How to Stop Chopping Down on the Golf Ball

That steep, chopping motion that takes a huge divot and sends the ball weak and to the right is one of golf's most common frustrations. It feels powerful, yet the results are anything but. The ball slices weakly, the contact feels jarring, and you're left staring at a crater in the fairway wondering what went wrong. In this guide, we’ll move beyond simply telling you to 'swing more from the inside.' We’ll dig into the real reasons you chop down on the ball and give you practical, step-by-step drills to replace that steep, unsatisfying motion with a powerful, connected golf swing.

So, What Exactly is a 'Chop' Swing?

Before we can fix it, we have to understand it. "Chopping down" is golf slang for a swing path that is excessively steep and moves from out-to-in. Imagine a line pointing from the ball to the target. An ideal swing path approaches the ball from slightly inside that line and continues down it through impact. A chopping motion does the opposite.

The club is lifted steeply in the backswing and then thrown "over the top" in the downswing, causing it to travel from outside the target line to inside it. It's essentially coming down *at* the ball from the wrong angle. This is the classic "slicer's swing," and it leads to a few trademark results:

• Deep, chunky divots that often start behind the ball (fat shots).
• Skulled or thinned shots where the leading edge catches the ball's equator because the club's low point is so far behind the ball.
• Weak, high slices where the steep, out-to-in path puts significant "slice spin" on the ball, robbing it of distance and accuracy.
• A feeling of wasted effort. You swing hard, but the ball doesn't go very far.

This motion is a power leak and a consistency killer. To fix it, we have to address its root causes.

Understanding Why You Chop Down on the Ball

Your chopping motion isn't random, it's your body's attempt to accomplish a task based on a misunderstanding of how the golf swing works. Here are the three most common reasons golfers develop a steep chop.

1. Your Upper Body is Taking Over

This is flaw number one. At the top of your backswing, your instinct tells you to hit the ball hard. For most people, that instinct activates the strongest-feeling muscles first: the shoulders, chest, and arms. So, they start the downswing by throwing their right shoulder (for a righty) out towards the ball. This lunge immediately pushes the club "over the top" and onto a steep, outside path. There's nowhere for the club to go from there except down and across the ball - the very definition of a chop.

A good golf swing is a sequence that starts from the ground up. Your hips begin to unwind, followed by your torso, which then pulls your arms and the club down into the correct slot. When your upper body leads the charge, that graceful sequence is broken.

2. The Misguided Attempt to "Lift" the Ball

It seems logical: to make the ball go up, you need to lift it. To lift it, you swing down on it. This thought process, while understandable, is a primary cause of the chop. Many players believe the descending blow from a chop is necessary to get the ball airborne. They fear "sweeping" the ball or hitting it on the upswing will result in it never leaving the ground.

The truth is, your golf club does the lifting for you. The loft on the clubface is designed to launch the ball into the air. Your job is to deliver that loft to the back of the ball with a slightly descending blow for an iron, not a vertical demolition. The idea is to have the club bottom out just after the ball, not a foot behind it.

3. A Faulty "Swing Thought"

Many new and developing golfers see the swing as a straight-line action. They think of bringing the club "back" and then hitting "through" the ball towards the target. This mental picture encourages an up-and-down, linear motion. However, as our coaching philosophy states, "the golf swing is a rotational action of the golf club that moves around the body in a circle-like manner."

If your mental image is chopping wood, you will chop. If your mental image is swinging a weighted rope around your body, you will start to feel the flow and shallow path we're looking for. It's about rotating, not hitting.

The Fix: Your Guide to a Shallow, Rotational Golf Swing

Enough with the problem, let’s get to the solution. Fixing the chop involves drills that retrain your swing sequence and path. These aren't complicated, but they require patience and repetition to overwrite your old muscle memory.

Drill #1: The Gate Drill

This drill provides undeniable feedback about your club's path. If you come over the top, you cannot miss the gate. It forces your brain to find a new route to the ball.

How to do it:

1. Set up to a golf ball as you normally would.
2. Place a second object - a headcover, an empty water bottle, or even another golf ball - about 6-8 inches outside of your ball and about 4-6 inches in front of it. This creates a "gate" your clubhead must "pass through."
3. Take slow, deliberate practice swings. Your goal is simple: strike the golf ball without hitting the outside object.
4. If you are chopping down, your out-to-in swing path will cause you to hit the gate object. To miss it, you will have to make your club approach the ball from the inside. Start with half-swings and build up to full speed as you consistently miss the gate.

What it fixes: This drill directly attacks the out-to-in swing path of the chop. It's a visual and physical obstacle that forces your club onto a shallower, more inward path.

Drill #2: The Towel Under the Armpit Drill

This classic drill is one of the best for curing an upper-body dominant swing. It promotes a feeling of "connection" between your arms and your body.

How to do it:

1. Take a standard golf towel and tuck it firmly under your trail armpit (your right armpit for a right-handed player).
2. Take practice swings at 50-70% speed, focusing on your swing sequence.
3. When you lunge with your upper body from the top, your right elbow will fly away from your body, and the towel will immediately drop to the ground.
4. The goal is to feel your lower body start the downswing, keeping your right elbow closer to your side. This keeps the towel pinned against your torso until well after impact.

What it fixes: This drill prevents the shoulders and arms from initiating the downswing. It trains you to let your body's rotation pull the arms down naturally, which drops the club "in the slot" and stops the over-the-top motion before it ever starts.

Drill #3: The Step Drill

Sequencing is everything. This drill is fantastic for feeling how the lower body should lead the downswing, making an upper-body-led chop feel very awkward and out of sync.

How to do it:

1. Take your normal setup posture, but place your feet completely together.
2. Begin your backswing. Just as you are about to start your downswing transition, take a small step towards the target with your lead foot (your left foot for a righty), planting it about shoulder-width apart.
3. Let this step initiate the unwinding of your hips and torso. Your arms and the club should feel like they are almost "lagging" behind, naturally dropping into a shallow position.
4. Complete your swing through to a balanced finish.

What it fixes: The step forward automatically forces your lower body to fire first. You cannot lunge with your shoulders while simultaneously stepping toward the target. It retrains the entire downswing sequence from the ground up, making a shallow attack angle automatic.

Final Thoughts

Replacing a steep, chopping swing with a smooth, rotational one comes down to understanding the cause and committing to the fix. It’s a shift from an 'arm-heavy' hit to a 'body-led' swing, where your lower body starts the downswing and the club shallows out naturally, delivering power without wasteful, 'chopping' effort.

Knowing exactly what to work on is the biggest step toward improvement. Sometimes, it’s hard to tell if you’re actually coming over the top or if the problem lies somewhere else. With Caddie AI, we take the guesswork out of that process. You can describe your shot miss - for instance, "I take huge divots and slice the ball" - and get an instant diagnosis and a personalized drill to fix it. By analyzing your swing and understanding your tendencies, we help you stop practicing for the sake of it and start making changes that lead to real, on-course results.