MATCHMAKERS
Coming Over the Top? No Problem
It’s not ideal, but you can still hit a solid tee shot with that move BY MARK BLACKBURN
MANY GOLFERS HAVE swing faults that they can’t seem to correct no matter how
with their lead heel, but if you’re coming over the top, I want you to move it up even further – play the ball off the toes of your front foot. This will
out-to-in move, and you’ll be incentiv- ised to start squaring the clubface. Aim towards the slice The worst thing a slicer can do is aim further away from the direction the ball slices. This encourages even more of an outside-in path and an open clubface, making the ball curve worse. Instead, do the opposite: Aim towards the di- rection of the slice with your feet, hips and shoulders (above). Then, when you come over the top, you’ll probably square the face and hit a solid fade. Recap: Play the ball up, tilt away from the target and aim towards the slice. That’s how you swing over the top suc- cessfully. – WITH DREW POWELL MARK BLACKBURN, voted No 1 by his peers on Golf Digest’s 50 Best Teachers in America, is based at Greystone Golf and CC in Birmingham, Alabama
CHANGE YOUR APPROACH A few moves at setup will really help straighten your shots.
hard they try. But what if they didn’t have to? The truth is, you can play golf with many bad tendencies if you match them up with the right adjustments. In the case of slicers who cut across the ball on an out-to-in path, with the up- per body and arms moving “over the top” of the backswing plane as they swing down, a few adjustments can turn that move into a way to hit a serviceable drive. If you swing this way, let me help you. Play the ball up Slicers often play the ball too far back, which causes you to come over the top to try to get the ball started on line. This is a huge problem because you don’t have time to square the clubface coming down. Typically, I advise my players to have the ball position with a driver even
give you more time to square the club- face coming down, which will certainly help minimise the curve of the shot. Tilt away from the target Slicers often set up to the ball with very little shoulder tilt. The lead shoulder should be higher than the trail shoul- der and the spine tilted away from the target. That promotes a club path that travels more from inside the target line, which is key to straightening out a slice. When you move the ball position up, your spine naturally tilts away. Make sure your trail elbow is slightly bent and that arm’s shoulder sits below your lead shoulder. All of this helps reduce the
PHOTOGRAPH BY JESSE RIESER
36 GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2025
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