W L
GOLF
THE TAKEAWAY
BY TOM ATKINSON , PGA GOLF PROFESSIONAL
Now that the light is returning and you ' re heading back to the practice ground , let ' s break down the main components of the dynamic swing , ie once you have started moving .
Starting with the first quarter ...
The takeaway in the swing is always an area that golfers struggle with , there ’ s no right or wrong as is the case throughout , but make a poor move and it often means costly compensations are required in order to get back in order .
It ’ s so easy , even with the best posture in the world to flip the club inside yourself on the way back , or push it away from your body without knowing it , you can of course hit a good shot from any position but usually either of the above will lead to many more mis hits . After all , the holy grail doesn ' t exist , we just need to find something that is repeatable .
Put it into the ground in line with your pocket , with the idea being that you want to take the club back without hitting it . If done well , it will miss without any trouble , but if you ’ re still struggling with an inside takeaway , you ’ ll bash into the stick time and time again .
There are also some handy checkpoints that will help you figure out if you ’ re achieving what you ’ ve set out to . Firstly , when the club gets back parallel with the ground , you want the right forearm to be looking down on the left . If you swing on the inside , you ’ ll notice the arms are pretty level or , in extreme cases , the left can even be on top of the right , which also fans the face wide open and leads to slices and weaker shots
It ’ s so important to grasp the concept of what the clubhead needs to do in the initial stages for ultimate consistency , let ’ s say you film it and you see that you ’ re pulling the club too far to the inside
From here it ’ s hard to turn properly to complete your backswing so you will either have to lift your arms up to complete your backswing , or momentum will have you swing the club across the ball ( over the top ) leading to mis hits and weaker shot shapes .
To understand better , remember that the club has to travel the furthest , and a good drill to help can be done using one of the best golf accessories - the simple alignment stick .
So , rehearse this move , checking to see if the right arm is above the left - like the picture above - in the takeaway position . Secondly , you want the clubhead to be matching your spine angle . If you ’ re able to work on both of these things , you can be confident that you have put yourself in the best position possible to play some really good golf .
All that ’ s left to do is swing to the top , rotate coming down , and hit some nice shots . Simple .
Don ' t be alarmed if your positions aren ' t exact matches , take your feedback from the ball , if it ' s improving then you ' re on your way .
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