Tips from the Pro – Coming Over The Top

By Dave Fazio, Golf Sales Manager  
Eaglewood Resort & Spa

If you are a golfer you’ve probably heard the expression Coming Over the Top many times. So what does this mean and importantly what can I do to stop it?  Well, Coming over the top is when your upper body starts your downswing first or ahead of your lower body. Another way to look at this is the right shoulder (for a right handed golfer) is moving in an outward fashion instead of a downward direction. This results in the golf club coming over the top of the desired swing plane.  In doing so the player has an outward to inward swing pattern resulting in a slice if the club face is open or a straight pull if the club face is closed. See picture below for details.

Here’s a quick tip to help!  The rear shoulder is the main culprit in causing the swing to be over the top of its plane to cure this problem we will need to put a focus on rotating the shoulder in a downward sequence toward your rear hip. Allowing the arms to follow and stay connected to the upper body and the hips to clear ahead of the shoulders. The downward movement of the rear shoulder is the key element to stop the swing from Coming Over the Top, concentrate on that and I see a season of Fairways and Greens in your near future!