Watching your golf ball start left of your target line and stay there is an incredibly frustrating sight. That dead pull is a a reliable round-wrecker, turning a perfect aiming point into a missed green or a trip into the left-side trouble. The good news is that a pull is a very diagnosable miss, and this guide will give you a clear understanding of what’s happening in your swing and provide actionable, coach-approved drills to get your ball flying straight again.
Before we can fix it, we first need to be sure we're talking about the same thing. In golf, specific terms describe specific ball flights, and understanding them is the first step toward a cure. A true pull is a shot that starts to the left of your intended target line (for a right-handed golfer) and flies relatively straight on that incorrect starting line. It doesn't have significant curve in either direction.
This is different from:
The distinction is important because it tells us exactly what your club is doing at impact. Golf ball flight is governed by a simple relationship: the clubface direction at impact primarily determines the ball's starting line, and the swing path relative to that face determines the curve. With a pull, your clubface is pointing left of the target at impact, but your swing path is traveling in that same direction. Because the face and path are aligned, no major spin is applied, and the ball simply flies straight-left.
At the heart of almost every pulled shot is an "out-to-in" swing path. Often called coming "over the top," this means that during your downswing, the club head is traveling from outside your target line to inside your target line as it moves through the impact zone. Imagine two parallel lines on the ground making a "track" toward your target. An ideal swing path travels down the inside track, strikes the ball, and moves back to the inside. An out-to-in path means the club starts the downswing on the outside track, cutting across it to hit the ball.
When this happens, you are essentially chopping across the ball instead of swinging through it. As long as your clubface is square to that out-to-in path, the result is a shot that starts left and stays left: the dead pull.
What causes this steep, over-the-top motion? It’s rarely a single issue, but rather a chain reaction of a few common faults.
To stop pulling the ball, you need to identify what's causing you to swing over the top in the first place. Work through these common checkpoints - chances are, one or more of them will feel very familiar.
This might sound obvious, but poor alignment is one of the biggest hidden causes of a a pulled shot. Ironically, many golfers develop a pull because they are actually set up aiming too far to the right of the target. Your brain is smart, it knows where the flag is. If your body is aimed at the right-side trees, your mind will subconsciously reroute the club on the downswing to get the ball back to the target. It does this by throwing the club "over the top," creating an out-to-in path aimed left to compensate for the right-facing body alignment.
The Fix: Use Alignment Sticks.
This is non-negotiable. Lay one stick on the ground just outside your ball, pointing directly at your target. Place a second stick parallel to the first, just in front of your toes. Your feet, hips, and shoulders should all be set up parallel to this second stick. This visual feedback removes all guesswork and ensures your body isn't fighting against your intended shot from the start.
Tempo is everything in the golf swing. One of the single most common flaws among amateur golfers is starting the downswing aggressively with the upper body. Instead of the lower body initiating the transfer of weight and rotation, the shoulders and arms spin out first. This move throws the club outside the correct swing plane, setting you on a path to come steeply down and across the ball - the classic over-the-top move.
The Fix: The Pause Drill.
This simple drill is a game-changer for sequencing. At the range, go to the top of your backswing and make a conscious, full one-second pause. During this pause, your only thought should be to feel your weight shift toward your lead foot. After you feel the weight shift, then you can begin to unwind your body through the shot. This pause forces the lower body to lead the downswing, keeping the shoulders and arms from jumping the gun.
A more subtle but potent cause is the clubface position at the top of your backswing. Your body is great at making compensations. If you get the clubface into a severely "open" position at the top (face pointing towards the ground on the downswing), your brain knows this will lead to a giant slice. To save the shot, your body's reactive fix is to throw the club aggressively over the top in an effort to slam the clubface shut through impact.
The Fix: Check Your Lead Wrist.
At the top of your swing, your lead wrist (left wrist for right-handed players) dictates the clubface angle. Ideally, it should be flat (in line with your forearm) or even slightly bowed (flexed). A "cupped" or extended lead wrist opens the clubface. Use your phone to film your swing from down the line or practice in front of a mirror. Getting that lead wrist into a flat position at the top will neutralize the clubface and remove the need for that over-the-top compensation move.
Your golf swing moves on an arc. The lowest point of that arc should occur just after the ball when hitting an iron. If your ball position is too far forward in your stance for the club you're hitting, the club will have already reached its low point and will be actively moving "up and in" by the time it reaches the ball. This "inward" motion through the impact zone is another version of the destructive out-to-in path.
The Fix: Resetting your Ball Position Basics.
Check the fundamentals. For short and mid-irons (wedges through 7-iron), the ball should be in the center of your stance. As you move to longer irons and hybrids, it moves slightly forward from center. The only club that should be positioned way up in your stance is the driver, played off the inside of your lead heel. If you've been pulling your mid-irons, check to make sure the ball hasn't crept up to where you’d play a 3-wood.
Once you’ve diagnosed the cause, it’s time to retrain your swing path with drills that give you instant feedback.
This is my favorite drill for curing an over-the-top swing. Simply place an object - like a headcover, a rolled-up towel, or even another golf ball - a few inches outside and behind your actual golf ball.
A powerful swing comes from rotation, not a lunge. To fix your sequence and eliminate the upper-body-dominant move, hit some 7-iron shots with a half-swing with your feet almost touching.
If your trail elbow (right elbow for righties) has a tendency to "fly" away from your body at the top of the swing, it almost guarantees an over-the-top motion. To fix this, tuck a small towel or your glove under your trail armpit.
Fixing a pull is about transforming your swing path from an out-to-in motion to an in-to-out motion. By checking your alignment, managing your transition tempo, and using drills that provide instant feedback, you can groove a swing that delivers the club from the inside and sends the ball soaring toward your target, not left of it.
Knowing what to fix is half the battle, but getting targeted, specific feedback is how real improvement happens. This is one of the top reasons why my team and I created a personal coach that fits in your pocket, Caddie AI. Instead of guessing if your alignment is off or if your wrist is cupped, you can take a quick video of your swing on the range, and I can analyze your positions and path on the spot. I'll give you instant, clear feedback to remove the guesswork and help you practice smarter so you can finally solve that frustrating pull.
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