Think “Clubhead Outside the Hands” for Solid Takeaway, Golf (Video) - by Pete Styles
Think “Clubhead Outside the Hands” for Solid Takeaway, Golf (Video) - by Pete Styles

The first thing two or three feet of your backswing can often set the tone and the trend for the whole rest of the motions. It's really important that we get our takeaway exactly spot on. The most common bad takeaway that I see is people who roll the club away with their hands and the arms and take the golf club a bit too flat on the inside. We've also got to guard against those that cock the wrist too early and pick the golf club up too steeply on the outside. So the best thing, I think, you could do is take your setup here and place a mirror or a glass window or patio door or something where you can see yourself about where the camera is straight behind you and point yourself in this direction. Then go ahead. Start making a takeaway and feel like you just turn your shoulders in the first instance and you're not really using your hands or your arms [indiscernible] [0:00:57.8] one-piece takeaway. Then as your hands get towards your right pocket here, just have a look at where the clubface is and really you want to see the clubface outside the line of your hands and the shaft pretty much still pointing at your pocket. If you feel that you've taken the club away and the shaft point out over here, you've got problems if you use your hands too much and likewise if it points too much downwards, you've picked it up too steeply with your hands.

So just take the golf club back through to about hip height and pocket level. The shaft must be pointing quite straight backwards but not out towards the golf ball. If the shaft's pointing out towards the ball, we know we've got trouble. Then also just make sure that the clubface is kind of upright, the toe's in the air, maybe the leading edge is 1 or 2 degrees turned over if you're trying to draw the golf ball but not splayed open into this position. This wouldn’t work for it. There’s a nice, warm piece turn-away, using my chest and my shoulders, letting the golf club come back into a good position, not trying to manipulate the golf club too much. Just use the big muscles. Get your takeaway right. That makes the rest of the golf swing an awful lot easier.

 2012-09-18

The first thing two or three feet of your backswing can often set the tone and the trend for the whole rest of the motions. It's really important that we get our takeaway exactly spot on. The most common bad takeaway that I see is people who roll the club away with their hands and the arms and take the golf club a bit too flat on the inside. We've also got to guard against those that cock the wrist too early and pick the golf club up too steeply on the outside. So the best thing, I think, you could do is take your setup here and place a mirror or a glass window or patio door or something where you can see yourself about where the camera is straight behind you and point yourself in this direction. Then go ahead. Start making a takeaway and feel like you just turn your shoulders in the first instance and you're not really using your hands or your arms [indiscernible] [0:00:57.8] one-piece takeaway. Then as your hands get towards your right pocket here, just have a look at where the clubface is and really you want to see the clubface outside the line of your hands and the shaft pretty much still pointing at your pocket. If you feel that you've taken the club away and the shaft point out over here, you've got problems if you use your hands too much and likewise if it points too much downwards, you've picked it up too steeply with your hands.

So just take the golf club back through to about hip height and pocket level. The shaft must be pointing quite straight backwards but not out towards the golf ball. If the shaft's pointing out towards the ball, we know we've got trouble. Then also just make sure that the clubface is kind of upright, the toe's in the air, maybe the leading edge is 1 or 2 degrees turned over if you're trying to draw the golf ball but not splayed open into this position. This wouldn’t work for it. There’s a nice, warm piece turn-away, using my chest and my shoulders, letting the golf club come back into a good position, not trying to manipulate the golf club too much. Just use the big muscles. Get your takeaway right. That makes the rest of the golf swing an awful lot easier.