I hear this without fail every day. Many recreational golfers believe this is the sole reason for their endless topping of shots. In actual fact the head coming up is often a by-product of a poor weight transfer. Simply keeping your head down will do nothing more than reduce rotation in the golf swing resulting in weaker shots and poorer strikes.
There are many reasons for topping golf shots, the most common one I see day to day is players not transferring their weight to their left side in the downswing. This often leads to their club to bottoming out behind the ball and the bottom of the club moves upwards towards the top of the ball.
Focussing on transferring your weight onto your lead side in the downswing can help ensure your club is moving downwards as it strikes the ball. This creates crisper and more solid strikes on the ball and allows you to hold on to that much needed swing speed.
It is a fact that majority of the golfing population struggle with left to right curvature.
Although teeing the ball position up inside of your left heel may help you hit up on the ball, it is also worth remembering that the golf club swings on an arc through impact and the later you hit the ball in the arc, the further left the club will be travelling.
If you are someone who struggles with excessive left to right spin, try moving the ball position back a few inches in your setup.
If all things remain equal the club path will become more neutral which will reduce curvature and help you find a few more fairways this weekend!
A bent left arm is not always a bad thing (It doesn’t do Jordan Spieth much harm!)
Many golfers lack the mobility to keep their left arm straight in their golf swing. Providing the bending of the left arm does not dramatically reduce the width of the back swing, it can actually help players to increase speed as it is another lever to release into the ball.
Below is an image of Joe Miller (2016 Winner of World Long Drive Championship). As you can see his left arm bends and he can hit a putter 320 yards!!
Although a straighter left arm is often encouraged, if you are hitting repeatable, good golf shots with your left arm bent, don’t fall into the trap of changing your swing to look ‘Textbook’ as it may be one of the key factors allowing you to play good golf!
