Want to know how to stop topping the ball on your drives? Learn correct technique and mental golf swing thoughts to hit solid tee shots and get rid of worm burners.

To maximize the golf swing tips below, I suggest you have a golf pro or a friend look at your swing to note your common swing fault when you top the ball.

Knowing your common swing fault will allow you to have a more personalized swing thought to stop topping the ball.

However, even without knowing your exact swing fault, you can still stop your ball from skulling down the fairway with the tips below.

First Let’s Address Why You Top Your Tee Shots

• You lift your upper body before impact on your follow through;
• You straighten your legs on the downswing before impact;
• You losing your balance during the swing;
• You have the ball teed up to low for your driver; and/or
• You have the ball teed to far forward in your stance.

Preliminary Fixes Before Addressing Swing Thoughts

Yes, that is right, you guess it! First you need to make sure that the golf ball is teed up at the correct height and at the correct place in your stance to stop topping the ball.

You want your tee ball lined up with your front heel and the ball height to be just high enough to put the equator of the ball level with the top of the wood you are teeing off with.

This rule holds true for all woods from the driver to the 9-wood.

• See this article to brush up on other golf stance basics.

Negative Swing Thoughts That Cause You to Top The Ball

Do you find yourself subconsciously or even consciously saying this to yourself right before impact? This is an improper swing thought for all golf shots except one, which is irrelevant for the purposes of this article.

First, this is a thought that leads you to become handsy at the moment of impact.

Of course, at the time of impact your club is moving far to fast for your hands to do anything in a manner you can accurately control. So subconsciously you put on the brakes by coming up out of your posture, pulling your head up, and straightening your legs before impact.

The end result is that you have all of the keep ingredients needed to top the golf ball.

Second, this swing thought leads to slices and hooks caused by overactive hands.

This is another handsy thought because it tells you to react quickly. Of course, the quickest fast twitch muscles associated with the swing are the hand muscles. Thus you end up with the same domino effect mentioned above.

Really, what you want to deliver to the ball is momentum. This is mass * velocity. There is little mass in your hands. All your mass is in your shoulders, chest, legs, etc... You want to motion that mass to the ball.

So, if you need a knock it out of here mental golf thought think “MOMENTUM THE BALL” It should make you think of solidly moving your body through the ball to deliver a powerful blow and stop topping the ball.

Proper Swing Thoughts to Stop Topping Your Tee Shots

“Maintain My Spine Angle” – If you don’t know what specific swing fault you have that brings you out of your posture.

“Maintain Your Head Height” – If you know that lifting your head is the common swing fault that brings you out of your posture.

“Keep Your Butt Poked Out” – If you know that you tend to push your behind forward as you perform your downswing before impact.

“Maintain Flex In Your Back Leg” – If you know that your common swing fault is straightening your back or front leg before impact.

“Momentum the Ball” – As mentioned above, this can help replace the “Kill The Ball” swing thought that plagues a lot of golfers.

Top of Stop Topping the Ball Also see

Golf Swing Tip Main Page
Downswing Swing Thoughts
Mental Golf Main Page