Master Your Swing: How to Fix Early Extension Golf and Other Common Mistakes

Key Takeaways

Early extension is a critical swing fault where a golfer loses posture during the downswing, impacting power and consistency.
Learning how to fix early extension golf and other issues like over-the-top, fat, and thin shots is vital for overall game improvement.
Understanding the root causes of these swing mistakes is the first step towards effective solutions and drills.
Utilize tools like video analysis and slow-motion practice for objective feedback and muscle memory development.
Patience, persistence, and consistent practice are crucial for lasting swing changes and better performance.

Golf can be a truly rewarding sport, but it often brings its share of frustration. Many golfers face common swing faults that lead to inconsistent shots, poor performance, and a feeling that their game just isn’t getting better. One of the most significant issues is what we call early extension. This is a swing fault where you lose your posture and power during the downswing, making it hard to hit the ball well.

Learning how to fix early extension golf is a vital step for any golfer looking to improve their game. By addressing this and other common golf swing mistakes and cures, you can unlock better overall swing mechanics. This will lead to a more consistent and powerful swing, helping you hit the ball straighter and further.

This article is here to help you identify common golf swing mistakes. We’ll provide effective “cures” or solutions for these issues. We will focus specifically on how to fix early extension golf, but we’ll also tackle other problems. These include dealing with an over-the-top swing path, understanding why do I hit fat golf shots, and learning how to fix fixing thin golf shots. Get ready to transform your golf game!

Understanding Common Golf Swing Mistakes and Their Impact

To get better at golf, you first need to know what’s going wrong with your swing. Recognizing and fixing these swing errors is super important for hitting the ball well every time and improving your overall golf game. Think of your swing as a set of moving parts; if one part isn’t working right, it affects everything else.

Various common golf swing mistakes and cures exist because different flaws lead to different problems. For instance, swing faults like early extension, an over-the-top swing, hitting fat shots, or hitting thin shots often lead to unpredictable outcomes. You might see slices (where the ball curves sharply to the right for a right-handed golfer), hooks (where it curves sharply to the left), or general mishits. These problems directly impact your golf score, making it harder to play well.

For example, early extension can make you lose control and accuracy. An over-the-top swing path almost always causes a slice. Understanding these specific issues helps golfers know exactly what to work on for big improvements. It’s like being a detective for your own swing, finding the clues that tell you what to fix. When you know why you’re hitting bad shots, you can start making real changes to hit good ones.

Deep Dive: How to Fix Early Extension Golf

Early extension golf is a very common problem. It’s when a golfer stands up too early during the downswing. This move is usually due to a loss of proper posture and spine angle. Imagine you’re trying to stay bent over the ball, but suddenly you stand up straighter too soon. That’s early extension.

Identifying Early Extension

This swing fault happens when your lower body moves too close to the golf ball during your downswing. You can often see it when your hips thrust forward or your head leans back. It’s like your body is trying to “reach” for the ball instead of rotating around it. This movement throws off your natural swing plane and makes it harder to generate power properly. It robs you of control and consistent contact.

You can often spot early extension by recording your swing. If you draw a line on the video from your rear end down to the ground at address, and then your rear end moves off that line towards the ball in the downswing, you’re likely early extending. Also, if you find yourself unable to rotate through the ball easily, you might be compensating with this movement.

Why Early Extension Happens (Common Causes)

Several reasons can cause a golfer to stand up early during their swing. Understanding these causes is the first step in learning how to fix early extension golf.

Lack of Body Rotation: One major reason is not turning your hips and upper body enough during the backswing. When golfers don’t rotate their core properly, they might try to create power by thrusting their hips forward towards the ball. This is a common compensation that leads directly to early extension. Instead of turning, they push.
Limited Flexibility: If your hips or back are stiff, it can be hard to make the right turns in your swing. This restricted movement can stop you from getting into good positions, forcing your body to stand up early to make room for the club. For example, tight hip flexors or hamstrings can prevent a proper bend from the hips, leading to an upright posture during the swing. Improving your mobility is crucial.
Improper Weight Transfer: Not shifting your weight correctly during the swing can also cause early extension. If your weight stays too far back or moves too much onto your toes during the downswing, your body might try to stabilize itself by moving your hips forward. This poor weight shift prevents a good, rotational movement. You end up pushing rather than turning and shifting fluidly.

