Two Easy Drills to Stop You from Coming Over the Top
In this video, I share two easy drills that will help you improve your arm action in the downswing to stop coming over the top. These moves will help promote a more in-to-out golf swing.
There may be no more painful affliction in golf than the “yips” – those uncontrollable and maddening little nervous twitches that prevent you from making a decent stroke on short putts. If you’ve never had them, consider yourself very fortunate (or possibly just very young). But I can assure you that when your most treacherous and feared golf shot is not the 195 yard approach over water with a quartering headwind…not the extra tight fairway with water left and sand right…not the soft bunker shot to a downhill pin with water on the other side…No, when your most feared shot is the remaining 2- 4-foot putt after hitting a great approach, recovery or lag putt, it makes the game almost painful.
And I’ve been fighting the yips (again) for a while now. It’s a recurring nightmare that has haunted me most of my adult life. I even had the yips when I was in my 20s, but I’ve beat them into submission off and on most of my adult life. But just recently, that nasty virus came to life once again. My lag putting has been very good, but when I get over one of those “you should make this” length putts, the entire nervous system seems to go haywire. I make great practice strokes, and then the most pitiful short-stroke or jab at the ball you can imagine. Sheesh.
But I’m a traditionalist, and do not look toward the long putter, belly putter, cross-hand, claw or other variation as the solution. My approach is to beat those damn yips into submission some other way. Here’s what I’m doing that is working pretty well, and I offer it to all of you who might have a similar affliction on the greens.
When you are over a short putt, forget the practice strokes…you want your natural eye-hand coordination to be unhindered by mechanics. Address your putt and take a good look at the hole, and back to the putter to ensure good alignment. Lighten your right hand grip on the putter and make sure that only the fingertips are in contact with the grip, to prevent you from getting to tight.
Then, take a long, long look at the hole to fill your entire mind and senses with the target. When you bring your head/eyes back to the ball, try to make a smooth, immediate move right into your backstroke — not even a second pause — and then let your hands and putter track right back together right back to where you were looking — the HOLE! Seeing the putter make contact with the ball, preferably even the forward edge of the ball – the side near the hole.
For me, this is working, but I am asking all of you to chime in with your own “home remedies” for the most aggravating and senseless of all golf maladies. It never hurts to have more to fall back on!
Over the last couple of decades, golf has become much more science-based. We measure swing speed, smash factor, angle of attack, strokes gained, and many other metrics that can really help golfers improve. But I often wonder if the advancement of golf’s “hard” sciences comes at the expense of the “soft” sciences.
Take, for example, golf instruction. Good golf instruction requires understanding swing mechanics and ball flight. But let’s take that as a given for PGA instructors. The other factors that make an instructor effective can be evaluated by social science, rather than launch monitors.
If you are a recreational golfer looking for a golf instructor, here are my top three points to consider.
1. Cultural mindset
What is “cultural mindset? To social scientists, it means whether a culture of genius or a culture of learning exists. In a golf instruction context, that may mean whether the teacher communicates a message that golf ability is something innate (you either have it or you don’t), or whether golf ability is something that can be learned. You want the latter!
It may sound obvious to suggest that you find a golf instructor who thinks you can improve, but my research suggests that it isn’t a given. In a large sample study of golf instructors, I found that when it came to recreational golfers, there was a wide range of belief systems. Some instructors strongly believed recreational golfers could improve through lessons. while others strongly believed they could not. And those beliefs manifested in the instructor’s feedback given to a student and the culture created for players.
2. Coping and self-modeling can beat role-modeling
Swing analysis technology is often preloaded with swings of PGA and LPGA Tour players. The swings of elite players are intended to be used for comparative purposes with golfers taking lessons. What social science tells us is that for novice and non-expert golfers, comparing swings to tour professionals can have the opposite effect of that intended. If you fit into the novice or non-expert category of golfer, you will learn more and be more motivated to change if you see yourself making a ‘better’ swing (self-modeling) or seeing your swing compared to a similar other (a coping model). Stay away from instructors who want to compare your swing with that of a tour player.
3. Learning theory basics
It is not a sexy selling point, but learning is a process, and that process is incremental – particularly for recreational adult players. Social science helps us understand this element of golf instruction. A good instructor will take learning slowly. He or she will give you just about enough information that challenges you, but is still manageable. The artful instructor will take time to decide what that one or two learning points are before jumping in to make full-scale swing changes. If the instructor moves too fast, you will probably leave the lesson with an arm’s length of swing thoughts and not really know which to focus on.
As an instructor, I develop a priority list of changes I want to make in a player’s technique. We then patiently and gradually work through that list. Beware of instructors who give you more than you can chew.
So if you are in the market for golf instruction, I encourage you to look beyond the X’s and O’s to find the right match!
Most pros take months, even years, to win their first tournament. Lottie Woad needed exactly four days.
