If you watched Jim Furyk shoot 58 last Sunday during the PGA Tour’s stop in Connecticut, his round was over-the-top, ridiculously good. The lowest score ever on the PGA Tour before that had been a 59, and he is one of the few who did that as well.
While Jim Furyk has one the most funky golf swings ever, his swing would be good to emulate for golfers who actually swing over the top of their intended plane and swipe across the ball, resulting in a wicked slice.
The over-the-top swing fault is very common and a real tough one to fix. Over the top is when the upper body and shoulders begin to move on the downswing and take over the power role before the lower body can begin. It’s compounded by taking the club back too far inside on the backswing and out and away from the body on the downswing. This causes the hands and arms to deliver the club on a path outside the ball and too far left after impact, an out-to-in route.
It’s coined over the top because the club and shaft are delivered above, or over, the downswing slot necessary to deliver the club close to the original shaft angle at address. Golfers who swing in this manner experience shots pulled to the left if the club face matches the path or a slice if the club face is pointing at the target or open. This swing fault cheats victims of power and greatly reduces the ability to control ball flight as some shots are low, others are high and all are hit with too much spin.
The goal in eliminating an over-the-top flaw is to deliver the club from an inside path to the ball, helping produce a straighter shot, or at least one that curves from right to left. The photograph to the left shows the downswing typical of an over-the-top player, delivering the club on an outside-to-inside path.
This is also where you should copy Furyk. Instead of an image of the downswing, the picture looks more like Jim’s takeaway on the backswing. When his hands reach the top of his backswing, he loops his hands and the club behind him to deliver the club from the inside. If you followed his hand path, it would look very much like a circle from the backswing to downswing.
Over-the-top golfers should try to practice this hand path on the backswing, looping the hands and the club more behind the body on the downswing. You’ll be moving in the right direction to deliver the club on an inside path.
Getting rid of your slice is difficult, and copying Jim Furyk’s swing may sound loopy, but shooting 58 on the PGA Tour is definitely over the top, too. Give it a try.
Peter Harris is the director of Golf at the Fore-U Golf Center in West Lebanon. His column appears in the weekly Recreation page during the golf season.