Is it possible to put topspin on a golf ball?

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The past few weeks I have developed an embarrassing problem with my driver and fairway woods. I cannot seem to hit anything other than a low hook, often times accompanied by top-spin that drives it straight down into the ground. The end result is usually a 150 yard drive off to the left. At least since it doesn't get up in the air too much it doesn't fly out of bounds, so that's a plus. Downside is, I'm left with 250+ yards in on some par 4's [and I do play the whites].

I'm hitting my irons pretty well though. Sometimes I hit them a little thin, but for the most part I'm happy with how the irons are playing.

I went to my swing instructor last week, and he focused on the fact that I tend to sway on my back swing. His suggestion was to feel like I'm storing 60% of my weight on my front foot as I make my back swing. I *think* this is part of the stack and tilt philosophy, but I'm not sure. Anyways, doing this seems to help sometimes, it's really helped my shorter irons [I'm blasting them farther than I'm used to]. But with the driver and fairway woods, it doesn't seem to make a huge difference.

He says I am swinging inside-out, but that I have the face closed on impact [thus the hook].

When I go to the range I hit the driver pretty well [no pressure of course]. I have video that my wife took of me at the range a couple weeks ago [before I stopped the swaying], and I would post it here except I'm not sure it would give a true indication of what I'm really doing or not since almost every shot at the range goes straight.

Personally, I think I'm gripping the club way too strong. But when I stand over the tee shot I cannot for the life of me resist the urge to move the thumb on my right hand over to the right [3 o'clock]. If I don't, I feel as if I don't have a solid grip on the club and when I swing through the club face will pop way open. Even worse, I have absolutely no problem keeping the thumb where it belongs on my irons.

It's driving me absolutely nuts, and I know it's almost certainly a mental thing. How do I get around this mental block? I've lost all confidence in my driver. Just looking for suggestions to help me right this.

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Don't worry about how the grip feels. Fight the tendency to do it "your" way as that's producing a hook. Your face is closed to the path and your path is right. Too many reasons why that could be so I would post a video or at best your going to get guesses based on your feels.

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Every once in a while I will get in a low hook funk with my driver. It is usually the result of taking the club back way inside too soon. When it happens I try to focus on pushing the club back with with left hand rather than yanking it back inside with my right. This usually helps. This may not be your problem, but just thought I would offer a suggestion. Good Luck!

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Thank you guys, I appreciate the suggestions. I will try to use them as focal points to work on.

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Just a note that if you're getting the ball airborne, the ball has backspin, not top spin. It might not have much backspin, but it has backspin.

The only way a ball would have topspin is if you hit the top half of the ball, which would give you a ground ball.

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Much of the time the ball is maybe getting only 6-8 feet into the air, and then takes a quick dive down and to the left. I just assumed it was wicked top spin that was the force driving it rapidly downwards [as opposed to just gravity, which would take it down a little slower].

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Your path is too far from the inside, you are stalling your hips and flipping the club shut. That is producing the ball spinning on a tilted cases that makes it hook and dive out if the air. There is no such thing as top spin on a golf shot other than a putt.

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I have a lot to learn about the physics of the swing. Thank you Monte.

So focus on a longer takeaway and then initiating the swing with my lower body first?

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[quote name='Roody' timestamp='1410279413' post='10089789']
I have a lot to learn about the physics of the swing. Thank you Monte.

So focus on a longer takeaway and then initiating the swing with my lower body first?
[/quote]

Hard to say what to do without seeing it. It's just very likely you are too far from the inside.

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Update: I had my club championship this past weekend. I focused on taking the club back longer, and then "throwing" it towards my target. The result was much better. I managed to finish 5th in my flight [had a rough go on day 1, we had 40-50 mph winds that came through and lasted for about 7-8 holes. It was utterly ridiculous].

I felt like I had my driver back again. It was a wonderful feeling. Thank you everyone for your help.

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I have the exact same problem, what else did you find that helped you get you drive back to normal?

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