Stop hitting those ugly/embarrassing grounders/worm burners now/today/instantly and begin to easily carry your ball over the obstacles/hazards instead of into them. Discover/Learn how the laws of physics, when properly/correctly applied to your golf swing, will get the ball flying/airborne on the proper/correct flight path/trajectory making it go/fly farther and straighter than ever before!
Topping a golf shot is humiliating/embarrassing and frustrating. Why is it so hard to get the ball airborne on the proper flight path/trajectory? After all, you did take the time to go through your set-up routine checking alignment, posture, balance and so on. You placed the club carefully behind the ball. You initiate/execute the backswing and then the downswing only to watch/see a shot where the ball barely gets off the ground if at all (hence the term worm burner) rolling to a stop far short of/nowhere near your intended target/landing area. You are usually/most likely left with a very difficult/an impossible second shot where going for the green is just about/nearly out of the question. Now it looks like the best you can do is bogey with double bogey very much a possiblity/in play.
When Dooley Duffer, my golfing partner/buddy, began/started topping shots a few weeks back he was so humiliated/embarrassed and disheartened/discouraged. He began attempting/trying to explain it to the group/us as the day/round continued/progressed. I cant remember when I have ever topped the ball like this/so much/so often. It/That is just not like me. I have tried to make adjustments to correct the issue/trajectory but I am still topping the ball. he said.
Well his memory and mine are a bit different. As I remember/recall he goes through periods/spells/times where he tops the ball resulting in short and extremely low trajectory shots. So I kindly/gently reminded him that he had a similar/an identical problem this past January (We live in the Charlotte, NC area where year round play is possible). While he was whining/complaining/commiserating over another topped shot, this one his second to a long par 5, I asked him what he did to correct the problem/swing fault/issue the last time.
He replied that he had just downloaded the eBook How to Break 80 by Jack Moorehouse back then. He said that Jack had some great/good/excellent golf tips and drills in that book. So I asked him, When was the last time you looked it over? To which he replied, Based on the way I am playing it has been way/far too long! Lets go back to my place after the round and look that over. I cant tolerate/stand to play this terribly/poorly any longer.
You see golf, unlike some other sports, is a game of opposites. A golfer must swing easy to hit the ball far, aim to the right to make the ball turn left and then there is the one that was causing/giving Dooley so much trouble that day/round/morning/afternoon. You must hit down on the ball to make it go up. That is how the rule of opposites works in golf.
This is un-natural to/counter-intuitive to/difficult for most of us. We want to swing under the ball and lift it up into the air in an upward motion. That is logical but incorrect/wrong because it ignores the laws of physics and the design of the face of the golf club. The lofted face is an vital/critical/important part of the clubs mechanics; place your/put confidence/trust in it and it will do most of the work for you.
Jack Moorehouse explains it better than I can in his book How to Break 80
Here are 5 keys to stopping topped shots:
Address the ball with a normal stance
Position the ball inside your left heel
Use a one-piece takeaway
Use a descending blow
Finish in balance
To eliminate topped shots address the ball as you normally would, but make sure the ball is no further forward than the inside of your left heel. This is the base of your swing arc. Positioning the ball back in your stance enables you to make contact at the lowest point of your swing. Use a one-piece takeaway and strike the ball with a descending blow. Finish in balance.
Moving the ball back in your stance generates more backspin. This backspin, when applied correctly, works to negate sidespin, which results in more control.
The Two Tee Drill
To stop topping shots put a tee in the spot you would normally use for a fairway wood. Instead of hitting from that tee, place another tee with a ball two inches behind the empty tee in front. As you hit a few shots focus on grazing the empty tee after you make contact with the ball. Repeat several times. As you practice, youll see your shots gaining more and more height.
After practicing with the fairway wood, try other clubs requiring a descending-to-level blow for consistent contact, such as hybrids, irons, and wedges. With hybrids, separate the tees one to two inches apart. With irons and wedges, an inch apart.
As you practice, youll see the number of top balls or thin shots dwindle. Eventually, the topped shot will make its way out of your repertoire altogether.
If you need reliable/sound/trustworthy golf swing lessons/instruction'tips to assist/help you to develop the correct/proper descending blow and lower your handicap then I would like to point you in the direction of
How to Break 80. Then you too can use it like Dooley did as a future reference to help your swing when things go a bit astray/haywire as they occassionally/sometimes will.
The best thing is that all of this help is less than most lessons with a pro, a single training aide or instructional DVD. He is offering a 90-day money back guarantee, so if you don't like the book simply return it. But, once you get into his drills, I highly doubt that you'll need that guarantee.
No more worm burners, topped shots or grounders found here:
http://www.DooleyDuffer.com/swing_instruction.html
