At 6′ 8″, Buddy is a tall drink of water. But his height isn't is problem. Topping the ball and grounding the club behind the ball is. Buddy played a bunch of baseball and softball and wondered, among other things, if all those 'at bats' was hurting his golf swing. After hitting a good tee shot, everything went down hill from there. He said, 'I can even set up to a spot (on the ball), swing easy, and almost always the club is 1/2 to 1 inch ABOVE where I set the club.' He wondered, too, if club length was the problem.
Buddy,
First, let me assure you, the baseball swing doesn't mess up the golf swing. When I was younger I played a bunch of baseball. My son, DJ, played both sports with no problems. In fact, I trained him to swing a baseball bat with the same swing mechanics he uses in golf.
Now, lets look at your golf swing. Since you hit the woods well off a tee, the length is likely correct. Since hitting irons off the ground is a different story, missing mostly from topping, maybe the irons could be too short. But, since you say you can just as easily chunk one, sticking it in the ground behind the ball, I will say that length is likely not the problem. Maintaining levelness is.
My experience and gut smells a big problem with balance and, more importantly, with maintaining levelness of your upper torso, from takeaway to impact. This is important in that swinging a golf club is the same as swinging a rock on the end of a string. If you swing the rock on a set length of string, and have the rock glancing or ricocheting off the ground, any slight twitch downward of the hand has the rock crashing into the ground, and then a twitch, or jerk upward has the rock passing well above the ground.
Swinging a golf club requires the same levelness to return the club to the desired position of where the ball is teed up or on the ground. The rock is the clublead, being left handed, your right arm and shaft are the string, and your entire torso symbolizes the hand in the rock and string concept. The center of your neck at the top of the spine is the center of the swing, and the body's center of gravity is at the base of your spine, around the center of your hips. Between them is your spine. The key to successfully hitting a golf ball, no matter where it is, whether on a tee on the ground — level or tilted — is that once you setup and place the club behind the ball, the center of your swing, the point at the top of your spine in the neck area, must remain the same height from takeaway to impact.
The main way to achieve this is with the wide knees, with outward pressure, at address and maintaining the outward pressure, with limited knee movement in the backswing, especially with your forward (right) knee.
The best way practice maintaining levelness is what I call SHADOW SWINGING, where you can see your shadow on the ground in front of you. Stand with your back to the sun so you can see your shadow on the ground. (11 to 1 is not a good time as your shadow is too short even with your height.) The key to this drill is to practice swinging while watching that your head stays relatively still and stable, from the takeaway to impact. You can also see if your knees, especially your forward right knee, are moving too much. If the right is moving inward too much, you will see the left leg likely straightening and then see your head and spine swaying or moving up and down. If the knees are moving, the key is to learn to keep them quiet and stable in the backswing, which will keep the torso level and stable.
Remember, trees sway in a breeze. The more breeze, the more the tree sways, and the taller the tree the more it sways. Well, I don't need to tell you that you are a tall tree, and if you sway it is a whole lot more than say a short tree like me (5′ 9″). Trees sway from the breeze, golfers sway from too much leg and knee movement. “THE KNEES ARE THE KEYS TO LEVELNESS!”
One last thought that may be a problem. You mention that you swing for the wall and were a pull hitter. If that carries over to your golf swing, swinging too hard, could cause your right side to pull out and turn too quickly to the right in the downswing transition. This would cause your right leg to straighten and even lock the knee, which would push your upper body backwards toward your left leg into what is called a “reverse weight shift.” This can cause the topping shots and even the chunks.
I would start with shadow swinging as a picture is worth a thousand words. Your shadow is your “Best Buddy.” He only shows and tells you the truth. And, it is immediate feedback, seeing it and feeling it immediately as it happens, which is even better than video analysis. The shadow knows the truth and it will tell you and give you a clear picture of what is happening in your swing.
All you have to do is go see him.
The Surge!