Solutions & Drills for Early Extension

Now that you understand what early extension is and why it happens, let’s look at how to fix early extension golf with some practical solutions and drills. These exercises help train your body to stay in the correct posture and rotate properly.

Maintain Spine Angle: The most important thing is to focus on keeping your spine angle the same from address through impact. Imagine a wall directly behind your rear end at address. As you swing down, try to keep your rear end touching that imaginary wall. This stops your hips from thrusting forward towards the ball. Practicing this feeling without a ball first can be very helpful. You want to feel like your hips are rotating around your spine, not moving towards the ball.
Hip Mobility Exercises: To help your body rotate better, work on improving the flexibility of your hips. Simple exercises like leg swings (swinging your leg forward and backward, then side to side) and hip circles (making circular motions with your hips) can loosen up tight muscles. Stretches like the “figure-four stretch” or “pigeon pose” can also increase hip range of motion, allowing for better hip depth and rotation during your backswing and through your downswing. The more flexible your hips are, the easier it is for them to turn properly instead of pushing forward.
Drills for Awareness: You need to feel the correct movements to make them natural.
- Mirror Work: Stand in front of a mirror and make practice swings. Watch your posture closely. Can you see your hips moving forward? Can you keep your head relatively steady instead of pulling back? This visual feedback helps you recognize and correct your early extension patterns.
- Video Analysis: Record your swing from different angles (especially from directly behind you, showing your target line). Watching your swing in slow motion allows you to pinpoint exactly where and when you start to stand up. Compare it to professional swings to see the difference. Many phone apps allow you to draw lines on your swing video to track your body movements. This objective feedback is invaluable for understanding your swing dynamics.
- Chair Drill: Set up a chair behind you so your rear end is just touching the front edge when you’re in your golf posture. Make swings, trying to keep your rear end in contact with the chair throughout the backswing and downswing. This drill forces you to maintain your original spine angle and prevent your hips from thrusting forward.

By focusing on these drills and understandings, you can make significant progress in how to fix early extension golf and build a more stable, powerful golf swing.

Curing the Over-the-Top Swing Path

Another very common swing fault that causes a lot of frustration for golfers is coming “over the top.” This mistake often leads to slices and limits a golfer’s power and consistency. Understanding this swing path and applying the right drills to stop coming over the top can dramatically improve your ball striking.

Understanding Coming Over the Top

“Coming over the top” happens when your clubhead moves on a path that is too much from outside to inside the target line during your downswing. Imagine drawing a line from the ball straight to your target. If, on the way down, your club moves outside this line and then swings across it towards your body, that’s an over-the-top swing. It’s like you’re chopping down on the ball from the outside.

The most common consequence of this swing path is a slice. For a right-handed golfer, this means the ball curves sharply from left to right, often missing the target far to the right. This happens because the clubface is usually open to the swing path, even if it feels closed to the target. It robs you of distance and accuracy. This flaw occurs because the golfer fails to maintain an inside-out path during the downswing, meaning the club should approach the ball from slightly behind the target line.

Drills to Stop Coming Over the Top

Correcting an over-the-top swing requires changing your club path from outside-in to inside-out. Here are some effective drills to stop coming over the top:

Alignment Drills: Proper alignment is the foundation for a good swing path. Many golfers aim incorrectly, which causes them to adjust their swing to compensate.
- Place two golf clubs on the ground. One club should point directly at your target, representing your target line. The second club should be parallel to the first, about a foot inside your target line, where your feet should be aligned.
- Practice setting your clubface square to the target line club, and your feet, hips, and shoulders parallel to it. This simple drill encourages your body and club to move on a more consistent and desired swing path, promoting an inside-out approach. Regularly checking your alignment can prevent the need to swing over the top.
Weight Shift Exercises: An incorrect weight shift often causes the upper body to “lead” the downswing, pulling the club over the top.
- Focus on drills that emphasize transferring your weight smoothly from your back foot (trail side) to your front foot (lead side) during the downswing.
- Start your downswing by feeling your lower body (hips) initiate the movement. Imagine unwinding your hips before your shoulders or arms.
- A simple drill is the “Step Drill”: Take your backswing, then step your lead foot towards the target as you begin your downswing. This forces your lower body to start the movement, allowing the club to drop “into the slot” on a more inside path.
Slow-Motion Practice: Speed can hide many swing flaws. Practicing in slow motion helps you feel and engrain the correct movements.
- Take your club to the top of your backswing. As you start your downswing, focus on feeling your right elbow (for a right-handed golfer) drop down and “into your side.” This helps keep the club on a shallower, more inside path.
- Consciously feel the club dropping behind you or into the “slot” before you bring it through to hit the ball. This sensation is key to preventing the club from coming out too steeply or “over the top.”
- Practice this feeling slowly, without a ball, many times until it starts to feel natural. Then, gradually increase your speed.

