Inside the line?

Many times I see golfers struggle with an over the top swing. They know they are doing it but don’t quite know how to fix it. Here’s one of the main causes for the problem:

Taking the club on the inside on the back swing. Now you ask, what does that mean? Basically you are swinging the club around your body from the takeaway, causing a loop at the top of your swing and throwing the club over the top.

Two shapes can result from this:

The shot starts left of your target line and fades off to the right of your target (this occurs when you don’t release the shot) or

The shot starts left of your target and hooks more left of your target (this occurs when you do release the club)

Note the two photos below:

With a good takeaway the club is parallel with your feet and the toe of the club points straight up.
With a bad takeaway around the body, the butt end of the club points to the right of your target and the toe of the club is open.

Here is a good drill to help break a bad Habit:

Put a golf ball or tee directly behind the ball, or a row of balls as shown in the photo. You may have seen Mike Weir also do a pre-shot drill where he makes a back swing and checks the position on the takeaway before every shot. This is a good drill to help break a bad Habit.