Why Do I Lift Up in My Golf Swing?

That frustrating feeling of lifting your body up during the golf swing is one of the most common issues amateur golfers face, and it's the root cause of thin shots, topped balls, and a serious loss of power. You know you’re supposed to stay down through the shot, but your body instinctively straightens up right at the moment of truth. This article will break down exactly why you lift up in your golf swing and give you some clear, actionable drills to keep your posture and start making solid, powerful contact with the ball.

What "Lifting Up" Actually Means

First, let’s get on the same page about what "lifting up" really is. In golf terms, it’s known as early extension. It happens when your hips and pelvis move toward the golf ball during the downswing instead of rotating. Instead of your body turning around, it lurches forward and upward.

Think about your setup posture. You have a certain amount of forward bend from your hips (spine angle) and a certain amount of flex in your knees. "Lifting up" is simply the act of losing those angles too early - your spine straightens, your knees lose their flex, and you come out of your posture before you hit the ball. This movement forces the club upwards as well, causing it to strike the top half of the ball (a topped shot) or the very bottom edge of the ball (a thin shot).

When you lift your body, you’re not just ruining your contact, you’re also killing your power. The golf swing isn't about an up-and-down chopping motion. As outlined in my simple golf swing guide, it is a rotational action. Real speed comes from your body turning and unwinding, not from standing up.

The 4 Big Reasons You're Lifting Up in Your Swing

Just telling you to "stay down" isn't enough. To truly fix this issue, you need to understand why your body is doing it in the first place. Usually, it's a reaction to another problem in your swing or a misunderstanding of how power is generated. Here are the four primary culprits.

1. You're Misinterpreting How to Create Power

Many golfers intuitively feel that to hit the ball hard, they need to spring upwards, much like a jump. This instinct is a major cause of lifting. However, true golf power doesn't come from vertical force, it comes from rotational force. The body is the engine. By turning your shoulders and hips in the backswing, you load up potential energy. The downswing is about powerfully unwinding that rotation, not pushing off the ground vertically.

When you lift up, you actually cut your rotation short. Your hips stop turning and start thrusting forward. This move might feel powerful for a split second, but it disconnects your arms from your body's turn, resulting in a weak, arm-driven swing that relies solely on timing.

2. You're Trying to "Help" the Ball Into the Air

This is probably the most common reason for lifting. You look down at the ball on the grass and subconsciously think you need to scoop it or lift it into the air. This causes your body to lean back and rise up through impact in an attempt to get underneath the ball. The result? You hit the top of the ball and send it screaming along the ground.

You have to trust your equipment. Every club in your bag, from your sand wedge to your 5-iron, has loft built into its face for one purpose: to get the ball airborne. You do not need to help it. Your job is to deliver the club to the back of the ball while maintaining your posture. The club's loft will do the lifting for you. True, crisp contact on an iron shot happens when the club is traveling slightly downward, striking the ball first and then the turf.

3. Your Setup is Creating the Problem

Sometimes, lifting up isn't a swing fault at all - it's a setup fault. A poor address position can force your body to lift up just to make contact.

• Standing Too Far from the Ball: If you're reaching for the ball at address, your weight is likely too much on your toes. As you swing, your body's natural reaction is to stand up and move forward to find its balance.
• Too Much Knee Flex: While some knee flex is athletic, too much of it can be unstable. If you're in a deep squat at address, your leg muscles might instinctively straighten during the stress of the downswing.

Your setup should feel athletic and balanced. Your arms should hang down naturally from your shoulders, not reach out. Your weight should be centered over the middle of your feet, putting you in a stable position ready to turn, not an unstable one ready to fall forward.

4. You're Not Making Room for Your Arms

This is a more technical reason, but it's a huge one. Lifting up is often a compensating move because your body recognizes that if it doesn't do something, your arms and the club are going to crash into your torso. This happens when the club gets "stuck" behind you on the downswing.

Proper downswing sequence involves your hips rotating open to create space for your arms to swing through freely. If your hips stop turning (stall) and start pushing forward toward the ball (extend), you close off that space. Your brain then sends a last-second emergency signal to your body: "Stand up now, or we're going to get hit!" By lifting up, your body creates artificial space for the club to pass through, but solid contact is already a lost cause.

3 Drills to Stop Lifting Up for Good

Understanding the "why" is the first step. Now, let’s retrain your body with some drills that will cement the feeling of staying in your posture.

Drill #1: The Chair Drill

This is the definitive drill for curing early extension.

1. Place an empty golf bag or a dining chair directly behind you, so it's just touching your backside when you take your setup.
2. Make some practice swings. In a correct swing, your right glute (for a right-handed golfer) will maintain contact with the object during the backswing.
3. On the downswing, the magic happens. Your goal is to have your left glute rotate back and make contact with the chair as you swing through.
4. If you lift up, your entire backside will move away from the chair. This drill provides instant, undeniable feedback on whether you are rotating or thrusting forward.

Drill #2: Head-Against-the-Wall

A simple but effective drill to feel a stable upper body.

1. Take your address position without a club, a few inches away from a wall, so that the top of your head is lightly touching it.
2. Cross your arms over your chest and simulate your golf swing turn.
3. Focus on keeping your head in gentle contact with the wall throughout the "backswing" and "downswing."
4. This drill isolates the feeling of rotating around a fixed spine angle, preventing the upward lift that pulls your head off the wall.

Drill #3: Pitch Shots with Feet Together

This exaggerates the role of body rotation over an unstable base, forcing you to stay centered.

1. Grab a pitching wedge and take your setup, but with your feet completely together, touching each other.
2. From this narrow stance, try to hit small 30-40 yard pitch shots.
3. You'll immediately discover that any lurching or lifting motion will cause you to lose your balance completely.
4. To hit the ball solid, you'll be forced to simply rotate your chest back and through around a central point, keeping your posture to maintain your balance. This drill ingrains the feeling of a torso-led swing.

The Key Feel: Chest Covering the Ball

On the course, you don’t want to be thinking about a dozen mechanical steps. You need a simple swing thought or feeling. Instead of the old advice to "keep your head down," which can restrict rotation, try this instead: Feel like your chest is covering the golf ball through impact.

This feeling encourages you to maintain your spine angle without being restrictive. If your chest is still pointed down toward the ball as you make contact, it’s practically impossible to be lifting up. As your body rotates through the follow-through, your chest will naturally rise and face the target, but impact is the moment that matters.

Final Thoughts

Lifting up in your golf swing is a reaction, not a fundamental inability to perform the right motion. By understanding that power is rotational, trusting the club's loft, building a balanced setup, and training your body to rotate instead of thrust, you can replace this frustrating habit with a powerful and repeatable swing.

Tackling core swing issues like lifting up takes practice and sometimes an objective second opinion. One of the toughest parts of golf is feeling alone with a difficult shot, and whenthat little voice in your head tempts you back to old habits, getting smart advice is invaluable. That's why we built Caddie AI, if you snap a picture of a tricky lie, our app can analyze it and give you a simple, effective strategy. We designed it to be your 24/7 golf coach and caddie, always ready with a clear answer so you can trust your swing and play with more confidence.