By diligently practicing these methods, you can retrain your swing to approach the ball from the inside, eliminating the over-the-top move and significantly improving your accuracy and power.

Diagnosing and Fixing Fat Golf Shots

Nothing is more frustrating than hitting a “fat shot” in golf. It feels terrible, goes nowhere, and leaves a big divot before the ball. Understanding why do I hit fat golf shots is the first step to finally fixing fat golf shots and making solid contact.

Why Do I Hit Fat Golf Shots?

A “fat shot,” also known as hitting it “heavy” or “chunking” it, happens when your club hits the ground before it touches the ball. This leads to a shot that is heavy, flies a very short distance, and often leaves a large, deep divot behind where the ball was. It feels like you dug up a chunk of turf instead of just brushing it.

Here are the common reasons why do I hit fat golf shots:

Poor Weight Transfer: This is a major culprit. If you don’t shift enough of your weight to your lead (front) side during the downswing, your swing’s lowest point will be behind the ball. Your club bottoms out too early, hitting the ground before the ball. You might feel like you’re “hanging back” on your trail foot.
Incorrect Attack Angle: This means the club is descending too steeply into the ball, or you’re “digging” into the turf. Instead of a sweeping motion or a shallow descent, your club is coming down too vertically, causing it to hit the ground prematurely. This often happens when golfers try to “scoop” the ball up or use too much arm action.
Insufficient Ball Positioning: Where you place the ball in your stance matters a lot. If the ball is too far forward or too far back relative to the specific golf club you’re using, it can cause you to hit fat. For instance, if the ball is too far forward for an iron, you might hit the ground behind it as you try to reach it.
Lifting or Losing Posture: If you stand up or change your spine angle too much during the downswing, the club’s bottom point can move closer to the ground, causing it to hit the turf prematurely. This often happens if you try to lift your head to see where the ball is going too early.

Fixing Fat Golf Shots

To consistently hit the ball first and then the turf, you need to adjust your weight transfer, attack angle, and ball position. Here’s fixing fat golf shots with targeted drills:

Weight Transfer Practice: Proper weight shift is key to ensuring the club bottoms out after the ball.
- The “Step Drill”: Take your backswing as usual. As you start your downswing, take a small step forward with your lead foot (towards the target). This forces your weight to shift naturally to your lead side before impact. This drill helps you feel the proper sequence of your lower body initiating the downswing.
- Feel the Lead Heel: As you swing down, focus on feeling your lead heel (the heel of your front foot) pressing firmly into the ground. This sensation helps keep your weight forward and encourages a solid, stable base through impact.
Attack Angle Awareness: You want to brush the turf just after the ball, not before.
- The “Line Drill”: Draw a straight line on the ground (or use an alignment stick). Place the ball on the line. Practice hitting shots, focusing on making your divot start after the line, even if only by a tiny bit. This teaches you to hit “down and through” the ball, ensuring you strike the ball first.
- “Brushing the Turf” Drill: Place a coin or small leaf a few inches in front of your golf ball. Your goal is to hit the ball cleanly and then remove the coin/leaf with your club. This drill emphasizes striking the ball first and continuing your swing path through the turf.
Ball Positioning Drills: Small adjustments to ball position can make a big difference.
- For most irons, the ball should be slightly forward of the center of your stance. For wedges, it might be more towards the center. For drivers, it’s off the lead heel.
- Experiment on the practice range. Place a tee marker or another club on the ground to mark your lead heel. Then, try placing the ball in different spots relative to that marker. Pay attention to the contact you make. You’ll likely find a “sweet spot” for each type of club that allows you to make solid contact consistently. Start with small adjustments, one ball width at a time.

