What Are Causes And Cures For Coming Over Top Swing Fault?

Coming over the top during the transition from backswing to downswing is one of the most common mistakes in the amateur game. Countless golfers struggle with this issue, and some never manage to correct their technique. In case you aren’t aware, coming over the top is a problem for one main reason – the slice. This is the move that is usually associated with the slice, and you’ll probably need to take this error out of your technique before you can straighten out your ball flight. With any luck, the advice offered in this article will help you eliminate the over the top move once and for all.

The first thing you are going to need in order to get rid of your over the top move is a good attitude. That might sound a little cheesy, but it’s the truth. If you don’t think you can fix your slice, you will prove yourself right in the end. Only players who are optimistic about their chances to get better will be able to set themselves on the path toward improvement. Even if you have been slicing the ball for years, don’t assume that the pattern has to continue into the future. Your golf swing is all about mechanics – if you can change your mechanics and put yourself into a better position when you strike the ball, your ball flight will inevitably change. We aren’t saying that it is going to be easy, but it certainly is possible.

Before we get too far into this topic, we want to mention that working on your swing during a period of time when you won’t be playing out on the course is a good idea. For example, if you have a month or so available that you can take off from playing any rounds of golf, use that time to attempt to make some mechanical adjustments. It is hard to make technical improvements to your swing when you are going out to play on a regular basis, since your old habits will tend to reappear on the course. Do your best to commit to a period of time where you can just work on your swing in practice without venturing to the first tee. It might not be fun to take time away from the course, but your game should be better off in the long run as a result.

All of the content below is based on a right-handed golfer. If you happen to play left-handed, please take a moment to reverse the directions as necessary.

What Does It Mean to Come Over the Top?

You aren’t going to break this pattern until you gain a clear understanding of what it means to come over the top in a golf swing. Even if you think you already understand this topic, please read through the following description anyway, just to confirm that you know what we are talking about in this article. Understanding the problems that occur in your golf swing is the first step toward correcting those issues and playing better golf.

An over the top swing is one which sees the club move up and away from the body as the backswing transitions into the downswing. It is easiest to think about this action in terms of the position of your hands. When you arrive at the top of the backswing, your hands will be in a certain position as they hold onto the club. If, during the transition, they move up and away from your body, you are swinging over the top. On the other hand, you allow your hands to drop down toward the ground and a bit closer to your body, you will be avoiding the over the top mistake.

Of course, as is the case with most parts of the golf swing, there is plenty of grey area here. You can’t simply check a box ‘yes’ or ‘no’ with regard to whether or not you are making an over the top swing. There are degrees to be considered here, and some over the top swings are certainly worse the others. It is perfectly possible to hit quality golf shots with a slight over the top move, and plenty of quality golfers have done just that. However, as the over the top motion gets more and more pronounced, it becomes harder and harder to hit good shots. This is the case for players who struggle with a chronic slice. Due to a dramatic over the top move, it doesn’t really matter what the player does during the rest of the swing – the ball is going to curve dramatically from left to right after it leaves the club face.

One of the tricky things about the issue of an over the top swing is you may not be able to notice that you are doing it while actually making the swing. It’s hard to watch your own movements during the swing itself, particularly up at the top of the swing when your hands are out of sight unless you turn your head away from the target. So, in order to identify an over the top move in your swing, you will need to enlist some help. There are a couple basic options here. For one, you could ask a friend to watch you make some swings. While this friend doesn’t necessarily need to be an expert golfer, he or she should know enough about the swing to be able to spot an over the top move without much trouble.

The other main option is to use a video camera. By recording your swing on video, you will have the visual proof that you need to draw accurate conclusions about your technique. Since most people have a video camera included in their cell phone, it’s easier than ever before to record your swing and watch it back. To take a video recording during your next driving range practice session, either ask a friend to hold the camera or find a way to position your camera a safe distance away while you record a few swings.

If you do decide to record your swing on video, it is important that you use the ‘down the line’ camera angle for these shots. This is the best angle for spotting an over the top move. Basically, recording yourself from the down the line angle means you are going to place the camera on an extension of the target line, a few feet back from the location of the ball. In other words, as you are standing at address (as a right-handed golfer), the camera is going to be positioned to your right. It should go without saying that the camera needs to be far enough back that you can make a swing without hitting it on the way back or the way down.

The point of this section of the article is a simple one – before you try to fix an over the top move in your golf swing, you should make sure that move is actually present in your technique. Once you are sure that the over the top move is an issue in your game, you will be ready to move on to the task of finding a way to solve this problem for good.

The Root Causes?

If making an over the top move in the golf swing was a rare occurrence, the slice would not be the prevalent issue that it is in the game today. The fact that so many people swing over the top – and so many people slice – highlights the point that this mistake is an easy one to make. You shouldn’t think of yourself as a hopelessly poor golfer just because you have an over the top move to iron out. Countless players have dealt with this issue throughout the history of the game, and many have overcome it successfully. You may have your work cut out for you when it comes to fixing the problem, but it can be done.

As the next step on the road to a better swing, we need to talk about what it is that typically causes an over the top move. Believe it or not, understanding the root cause of your mistake is probably the single biggest hurdle you need to clear in this process. Once you know why you are swinging the club over the top during the transition from backswing to downswing, figuring out how to get on track could be easier than you expect.

Let’s take a look at some of the common causes for an over the top move.

