What Causes Topspin on a Golf Ball?

That low, diving shot that barely gets off the ground and rolls miserably a few yards forward is one of golf’s most frustrating experiences. This dreaded topped shot comes from a simple cause: your club is striking the top half of the golf ball instead of hitting it squarely. In this guide, we'll break down exactly why this is happening and give you straightforward, actionable drills to eliminate topspin and start striking the ball with the clean compression you’re looking for.

Understanding the "Top": It's a Matter of Impact

To understand why a topped shot happens, let's first think about the ideal shot. On a great iron shot, the clubhead descends into the ball, compresses it against the face, and creates backspin. This backspin is what makes the ball climb into the air, hold its line, and stop controllably on the green. Topspin is the exact opposite. It occurs when the arc of your swing is too high at the point of impact, causing the club to strike above the golf ball's equator. This impact imparts a forward-tumbling "topspin" that drives the ball directly into the ground, a result commonly known as a "topped shot" or a "worm-burner."

Imagine a cue ball in pool. If you strike it below its center, it will spin backwards. If you strike it above its center, it will lurch forward with topspin. The same physics apply in golf. The goal is to make the clubhead contact the ball first, and then the turf just after it. This "ball-then-turf" sequence is the foundation of a pure strike. When you top the ball, it means your swing's lowest point (the "low point") happened either before the ball or was too high altogether, preventing you from ever hitting the "sweet spot." Below, we’ll tackle the primary swing faults that cause this incorrect impact.

The 3 Major Swing Faults That Cause Topspin

Most topped shots can be traced back to one of three common swing flaws. Very often, these faults are interconnected, but by focusing on one at a time, you can diagnose and fix the root cause of your issue.

Fault #1: Lifting Your Body Through Impact (The "Standing Up" Move)

This is arguably the most common cause of topped shots, especially for newer golfers. It stems from the natural but incorrect impulse to try and help the ball get airborne. As you swing down towards the ball, you unconsciously lift your chest and straighten your legs, fundamentally changing the posture you established at address.

When you stand up, your entire swing arc raises with you. The clubhead that was on a perfect path to strike the middle of the ball is now lifted several inches higher at impact, causing it to catch only the top part of the ball - or miss it entirely! Your body is trying to "scoop" the ball up, but golf clubs are designed to use loft to get the ball in the air, your job is to deliver that loft by hitting down and through the ball.

How to Fix It: Maintaining Your Spine Angle

The solution is to learn to rotate your body around a fixed spine angle rather than standing up. You need to trust that the loft on the club will do the work.

• The Core Feeling: "Chest to the Ground": As you swing through impact, feel like your chest stays pointed down towards the space where the golf ball was. You are rotating your shoulders and hips, but your spine is not getting straighter. Resisting the urge to look up early is part of this. Keep your head relatively still until your right shoulder (for a righty) passes under your chin.
• Drill: The Head Against the Wall: To feel this in a practice setting, set up a few feet from a wall, so that when you get into your golf posture, your head is lightly touching it. Take slow-motion practice swings. As you swing back and through, your head should remain in contact with the wall. If you lift up and straighten your spine, your head will immediately come off the wall. This gives you instant feedback on maintaining your posture throughout the motion.

Fault #2: An Incorrect Low Point (Hitting Up on the Ball)

Your swing is an arc, and the bottom-most point of that arc is called the low point. For clean contact with an iron, the low point of your swing should occur just after the golf ball. A topped shot often happens because your low point is before the ball. Having your weight hang back on your trail foot is a primary cause of this.

When your weight stays back, your entire swing arc bottoms out too early. By the time the club reaches the ball, it's already on its upward path. This upward strike catches the ball on its equator (a "thinned" shot) or its top half (a "topped" shot). The feeling is that you are "falling back" as you hit it.

How to Fix It: Shifting Your Weight and Controlling the Low Point

To hit solid iron shots, you need to feel your weight transferring to your lead foot during the downswing. This moves the low point forward, ensuring you hit the ball first.

