Topping Long Irons and Fairway Woods

by Roger Hughes
(Adelaide, Australia)

I have trouble during a round with topping some fairway woods and long irons. A bad habit is also that I get stuck on my back foot sometimes. My handicap is 15 but that is more often due to good scrambling.

Can you help?
Roger

Louis Reply

Full details for topped shots are available in this article.

It is clear from your explanation above that getting stuck on the back foot is your major problem. The club can't reach the ball with this action.

In my experience the cause of being stuck on the back foot is trying to hit too hard from the top of your back swing. This action promotes the weight to stay back to allow the pulling action of the hands.

You need to allow your hips to turn and transfer your weight to the left side before while the arms hands and club follow. This will allow them to start slower from the top and reach maximum speed at the ball.

Try 2 things firstly, with your fairway woods move the ball position to between middle of the stance and the left heel or 2 inches inside your left heel.

A common problem I have found with students is playing the ball to far forward off the left foot with fairway woods. The club head at impact is going to be on the way up before it reaches the ball resulting in a topped shot.

Secondly, take practice swings without a ball and where the club brushes the grass is where you want to have the ball position. You can also focus here on allowing the hips and legs to lead the down swing.

This will help you to finish on the left side with your hips and shoulders facing the target.

Focus on simply swinging the club head without trying to put any effort into the action and you will see how easy it is to get solid contact every time.