Updated on March 9th, 2023 at 11:08 am
Have you ever been told that your golf swing path is known to come over the top?
This is a common way to describe one of the most frequent errors seen in amateur golf. If you are new to the game or are simply working on improving your scores, you will need to know how to fix an issue with coming over the top.
The good news is that there are some ways that you can quickly fix the issue of coming over the top during your Golf swing sequence.
We have put together the simplest way to see, understand, and feel how coming over the top impacts your swing and how to fix it for good.
What does coming over the top mean in golf?
In golf, there is a swing plane that determines where the golf club should remain to be able to hit a long and straight golf shot. The swing plane looks like one large circle at an angle.
The backswing and the downswing can be either on or off the plane.
When you swing over the top of the plane, the golf club will be higher than the recommended swing plane on the downswing of the shot. Instead of approaching the ball from the inside and hitting the inside corner of the ball, the club comes from the outside or over the top.
See our recent post on hitting a golf ball from the inside.
How does coming over the top impact ball flight?
It is nearly impossible to stay consistent when you come over the top. The club will be swinging away from the body on the downswing, making it difficult to repeat the motion.
Therefore, the ball flight of your shots will be impacted almost every time you come over the top.
The most common issue that golfers will see with an over-the-top golf swing is a slice. When the club makes contact with the ball, a sidespin is applied to the golf shot, which causes left to right spin.
This happens from the steepness of the path or plane and the fact that the ball is hit from the outside top corner instead of the inside bottom.
In addition, some golfers will see an extreme pull on the golf shots that are hit with an over the top swing. Both of these misses will cause issues with the overall effectiveness of the golf shots that are being hit. The only way to get more consistent is to stop coming over the top.
How to quickly fix coming over the top
There are some basic steps you can take to get rid of your over the top golf move. These steps won’t take you long to learn, and you can practice them both at home and at the driving range.
1) Setup | Takeaway
Ensure that your setup is square to your target and that you are taking the club back on a slightly inside plane. Taking videos of your golf swing and watching what the right hip and right elbow do during takeaway can be quite helpful.
You will notice that the club has to come back just slightly inside to get it on the proper path.
2) Keep things close
Do not let your arms and elbows get away from you during your downswing. When you have gap between your right elbow and your armpit of the right arm, you will not be on an inside plane to approach the ball. Many golfers will call this motion the flying elbow.
If your elbow is flying away from you on the downswing, your golf club path will be over the top, and you likely have a slice coming your way.
Take an extra golf glove and put it under your right armpit as you swing and practice. On the downswing, you should feel as though the glove can stay in place all the way through the impact position.
3) Drop the club in the slot
To fix the over the top golf swing, you must ensure that your club is dropping onto an inside plane for the downswing. Many golfers will feel as though they take the club to the top of the swing, feel a slight pause, and then a drop of the club. This motion takes quite a bit of practice.
The good news is that our drill with keeping the glove tucked in will teach you this top move without much trouble at all. Dropping the club on the downswing is not an exaggerated movement; it simply involves not letting the hands and arms take over from the top and create the over-the-top motion.
4) Extend
You will notice that once you stop coming over the top, it will be much easier to swing out and away towards your target. Most of the time, a golfer that hits the ball over the top will almost stop after impact because they don’t have the proper path.
Once you drop the club into that spot by feeling the connection of the right arm, you can swing out and away towards the target. This increase in range of motion will help with weight transfer and the overall ball speed of the golf shots you are hitting.
Over the top frequently asked questions
Here are a few of the most commonly asked questions about the over the top swing and what needs to be done to fix it and get the club in the proper position.
Why do i keeping coming over the top on my golf swing?
Most of the time, golfers come over the top in the downswing because they didn’t get to the proper position in the backswing.
If you are a player that is overly active with your arms and hands in your swing, it may also cause you to come over the top. To stop coming over the top, you need to learn what is required at the top and how to get the club back on the plane.
Does coming over the top impact drivers and irons?
A golf swing that comes over the top will have a negative impact on both drivers and irons. The drill we gave you with the golf glove under your arm is going to help ensure that both your drivers and irons can get on a better path.
If you are a golfer that slices the ball quite a bit, coming over the top could be the major cause.
Can an alignment stick help?
An alignment stick is a great choice for helping you to stop coming over the top.
You can place an alignment stick in the ground that essentially blocks the club from coming over the top. The idea here is that it will need to fit under the alignment stick when you swing the club on the downswing.
Looking for other ideas on how to use? We break down multiple ways to use alignment sticks here.
Be careful when you do this that you do not hit the alignment stick with the club head. Always set it up in a safe but effective position for helping you see the swing plane.
If you haven’t already, be sure to check out AEC Info’s review which was done earlier in 2021 on the Best golf alignment sticks.
Conclusion
Now that we have discussed what an over the top swing is and how to fix it, the only thing left to do is head to the driving range.
To stop your over the top move, you will have to work on your technique and get the club on a much better path. This will take working with a few drills, swinging on a proper plane, and ensuring that your backswing and downswing are on the proper line.
Take some videos of your golf swing as an initial step and ensure you are coming over the top. Once you know this is the cause, get to work on your new swing and start seeing instant results.