The 21-year-old from Surrey shot 21-under 267 at Dundonald Links to win the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open by three shots — in her very first event as a professional. She’s only the third player in LPGA history to accomplish this feat, joining Rose Zhang (2023) and Beverly Hanson (1951).
But here’s what caught my attention as a coach: Woad didn’t win through miraculous putting or bombing 300-yard drives. She won through relentless precision and unshakeable composure. After watching her performance unfold, I’m convinced every golfer — from weekend warriors to scratch players — can steal pages from her playbook.
Precision Beats Power (And It’s Not Even Close)
Forget the driving contests. Woad proved that finding greens matters more than finding distance.
What Woad did:
• Hit it straight, hit it solid, give yourself chances
• Aimed for the fat parts of greens instead of chasing pins
• Let her putting do the talking after hitting safe targets
• As she said, “Everyone was chasing me today, and managed to maintain the lead and played really nicely down the stretch and hit a lot of good shots”
Why most golfers mess this up:
• They see a pin tucked behind a bunker and grab one more club to “go right at it”
• Distance becomes more important than accuracy
• They try to be heroic instead of smart
ACTION ITEM: For your next 10 rounds, aim for the center of every green regardless of pin position. Track your greens in regulation and watch your scores drop before your swing changes.
The Putter That Stayed Cool Under Fire
Woad started the final round two shots clear and immediately applied pressure with birdies at the 2nd and 3rd holes. When South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim mounted a charge and reached 20-under with a birdie at the 14th, Woad didn’t panic.
How she responded to pressure:
• Fired back with consecutive birdies at the 13th and 14th
• Watched Kim stumble with back-to-back bogeys
• Capped it with her fifth birdie of the day at the par-5 18th
• Stayed patient when others pressed, pressed when others cracked
What amateurs do wrong:
• Get conservative when they should be aggressive
• Try to force magic when steady play would win
• Panic when someone else makes a move
ACTION ITEM: Practice your 3-6 foot putts for 15 minutes after every range session. Woad’s putting wasn’t spectacular—it was reliable. Make the putts you should make.
Course Management 101: Play Your Game, Not the Course’s Game
Woad admitted she couldn’t see many scoreboards during the final round, but it didn’t matter. She stuck to her game plan regardless of what others were doing.
Her mental approach:
• Focused on her process, not the competition
• Drew on past pressure situations (Augusta National Women’s Amateur win)
• As she said, “That was the biggest tournament I played in at the time and was kind of my big win. So definitely felt the pressure of it more there, and I felt like all those experiences helped me with this”
Her physical execution:
• 270-yard drives (nothing flashy)
• Methodical iron play
• Steady putting
• Everything effective, nothing spectacular
ACTION ITEM: Create a yardage book for your home course. Know your distances to every pin, every hazard, every landing area. Stick to your plan no matter what your playing partners are doing.
Mental Toughness Isn’t Born, It’s Built
The most impressive part of Woad’s win? She genuinely didn’t expect it: “I definitely wasn’t expecting to win my first event as a pro, but I knew I was playing well, and I was hoping to contend.”
Her winning mindset:
• Didn’t put winning pressure on herself
• Focused on playing well and contending
• Made winning a byproduct of a good process
• Built confidence through recent experiences:
- Won the Women’s Irish Open as an amateur
- Missed a playoff by one shot at the Evian Championship
- Each experience prepared her for the next
What this means for you:
• Stop trying to shoot career rounds every time you tee up
• Focus on executing your pre-shot routine
• Commit to every shot
• Stay present in the moment
ACTION ITEM: Before each round, set process goals instead of score goals. Example: “I will take three practice swings before every shot” or “I will pick a specific target for every shot.” Let your score be the result, not the focus.
The Real Lesson
Woad collected $300,000 for her first professional victory, but the real prize was proving that fundamentals still work at golf’s highest level. She didn’t reinvent the game — she simply executed the basics better than everyone else that week.
The fundamentals that won:
• Hit more fairways
• Find more greens
• Make the putts you should make
• Stay patient under pressure
That’s something every golfer can do, regardless of handicap. Lottie Woad just showed us it’s still the winning formula.
FINAL ACTION ITEM: Pick one of the four action items above and commit to it for the next month. Master one fundamental before moving to the next. That’s how champions are built.
PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. You can check out his writing work and learn more about him by visiting BEAGOLFER.golf and OneMoreRollGolf.com. Also, check out “The Starter” on RG.org each Monday.
Editor’s note: Brendon shares his nearly 30 years of experience in the game with GolfWRX readers through his ongoing tip series. He looks forward to providing valuable insights and advice to help golfers improve their game. Stay tuned for more Tips!
stephenf
Feb 16, 2017 at 9:41 am
We’ve got some really bad criticism here by some really clueless people who I doubt have ever taught a single day in their lives.