By diligently working on these areas, you’ll start making crisp contact, eliminating those frustrating fat shots, and seeing your golf ball fly further and more predictably.

Addressing and Fixing Thin Golf Shots

Just as frustrating as hitting it fat is hitting it “thin.” This mishit sends the ball skidding across the ground or flying low with little power. Understanding why these shots happen is key to fixing thin golf shots and making solid, powerful contact.

Understanding Thin Golf Shots

“Thin shots” (also called topping or skulling the ball) happen when your club makes contact with the very top half or the leading edge (the bottom front part) of the ball, instead of the middle of the clubface. This makes the ball fly low, often with a weak trajectory, very little backspin, and not much distance. It feels like you barely grazed the ball.

Here are the common causes of thin golf shots:

Lifting Up: This is perhaps the most common cause. If you stand up out of your golf posture or raise your body during the downswing (often to try and “help” the ball into the air), your club’s low point moves up. Instead of striking down on the ball, you effectively top it.
Failing to Make Solid Contact: Related to lifting, if your body rises or dips incorrectly during the swing, the club’s low point might be above the ball at impact. This means the sweet spot of the club misses the ball entirely, and only the bottom edge or toe makes contact.
Incorrect Swing Path: An overly shallow or rising swing path at impact can also lead to thin shots. Instead of hitting slightly down on the ball (which is ideal for irons), the club might be moving upwards too much, causing it to catch the top of the ball.
Contact Point Issues: Sometimes, the problem is as simple as not keeping your eyes on the ball through impact, or lifting your head too early. If you look up before the club has hit the ball, your body naturally tends to rise, causing a thin shot.

Fixing Thin Golf Shots

To solve the problem of hitting thin shots, you need to focus on maintaining your posture, ensuring proper club-ball contact, and keeping your head steady. Here’s fixing thin golf shots with effective drills:

Posture Correction: Maintaining your original spine angle and knee flex throughout the swing is crucial.
- The “Cross-Chest Drill”: Take a golf club and place it across your chest, holding it with both hands. Get into your normal golf posture. Now, make practice swings, focusing on keeping the club pointing at the same spot on the ground throughout your swing, without your body rising or dropping. This helps you feel what it’s like to maintain a consistent spine angle.
- “Staying in the Box” Visualization: Imagine you are swinging inside a small box that fits your body. You can’t stand up or move out of the box during your swing. This visual helps prevent the tendency to lift up or move too much.
Contact Point Awareness: You need to focus on where your club hits the ball.
- “Pin the Ball” Drill: When you make impact, try to feel like you are “pinning” the ball to the ground with the clubface, driving it into the turf slightly. This mental image encourages hitting down on the ball and ensures solid contact.
- “Eyes on the Ball” Discipline: Practice keeping your head still and your eyes focused on the exact spot where the ball was even after you’ve hit it, until your follow-through is almost complete. This prevents the common mistake of lifting your head too early.
Slow-Motion Drills: Just like with other swing flaws, slowing things down helps you feel the correct motion.
- Practice swings in very slow motion, focusing on the feeling of hitting down through the ball.
- Ensure the club’s lowest point is consistently at or slightly after the ball. For irons, you want to take a small divot after the ball. By slowing down, you can feel if you’re hitting up on the ball too early or if your body is rising.
- You can also place a small object (like a coin) a few inches behind the ball. Practice hitting the ball without touching the object behind it. This forces you to stay down through the shot and hit the ball first.

By applying these specific techniques, you can overcome thin golf shots, ensuring you make solid, pure contact with the ball, which will lead to better distance and control.

General Principles for Curing Golf Swing Mistakes

Correcting golf swing mistakes isn’t a one-time fix; it’s a journey that requires specific tools and a lot of patience. Whether you’re working on how to fix early extension golf or any other common issue, these general principles will guide your progress.

Importance of Tools for Improvement

Technology and simple awareness tools are your best friends in the process of common golf swing mistakes and cures.

