How to Stop Crossing the Line at the Top of the Golf Swing

Seeing your golf club point awkwardly to the right of your target in a video of your swing can be a frustrating moment. That crossed position at the top is a common issue that causes a chain reaction of compensations, leading to wild inconsistency and a loss of power. The good news is that it’s entirely fixable. This guide will walk you through exactly what crossing the line means, the real reasons it happens, and give you simple, easy-to-follow drills to get your swing on track for solid, repeatable shots.

What Does "Crossing the Line" Actually Mean?

Before we can fix it, we need to understand exactly what we’re looking at. Imagine a line running from your golf ball straight toward your target - this is your "target line." At the very top of your backswing, an on-plane golf club will have the shaft pointing either directly at the target or parallel to this target line. It's a position of balance and power, primed for an efficient downswing.

Crossing the line happens when your club shaft goes past this parallel point and points to the right of your target (for a right-handed golfer). Instead of being in a poised, athletic position, your club is now out of sync with your swing path and your body’s rotation.

Why is this a big deal? Because from that crossed position, you can’t simply unwind into the ball. Your body knows the club is out of position, and it forces you to perform a series of quick, unconscious compensations on the way down. You have to "reroute" the club, often by dropping it steeply behind you. This can get you "stuck," forcing your arms to flip at the ball to save the shot. This chain reaction is a primary cause for a frustrating mix of massive hooks and big pushes, all stemming from that one incorrect move at the top.

Why Am I Crossing the Line? The Common Culprits

Crossing the line isn't a random event, it's the result of something happening earlier in your backswing. Most golfers fall into one of these common patterns. See if one of these sounds familiar to you.

Cause #1: An Inside Takeaway

One of the most frequent reasons golfers cross the line starts in the first few feet of the swing. Many players pull the clubhead far behind their hands and body right at the start of the takeaway. This is often an "all arms" movement, with no rotation from the chest or torso. Once the club is that far behind you, your body has nowhere else to go to complete the backswing except up. Your arms lift independently, hoisting the club up and across the line at the top to create a sense of a "full swing."

The Feeling: It feels like you’re wrapping the club around your back immediately, rather than moving your arms, club, and chest away from the ball together as one unit.

Cause #2: Your Right Elbow is Flying

For a right-handed golfer, the right elbow plays a massive role in keeping the swing on plane. In a well-structured swing, the right elbow should point generally down toward the ground at the top of the backswing, staying relatively "connected" to the turn of your body. A flying right elbow is when the elbow separates from your torso and points out, away from you. This lifting motion forces the club shaft to angle across your body and across the line. It moves your left arm into a position that's too steep and makes it nearly impossible for the club not to cross.

The Feeling: At the top of your swing, you’ll feel a major sense of disconnect between your right arm and your body. It will feel like your arm is working totally on its own.

Cause #3: A "Cupped" Left Wrist

Wrist angles are small but have a powerful effect on the clubface and swing plane. A "flat" left wrist at the top of the swing (where the back of your hand is in a straight line with your forearm) is ideal for most players. Many amateurs, however, develop a "cupped" left wrist, where the back of the hand is bent backward, toward the sky. This cupping motion tends to open the clubface and, you guessed it, often points the club shaft across the line. It creates instability at the top and usually requires a big, quick wrist move in the downswing to square the face.

The Feeling: It can feel a bit loose or floppy. The-club may not feel stable and supported at the top of your swing.

Cause #4: Simple Overswinging

Sometimes, crossing the line has nothing to do with a technical flaw and everything to do with a simple misunderstanding: trying to swing too long. Many of us think a longer swing equals more power. In reality, a long, disconnected swing is incredibly inefficient. When you continue to swing your arms long after your body has completed its backswing turn, your arms have to find space somewhere. Their natural path of least resistance is up and over your head, putting the club in that dreaded crossed position. Not only does this not add power, but it actually forces you to bleed energy on the downswing trying to get back on track.

The Feeling: You will feel off-balance and unstable. The transition from backswing to downswing will feel more like a lurch than a smooth uncoiling.

How to Fix It: Simple Drills for a Better Top Position

Correcting this fault is about building the right feelings through slow, deliberate practice. Here are a few drills you can take to the range to retrain your swing path and get your club set perfectly at the top.

Drill #1: The Takeaway Feel (Keep it 'In Front')

This drill helps fix an inside takeaway by retraining the first move away from the ball.

• Set up to the ball as you normally would.
• Without hinging your wrists, begin your backswing by turning your chest and shoulders, allowing your arms and the club to move away together.
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• Stop when the club shaft is parallel to the ground.
• Look down at your hands. The head of the golf club should be blocking your hands from view, or just slightly outside of them. The shaft should be pointing down your target line, not well inside it.

This reinforces the feeling of your chest, arms, and club working together. Practice this a dozen times without a ball, just feeling the motion. Then, try to hit short, easy shots replicating that same unified takeaway.

Drill #2: The Towel Drill (Connection is Everything)

If a flying right elbow is your issue, this classic drill is your best friend. It forces your arm to stay connected to your body’s rotation.

• Take a small hand towel or a headcover and tuck it firmly into your right armpit (for a righty).
• Make some smooth, half-to-three-quarter backswings. The goal is simple: keep the towel from falling.
• If the towel drops, it's a direct signal that your right elbow has separated from your body.

Start with practice swings, then progress to hitting soft shots while keeping the towel in place. You will immediately feel how your body turn has to become the engine of the swing, rather than your arms just flailing. Your swing will feel more compact, which is a good thing!

Drill #3: Stop and Look (The Reality Check)

Building awareness is half the battle. Very often, golfers who cross the line don't even realize they're doing it. A shorter, on-plane swing often feels "too short" to someone who is used to overswinging.

• You can do this at the range, or at home in front of a mirror or with your phone set up to record.
• Take your normal setup and make a very slow, deliberate backswing. Stop when you feel you're at the top.
• Hold that position. Then, turn your head and look at where your club is pointing.
• Is it parallel to your target line? Or has it drifted across?

The goal is to connect the look of a perfect top position with the feel of it. Repeat this again and again. You will start to identify exactly where in your swing the club starts to drift and build the muscle memory required to stop it before it goes too far.

Bringing it to the Course

Once you’ve started to build the right feelings on the range, the key to taking it to the course is patience. Don't go out for your next round and expect to immediately have a flawless swing. Your initial focus should be on replicating the feeling, not the results.

Start your range sessions hitting balls at 50% speed, focusing entirely on a connected takeaway and a more compact feel at the top. Remember, a shorter backswing that is on plane is infinitely more powerful and consistent than a long backswing that is crossed up. You're trading inefficient length for efficient power. As you get comfortable with the motion, you can gradually build up speed, and you’ll find you get a much better strike without feeling like you’re swinging as hard.

Final Thoughts

Fixing a swing that crosses the line boils down to syncing your arm swing with your body’s rotation and understanding the proper checkpoints. By focusing on a unified takeaway, keeping your right arm connected, and committing to a more compact position at the top, you can get your swing back on plane and eliminate the need for those athletic compensations that rob you of consistency.

Building a new motor pattern on the range is one thing, but trusting it on the course under pressure is an entirely different an experience. That’s a big reason we developed Caddie AI. When you're struggling on the range and just wish a coach could tell you what to do, you can ask our AI coach for an explanation or a new drill in seconds. Better yet, when you're on the course, Caddie AI helps you with course management and strategy for every shot, removing the mental load so you can focus on one thing: committing to that great, on-plane golf swing you've been working so hard to build.