Our Verdict
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.
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.
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do I top the ball with my driver but not my irons?
Does looking at the ball prevent topped shots?
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