Topped Shot
Also known as: topping the ball, top
A topped shot is when the club makes contact above the ball's equator — hitting the top half — so the ball dribbles forward along the ground with very little height or distance.
Topping is almost always caused by lifting the body or raising the arc at impact — standing up, pulling the arms up early, or early extension causing the shoulder to rise and the club to bottom out before the ball. A top is the inverse of a chunk: instead of the arc bottoming too early, it is rising when it should be at its low point. Beginners frequently top the ball because of anxiety-driven tension and body lift.
Example
A driver that rolls 30 yards down the middle was topped — the club came up and caught the upper third of the ball instead of driving through it.
Related terms
- Low PointLow point is where the clubhead reaches the bottom of its arc through impact. Controlling it — keeping it at or just ahead of the ball with irons — is the basis of pure contact.
- Early ExtensionEarly extension is thrusting the hips toward the ball during the downswing, which causes the golfer to stand up out of posture and forces compensations at impact.
- ChunkA chunk (fat shot) is when the club strikes the ground before the ball — too early a low point — sending a short, low shot that often loses most of its distance.
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