• An inside takeaway. This is a common mistake that leads to an over the top swing. Basically, the trouble starts from the beginning of the swing, when the club moves too far to the inside of the target line. This tends to happen due to too much hand and wrist action in the takeaway. Once the club begins on that inside path, there isn’t much the golfer can do about it until reaching the top of the swing. The club is likely to continue tracing that inside path all the way up to the top, where the player will feel crowded with his or her hands in close to the body. From there, the only real option is to push the club up and away from the right shoulder. There simply isn’t room to drop the club into the downswing properly, since the club is already so close to the body. So, in the end, the player is left with a mistake at the top of the swing that was actually caused by an error at the very start of the swing. If the takeaway is corrected, there is a good chance that the over the top problem will go away on its own.
• Rushing through the transition. Rushing in general is a big problem in the amateur game, and it is especially common at the top. There is something about the transition from backswing to downswing that seems to cause golfers to panic a bit. Whether it is an effort to hit the ball as hard as possible, or just a desire to get the shot over with, many players rush from the top down toward the ball. When that happens, it is likely that the hands – and the club, by extension – will be forced over the top. It takes time to let the downswing develop naturally, with the lower body leading the way. If you don’t give yourself that time, your hands are going to take the path of least resistance toward the ball. That means going up over the top while the lower body remains mostly in place. Quite obviously, it is necessary to learn how to slow down and improve your tempo if you are going to get past this problem. You don’t necessarily have to make a slow swing overall to be successful, but you do need to take enough time at the top to let your lower body get started and lead the way toward the target.
• Trying to help the ball off the ground. Our last point in this list is another common problem. Some golfers, especially those who are new to the sport, think that they need to do something special in order to help the ball get up off the ground. As a result, these players try to ‘scoop’ the ball with their hands at the bottom of the swing, adding loft to the club by keeping the hands back as they flip their wrists. You probably aren’t surprised to learn that this doesn’t really work. For one thing, it’s hard to make solid contact this way, so mishits will be a common result. Also, the ball doesn’t need any help getting into the air – that’s why your clubs have loft built into their design. Not only will trying to help the ball up off the ground make it difficult to achieve clean contact, but this mistake is also likely to lead to an over the top move. It can be hard to get rid of this issue, as it is more about your mindset than it is about your physical technique. To get on track, you will need to learn to trust the fact that the ball will get up into the air just fine when you make clean contact. Once you learn that lesson properly, the urge to scoop the ball at the bottom of the swing should fade away.

We don’t mean to suggest that the three points above are the only potential causes of an over the top swing, because that is certainly not the case. It is true, however, that these are common issues, and there is a good chance one of them is affecting your swing. If you can manage to identify where your swing is going wrong with the help of the list above, you can get right down to work on making the necessary correction.

How To Watch for Signs?

Once you’ve figured out exactly why you are swinging the club over the top, you can start working on making changes that will move your technique in the right direction. As was mentioned in the introduction to this article, it would be best if you can work on your swing while not playing golf on the course for a period of time. Staying off the course will help you focus solely on the improvement of your technique without any temptation to go back to your old methods.

As you are working on your game at the driving range, watch for these signs that things may be getting better.

• The ball is starting on line. This is a big one. When you swing over the top, it is extremely difficult to start the ball on your intended target line. Typically, the ball is going to start to the left of that line, before curving dramatically back to the right. As you begin to eliminate your over the top move, you should see your starting line get closer and closer to the intended target line. But here’s the thing – you may still have your slice, at least for the time being. That’s because your hands still need to learn how to release properly through the hitting area, which will square up the face and result in a mostly straight shot. While it will be frustrating that your ball flight isn’t coming around as quickly as you would like, you should see this as progress. With the ball leaving the club on a better line, you will be one big step closer to putting this issue behind you.
• A flatter ball flight. Players who swing over the top tend to produce extremely high ball flights, especially off the tee. This is because the over the top move leads to a swing which comes down steeply into impact, creating a high rate of backspin and plenty of lift. It might be helpful from time to time to hit the ball so high, but this will be problematic more often than not. As your swing gets better, you should notice that your ball flight begins to flatten out, and your shots will likely travel farther as well. When you do get back out to the course, there may be a period of adjustment as you figure out how far your shots travel now that your swing is improved.
• The slice is gone! Obviously, this is the end point that nearly all over the top players are hoping to reach. If you swing over the top, there is a good chance that you struggle badly with the slice. It’s hard to hide from the slice on the golf course, since it comes into play on so many shots with so many different clubs. When it is finally gone, you will be proud of yourself for fixing your technique, and you will be excited to get back out on the course to see what you can do.

You should always pay close attention to the outcomes of your driving range shots. The pattern of your ball flights can tell you a lot about your swing, and you should quickly be able to notice improvements when they start to appear. Even small signs of improvement can be great motivation to keep working on your technique.

Wrapping It Up

Before calling this article complete, we want to touch on a couple final points.

• It may be a struggle on the course. Unfortunately, there is a bit of a pattern that takes place when golfers improve their swings on the driving range. After putting in plenty of good work and making real progress, they head out to the course with high expectations – and at greatly disappointed in how they play. Taking a new swing out to the course is never easy, even if it is vastly improved over the old version. There is a period of adjustment required before you will trust your new swing enough to use it effectively on the course. Be patient with yourself, and just like on the range, watch for small signs of progress along the way.
• Check in periodically. It is a good idea to check in on the status of your swing periodically to make sure you are still on the right track. It’s easy to fall back into old habits in this game, and that is certainly true when it comes to the over the top move. From time to time, either record your swing or ask a friend to watch just to make sure there is no sign of the old over the top move coming back to haunt you.

We hope this article has provided you with some direction as you work to improve the mechanics of your swing moving forward. It’s never easy to make a major technical change to your swing, but it is exciting when you see your work come together and pay off on the course. Good luck!