• The Core Feeling: "Ball First, Then Turf": This is the golden rule of iron play. Your goal is not to hit the ball, your goal is to strike the ground on the target side of the ball. If you focus on that, your body will instinctively make the right moves to accomplish it.
• Drill: The Line in the Grass: Take a divot tool or tee and draw a line in the grass perpendicular to your target line. Place a ball directly on that line. Now, your only thought is to hit the ball and make your divot start after the line. If your divot starts on or before the line, your weight didn't get forward enough. Hit a series of shots with this goal. You will quickly learn the feeling of moving your low point forward, creating that compression you're after.
• Drill: The Step-Through Swing: This one is excellent for learning proper weight transfer. Set up normally, then take your swing. As you swing through impact into your follow-through, let your back foot come off the ground and take a step forward toward the target, finishing like a baseball player who just threw a ball. It’s impossible to do this correctly without shifting your weight forward. It will train your body to lead the downswing with your lower half.

Fault #3: The "Chopping" Motion (Swinging Too Steeply)

A golf swing is not an up-and-down "chopping" action, it’s a rounded motion where the club rotates around your body. Many players, particularly beginners, use their arms almost exclusively, lifting the club straight up and chopping straight down. This vertical movement is incredibly difficult to time.

When you swing too steeply, two bad outcomes are common. You either dig the club into the ground far behind the ball (a "fat" shot), or your body instinctively knows a fat shot is coming and reacts by lifting up at the last second to avoid the ground. This compensation is what causes the top. You're trading one mishit for another.

How to Fix It: Feeling the "Roundness" of the Swing

Your body is the engine of the golf swing. By learning to rotate your torso and hips, you’ll naturally flatten the swing plane and get the club moving around you instead of just up and down.

• The Core Feeling: "Around, Not Up": On your backswing, feel like you are turning your chest away from the target, allowing the club to move around your body. The path is more of a circle around your spine than a vertical lift. By focusing on torso rotation instead of just lifting the arms, the swing becomes shallower and much more consistent.
• Drill: Feet Together Swings: Hit some half-speed shots with your feet touching. This restriction makes it very difficult to swing too steeply or just with your arms. It forces you to rotate your body back and through to maintain balance. You'll instantly feel better rhythm and see how arm, body, and club synchronization produce a much smoother, more rounded swing arc.

A Quick Check of Your Setup: Prevent Topped Shots Before You Swing

Sometimes, the root of a bad shot is there before you even start your swing. A quick review of your setup can go a long way in preventing topped shots.

• Ball Position: With a mid or short iron, the ball should be positioned in the center of your stance. If the ball is too far forward in your stance (closer to your lead foot), you're increasing the chances that your club will bottom out before it reaches the ball, leading to an upward strike and a topped shot. Set up an alignment stick in the middle of your feet and make sure the ball is there.
• Posture: Don’t neglect your setup posture. Bend from the hips, letting your arms hang naturally down from your shoulders. This creates the space for a proper rotational swing. If you are too upright, it promotes a steep, chopping motion. If you get your posture right from the start, a lot of the swing fixes we discussed become much easier to implement.

Final Thoughts

Ultimately, getting rid of topspin means correcting the basic physics of impact. It's about training your body to stop lifting up and to start hitting down on the ball with a descending strike. By focusing on maintaining your posture, shifting your weight forward, and rotating your body, you will move your swing's low point to the correct position after the ball, creating satisfying, solid contact.

Identifying your own swing faults on the course or at the range can be hard, sometimes what you feel isn’t what’s really happening. For an objective look at your swing or shot strategy, you need good advice. That’s what we designed Caddie AI to do. You can ask us why you keep topping the ball and get instant, personalized feedback to diagnose the cause. Even better, you can snap a photo of your ball in a tricky lie and get a smart play, preventing the kind of last-second swing compensations that lead to topped shots in the first place.