Ryan O.12-handicap weekend golfer, Chicago, IL
📖 1,300 words ·
📅 Updated: 2026-05-25 ·
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⚡ Quick Answer
Topped shots come from early extension — your hips thrust toward the ball and your spine rises before impact. The fix is a single drill: keep your trail knee flexed through the entire downswing. This keeps your spine angle consistent and eliminates the top.
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Topped shots feel like you raised your head, but that's rarely the cause. The real culprit is early extension — your hips sliding toward the ball and your spine rising before impact. This pushes the bottom of your swing arc up, and you catch the top of the ball. One drill fixes this permanently.
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What Actually Causes Topped Shots
Golf instruction tells you 'you lifted your head' — but this is a symptom, not a cause. The actual cause is early extension: as you start the downswing, your hips thrust forward and your torso rises. This shortens the distance between your shoulders and the ground, raising your swing arc, and you contact the top of the ball rather than the equator. Head movement is a consequence of the body moving incorrectly.
The Trail Knee Drill
Address the ball normally. Make your backswing. On the downswing, focus on keeping your trail knee (right knee for right-handed golfers) flexed and pointed at the ball throughout the entire downswing and into the follow-through. Do not let the knee straighten or the hip thrust forward. This single thought prevents early extension mechanically. Practice this on a range with half-swings first, then build to full swings. Most golfers eliminate the topped shot within 20-30 practice balls using this drill alone.
How to Check for Early Extension
Film your swing from face-on (facing you) with a phone propped at knee height. Draw a line across the screen at your hip height at address. If your hips rise above this line before impact, you are early extending. You can also use a wall drill: set up with your backside touching a wall at address. If your hips leave the wall on the downswing, you are early extending. The trail knee drill corrects this without needing to think about the hips directly.
Topped Irons vs Topped Driver
Topped irons are almost always early extension. Topped driver can also be caused by teeing the ball too low or the ball position being too far back in the stance (behind the lowest point of the swing arc). For driver: tee the ball higher (half the ball above the crown of the driver at address) and position the ball off your front heel. If you still top it, the trail knee drill applies to driver as well.
Common Causes of Topping — Quick Diagnosis Table
Symptom
Likely Cause
Fix
Tops with every club
Standing up through impact
Maintain spine angle — feel like your chest stays over the ball
Tops only with woods
Ball position too far forward
Move ball 1 inch back toward center
Tops on the range but not on course
Tension/anxiety lifting you up
Take one extra club and swing 80%
Thin contact (low stingers)
Weight staying on back foot
Practice with a towel under trail foot — force weight forward
If you top the ball with your irons specifically, see our guide on hitting irons fat — the same swing fault (poor weight transfer) causes both problems.
Why do I top the ball with my driver but not my irons?
Driver is swept — the low point of your swing arc should be just before the ball at address. If your ball position is too far back or tee is too low, you contact the ball on a downswing rather than the ascending arc required for driver. Move the ball further forward (off front heel) and raise the tee.
Does looking at the ball prevent topped shots?
No — keeping your head still does not prevent early extension. Your head moves because your body moved incorrectly. Fix the body (trail knee drill) and your head stays naturally still.
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