There's no feeling quite like it in golf: you complete what feels like a powerful, athletic swing, only to watch the ball shoot forward like a rocket... but skim along the grass and die just past the tee box. Topping the ball or hitting grounders is one of the most persistent frustrations for amateur golfers, turning potential pars into definite doubles. The good news is that it’s almost always caused by a few common, correctable issues. This article will break down the real reasons you keep hitting ground balls and give you simple, actionable drills to get you striking the ball purely and sending it airborne.
Before we fix the problem, let's quickly define it. Hitting a ground ball, also known as "topping" or "thinning" a shot, happens when the leading edge or bottom of the clubface strikes the ball at or above its equator (the middle line). For the ball to get launch, the clubface needs to strike the *back-bottom quadrant* of the ball, using the club's built-in loft to propel it upwards. When you top it, the club essentially smashes the ball down into the turf, which then pops it forward with very little loft. The goal is to get the low point of your swing to happen just after the golf ball, taking a small divot on the target side of where the ball was.
Most topped shots and grounders come down to one thing: the low point of your swing has moved up, moved back, or both. Let's look at the most common reasons why this happens.
This is probably the number one cause of topped shots for most golfers. You start in a great athletic setup, tilted over from your hips with your arms hanging down naturally. But somewhere during your backswing or downswing, you lift your chest and "stand up" out of the shot. Think of your body as the hub of a wheel and your arms and club as the spokes. If that hub suddenly moves up, the whole circle moves up with it. The bottom of your swing arc rises from a few inches below the ball to a few inches above it, resulting in a clean top.
Why do we do this? A lot of the time it's subconscious. We're trying to generate power by "lifting" or we anticipate the impact and come out of our posture too early. But whatever the reason, the result is the same: the club can't get down to the bottom of the ball.
The feeling you want is to stay "in the shot" or "over the ball" through impact. You set your spine angle at address, and your goal is to simply rotate around that angle, both back and through.
It's the ultimate paradox of golf: to make the ball go up, you have to hit down on it. Many golfers, especially when they're struggling, try to do the club's job for it. They think they need to "scoop" or "lift" the ball into the air. This instinct leads to the hands 'flipping' at the ball, the club'ead outraces the hands before impact an your's swing bottom moves well behind the Ball, 'leadin it into that dreaded grounded ball. your club itself already possessed its own design with the loft in order to lift the ball up automatically, jus let it do the talking!
Your golf clubs are engineered with loft for a reason. An 8-iron isn't a flat stick, its face is angled back precisely so that when it makes a downward strike on the ball, the ball climbs up the face an 'launches high'.
you have 'o change how "u think... an trust, you got 'o hit down... on that ball for that thing to-go up. this one is often a battle against intuition an 'feels right inside... in th' body. it seems counter'intuitive, your 'ands should make't hit that "ball first!" an get ur chest an body weight "all in" into 'front of that ball so yo' swing will make' it to bottom out just a-couple of inches on it to hit down, on 'the darn!' ball an yu can see a beautiful high up hit 'for sure." an if ya did right.. ya could see a shallow, just right in center-piece like small dollar-bill type, right there in the front "right-past your'all 'gol'f-shot!"
"Turn not sway"- you have probably heard this golf instruction before.... swaying off from your center.... 'can wreck-up your contact... An ya gotta hit it perfect to keep balance, a steady, un'swerving way and turn right in yo swing in order for it to be a real, successful "one '." many golfers end up hitting their hits with... "a swayed hip a tad much.. unto their own leg out of their" stance during mid-swing. they have "Slid" inst'ad' of'turned. they never truly "back" over the ball when down'swinging at' i'.. that'low bottom a ther swing is way a' a-waze from it, the ball.... their bodies' are-a too 'fer... the hell outta there. resulting in a hit either too hard on the field.... ground a few-a feet from'it(fat.) Or...'jus 'the top 'o th' darned' ball.(a' 'topped' hit!)
this cause doesn't seem to be a hard... complex thing.. but a wrong footing n' the ball positioned incorrectly in the floor may wreck-up 'pretty bad... all th' nice form or work ya have done previously. An just as 'it 'goes, in the position with any club in general.... it 'needs ta... be just-a "hair" away of the floor than with th' woods for drivers, if yu put th' baw 'way too aheed in yar st'nce ya risk getting a topped hit from it 'because a ya having ur cl' b 'way.. ahead your own-'a center... then when yar goin upward 'wit' th golfhit..... ya surely 'gonne 'make a top on it again..'
'all the 'knowing' is half a your battle on tha course. "But" for th' "really... tough hits,"... the 'ones with bad liès maybe on a rock or in th woods, ya need that on-de-spot, fast adv¡se, 'nwe made for 'tha´... "I´ts' so we knkw you need answers in second not minues. ´yu ca´ even "snap-a pik & ask us what to-do!".. "we.. 'could check ya on it an tell ya. it.. does make all the 'fear of a bad shot fade." it'sure... feel more' 'ready for your hit!"..
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