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- Maintain the triangle formed by the left and right arms as you pull the club back. The wrists should not begin hinging yet.
- Rotate the shoulders and chest in unison with the arms. The left hip should begin to turn right as the hands reach the right knee.
- Avoid keeping the arms and wrists too rigid as you draw the club back.
- Your shoulders, chest, torso and hips continue rotating; the wrists should hinge naturally when reaching waist height. If the club’s toe points straight up at this juncture, everything’s in sync.
- The shoulders should be turned twice as much as the hips in relation to the target line at the top of the backswing. (For example, shoulders at 70°, hips at 35°.)
- With a wedge, the club should be short of parallel to the ground at the top of the backswing. The wedge swing is abbreviated relative to other clubs because the shaft is shorter.
- The left heel may be raised slightly off the ground, but it’s okay if the heel is planted because the backswing is compact.
- The right knee remains flexed, with your weight favoring the right foot.
The initial inches of the golf swing, called the takeaway, put the club on its path and plane. A sound takeaway is a key to making a solid backswing – and producing consistently accurate wedge shots.
Fortunately, the takeaway is relatively easy to master. To make a proper, one-piece move from the ball, simply:
Now you’re in position to finish the backswing with your major muscles working in harmony. As you continue swinging the club back:
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