You're Correct!

Many of the golfing greats, such as Jim Furyk, Ian Poulter and Tiger Woods have had huge success from a laid off position at the top of their back swing. With this calibre of golfer using this top of the back swing position you would not have thought it is such a bad thing, but for the mere mortals it can be damaging.

A laid off position relates to the swing path on the back swing and the golf club pointing left of the target at the top. There are many causes for this position but the most common is the roll of the wrists during the back swing to point the golf club left of parallel at the top. This not only opens the club face but during the down swing it encourages the club shaft to come into the ball from a steeper angle of attack, therefore causing more off centre hits. Also and possibly more destructive in golf, it causes an out to in swing path which combined with a steep angle of attack and the open club face creates a sliced shot.

Stopping a laid off position at the top of the swing is not something overly difficult to do, as with all golf changes it will take some time on the practice tee.

The position stems from the set up and the movement on the takeaway. A good golf swing is one that stays connected throughout and the first noticeable reference point is the left armpit. At address, the left arm should feel the left side of the body touching it, or the left armpit should be slightly closed. For those golfers who get the club laid off, this connectivity will be lost during the back swing with the gap between the left arm and the body increasing.

The first drill is to keep this connectivity by putting something thin, such as a piece of card or a coin under the left armpit to keep the swing connected. This allows for more body rotation and even encourages the club to be across the line at the top of the swing.

A laid off golf swing can result in a slice, fade or pull shot, so for the club to be closed and produce a hook shot, the term used would be across the line whereby the shaft points right of the target and remains closed during the down swing approaching the ball from an in to out swing path.

Tiger woods has a laid off swing with his iron shots. This is to produce the fade shape hitting into greens for increased spin and stop, especially for longer irons which with a draw will create more roll and less control when landing on the greens.

A laid off club position relates to the golf club pointing left of the target at the top of the back swing. A golf club going past parallel would be known as an over swing.