Video Analysis: This is perhaps the most powerful tool. Record your swing from different angles (front, side, behind) using your phone or a dedicated swing camera. Reviewing your swings allows you to visually identify your errors. You can see if you’re early extending, coming over the top, or lifting your head. Many apps allow you to draw lines on the video to track your posture and club path. This objective feedback is crucial because what you feel like you’re doing often isn’t what you’re actually doing. Comparing your swing to professional golfers’ swings can highlight key differences and help you track your progress over time.
Slow-Motion Practice: Speed can hide many errors. Practicing your swing in slow motion helps you feel and ingrain correct movements. It allows your brain and body to connect the proper motions with the desired outcome. This method is excellent for developing muscle memory. Instead of trying to hit the ball hard, focus on the sequence of your body, club path, and impact position. This controlled practice helps you develop a better feel for the swing, leading to more consistent performance when you speed up.
Consistency (Regular, Disciplined Practice): Sporadic practice rarely leads to lasting change. To build new muscle memory and break old habits, you need regular, disciplined practice. This means not just hitting balls randomly but focusing on specific drills for a set amount of time. Even short, daily practice sessions (15-20 minutes) focused on a specific swing flaw can be more effective than one long session once a week. Consistency reinforces the positive changes you’re trying to make.

These tools provide objective feedback and allow you to practice controlled movements, making it much easier to identify and correct your swing issues.

Patience and Persistence

Correcting golf swing mistakes takes time, effort, and consistent practice. You won’t fix early extension or stop slicing overnight. There will be days when it feels like you’re taking two steps back for every one step forward.

It’s absolutely vital to encourage patience with the learning process. Celebrate small victories, like hitting a few more solid shots, even if the overall round isn’t perfect. Persistence in applying these “cures” is key, even when immediate results aren’t seen. The swing changes you make need time to become natural and unconscious. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t see instant improvement. Trust the process and keep working at it.

Ongoing Process

Diagnosing and improving common golf swing mistakes and cures is an ongoing journey for any golfer, from beginner to professional. Your swing will continue to evolve, and new challenges might arise. Regular self-assessment (using video!), continued practice, and perhaps even lessons from a golf pro are part of the long-term commitment to improving your game. Embrace it as a continuous learning experience that keeps golf exciting and challenging.

Conclusion

We’ve covered a lot of ground today on how to fix early extension golf and other key swing faults. Remember, early extension, over-the-top swing paths, fat shots, and thin shots are very common issues that many golfers face. The good news is that they can all be effectively addressed!

By understanding why these mistakes happen, dedicating yourself to specific practice drills, and consistently applying corrective techniques, you can make real changes to your golf swing. We’ve shown you how to identify each problem and given you concrete steps and drills to follow, from maintaining your spine angle for early extension to perfecting your weight transfer for fat shots, and controlling your club path for over-the-top and thin shots.

We strongly encourage you to apply the learned drills and techniques to your own practice routines. Start small, focus on one or two issues at a time, and use tools like video analysis and slow-motion practice to guide you. Significant improvements in your golf game are within reach.

With dedication, consistent practice, and a positive mindset, you absolutely can overcome these common golf swing mistakes and cures. You’ll achieve a more consistent, powerful, and ultimately, a much more enjoyable golf swing. Get out there, put in the work, and watch your scores drop and your enjoyment of the game soar!

Frequently Asked Questions

What is early extension in golf?

Early extension is a common golf swing fault where a golfer stands up out of their posture and loses their spine angle too early during the downswing. This causes the hips to thrust towards the ball, leading to a loss of power, inconsistent contact, and often pulls or pushes.

How can I tell if I’m early extending?

You can often tell by recording your swing from directly behind you. If your rear end moves off the imaginary line from your address position and gets closer to the ball during the downswing, you’re likely early extending. You might also feel a lack of rotation through impact or notice your hips moving forward excessively.

Why do I keep hitting fat shots in golf?

Fat shots usually occur because your club hits the ground before the ball. Common causes include poor weight transfer (staying on your back foot), an incorrect attack angle (too steep or trying to scoop), or losing your posture during the downswing. Focusing on shifting weight to your lead side and hitting slightly down through the ball can help.

What’s the best way to stop slicing the ball?

Slicing is often caused by an “over-the-top” swing path (club coming outside-in) with an open clubface. To fix it, focus on improving your alignment, ensuring a proper weight shift that initiates the downswing with your lower body, and practicing drills that encourage an inside-out club path, allowing the club to drop “into the slot.”