Truth is, these drills are aimed at producing a cure for what is by far the most common destructive swing pattern among amateurs (and the occasional pro when he goes wrong, actually). I almost never saw anybody below the level of top amateur or pro who wouldn’t benefit from drills like this that were aimed at getting off the steep-and-outside path and onto a shallow-and-inside path.
As for the comments regarding Davies’ own swing having no emphatic shallowing move visible in the DTL shot when he’s actually hitting a ball, that’s technically correct but substantively off-point. The question is where he _would_ be if he weren’t making an effort to get shallow and inside. The instinct to get steep and outside is so strong in most players that only a concerted effort to get the club moving from the inside — often coupled with training to keep the upper body from rotating too fast and too early on the downswing — is the only thing that will keep the club anywhere near the right plane and path. Nicklaus and Snead, for just two examples, also tried to swing the club from the inside, but they actually got a little over the top _despite_ those efforts.
What the effort to get shallow and inside does with some players is to tame the impulse to get steep and outside enough to allow solid shots. The player who’s been steep and outside and who does drills like these, or who is taken through the right path for the first time, is probably going to feel like he’s swinging radically from inside to out, when for a long time he’s going to be swinging only somewhat less from the outside, and eventually (it is hoped) from an appropriately inside path. Is it possible to go too far with it and swing too much from the inside? Yeah, but for every player you see too much from the inside, you see about a hundred who are the other way.
This guy may run counter to a lot of the garbage theory you hear all over the internet and on golf telecasts, but what he’s talking about is a time-honored approach that has been advocated by the majority of great teachers in the history of the game, and it will help a clear majority of players.
TIm
Feb 5, 2017 at 12:54 am
Or better yet swing the club more up right come down and go back up right….only a poor player like Jack Nicklaus would play like that….
stephenf
Feb 16, 2017 at 9:25 am
Except that even Nicklaus had to change what he was doing midcareer, because he got steeper and steeper until he couldn’t hit it at all in the late ’70s. The changes he made, and his later work with Jim Flick, were in the same mode as what you see in this video — shallower swing, club approaching from the inside and shallow rather than outside and steep, enabling a fuller and more natural release, etc.
That’s in addition to the fact that Jack Grout (Nicklaus’ teacher) _always_ insisted that the inside approach to the ball was critical. It’s just that Nicklaus had gotten away from it.
Sam
Feb 2, 2017 at 7:02 pm
His back swing is so flat to begin with that his down swing doesn’t look shallow at all. This is going to cause some confusion with newer golfers.
stephenf
Feb 16, 2017 at 9:54 am
It’s a good point, but mostly for technical discussions on the internet and video analysis (or overanalysis). From a practical perspective, the intent to stay inside and relatively shallow on the downswing keeps him on a good path and plane down and through.
Looper
Jan 31, 2017 at 1:00 pm
Watch at your own risk…
stephenf
Feb 16, 2017 at 9:45 am
If you want to risk getting better, sure.
Drake
Jan 29, 2017 at 9:00 am
Wouldn’t the idea of moving the hands away from your body linearly in the downswing promote the contact in heel/hosel?
stephenf
Feb 16, 2017 at 9:46 am
Can. It’s a matter of degree, and that specific thought won’t work for everybody. But the move toward a more shallow and more inside path will help the vast majority of players.
Nathan
Jan 28, 2017 at 6:16 pm
Another you need to’ flatten the club on the downswing’ from a guy that does not (does not know how to?) ‘flatten the club on the downswing’
stephenf
Feb 16, 2017 at 9:51 am
The effort to flatten it and to stay inside the ball is what matters. Sometimes a player has to feel like he’s getting much more shallow and very inside to keep from getting distinctly steep and outside. Pushing back against that powerful outside-and-steep impulse can bring you back into an acceptable path and plane, whether it results in actually dropping the club below the backswing plane or not. In fact, research has shown that most tour players get slightly outside the backswing path because the need to generate power and the tendency to use rotation as an element in generating power tend to throw the club outside. Without training to stay sufficiently inside and sufficiently close to a usable plane, the tendency is to keep getting steeper and more outside. These drills are intended to push back against that tendency. When I was teaching I hardly ever saw a student who wouldn’t have been improved by a shallower and more inside approach.
Nathan
Jan 28, 2017 at 1:23 pm
How many ‘shallow the club in the downswing’ videos do we have to watch by a guy who doesn’t shallow his club in the downswing…?
His advice is obviously incorrect as well then.
Sergio likes to ‘pull the handle down’ (says that’s his only real swing thought. He shallows the hell out of his club.
stephenf
Feb 16, 2017 at 9:29 am
Well, there’s a sample size of one.
The point is that for most amateurs, having that “straight down” or “toll the bell” intent will make them steep and outside. I saw it a million times when I was teaching.