhythm is the ratio between your backswing and downswing.

If you are wearing the HackMotion while you practice, take a look at your swing tempo and how that ratio changes on your good and bad golf swings.

How to Fix Poor Rhythm & Tempo

1. Count “one-two” to the top of your backswing.
2. Count “three” to impact (approximately 3:1).
3. Wear your HackMotion and make sure your tempo is staying consistent on each golf swing.

Final Thoughts

At this point, you have some basic fixes and a great way to work on almost every aspect of your golf game.

Wearing the HackMotion while practicing will help improve your progress and make playing with a square clubface easier.

Start with one of these mistakes at a time. Feel like you master it and then move to the next.

Not all golf swing mistakes can be fixed in a practice session — it takes time and dedication to practice to truly lower your scores.