The "Over the Top" Move: What It Is and How to Stop It

So, what is it?

Basically, "over the top" describes the action of starting the downswing with your upper body—your shoulders and arms—instead of your lower body. This throws the clubhead out and away from your body, causing it to travel over the ideal swing plane. From there, the club cuts across the ball from out-to-in, usually resulting in a pull, a pull-slice, or that classic high, weak fade.

It’s a move born from a good intention: the desire to hit the ball hard. Most of us feel power in our arms and shoulders, so it seems logical to fire them from the top to create speed. The trouble is, that's not how an efficient golf swing works. It's a sequence, a chain reaction, and getting the order wrong is what causes the problem.

The Chain Reaction That Leads to "Over the Top"

This move rarely happens in isolation. It's often the result of something that happened earlier in the swing. Let's look at the usual suspects.

• The Aggressive Transition: This is the big one. You get to the top of your backswing and your first thought is "hit the ball." Your brain sends a signal to the fastest-moving parts—your hands and arms—and they immediately lunge forward. There’s no pause, no sense of sequence. It’s all go, right from the top, led by the upper body.
• A Backswing That's Too Flat or Inside: If you whip the club too far inside on your takeaway, your body’s natural reaction to get it back on some kind of path is to loop it "over the top" in the transition. You're creating a figure-8 shape with your clubhead. What goes too far in must come out.
• Restricted Hip Turn: A lot of golfers don't turn their hips enough in the backswing. If your hips don't create space by turning, your arms have nowhere to go but up in a very steep, vertical lift. From this high, cramped position at the top, the easiest and most natural way down is to throw the club out and over. There's simply no room for the club to drop down from the inside.
• Poor Posture and Setup: Slouching over the ball or having your weight too far on your toes at address can also be a cause. A poor setup puts your body off-balance from the start, and an "over the top" move can often be an unconscious attempt to regain balance during the swing. You can't expect a balanced swing from an unbalanced start.

How to Get Your Swing Back on Plane

Fixing an "over the top" move is all about learning the correct sequence for the downswing. It's about training your body to start from the ground up and allowing the club to drop into place, rather than forcing it.

Here are a few feelings to focus on:

• Feel Your Back Stay Turned to the Target: This is a champion swing thought. As you start your downswing, feel like your back stays facing the target for just a split second longer than you're used to. This feeling prevents your right shoulder from immediately spinning out and throwing the club over. It forces your lower body—your hips—to lead the way, which is exactly what we want.
• Feel the "Drop": At the top of your backswing, imagine for a moment you just let go of the club. Gravity would cause it to drop straight down, right? That's the feeling you want to initiate your downswing. Feel a slight, passive "dropping" of your hands and arms before you start to rotate your body towards the target. It's not a violent pull; it's a soft drop into "the slot."
• Feel Your Right Elbow Tucking: A classic sign of an "over the top" move is the right elbow flying away from the body in the downswing (the "chicken wing"). A great feeling to counter this is to feel your right elbow tucking in towards your right hip on the way down. This keeps the club on an inside path and promotes a powerful, connected swing through the ball.
• Start Slow: You can't fix a sequencing issue at full speed. Take some slow, deliberate half-swings where you consciously pause at the top. From that pause, feel the slight hip bump towards the target, feel the arms drop, and then rotate your body through. The goal is to retrain the motor pattern. Speed will come later.

Getting rid of an "over the top" move takes patience. You're fighting muscle memory that's probably been there for thousands of swings. But by understanding that it's a sequencing problem, and by focusing on the feeling of starting the downswing with your lower body, you can start to get that club approaching the ball from the inside. The result will be more solid contact, a much straighter ball flight, and a power you didn't know you had.