Being a professional golfer, the takeaway never seems so complicated to me. You have to focus and swing the golf club, and while swinging it back, pull it on the swing plane for a better and harder shot.
It may take some time to become a professional golfer, but your hard work will pay off. When I grew older, I became a game student and soon a professional. The thing I struggle more with is golf swing takeaway.
There are many excellent golf swing takeaway drills and tips, but the only thing that matters is which drill will improve your game and you can easily adjust and understand.
So, I have listed a few drills that may help you improve your game and help you to keep archiving.
Table of Contents
Different takeaway Methods
There are many methods to pull back the golf club and all of these are very effective if you know from where your golf club gets off the swing plane and setting it on the proper swing plane can increase your capability to strike the ball in the golf pit.
There are two most common and successful takeaway methods: the one-piece takeaway and the right side takeaway.
One-piece takeaway
This is one of the most favorable options chosen by golfers.
In this takeaway method, when you are about to take a shot and start swinging your golf club, the club stays completely still and only focuses on turning your left shoulders under the chin.
While you are working on your shoulders and chin the hands, clubs, and arms will work simultaneously to get the golf club back into position and you can directly strike the ball with a perfect shot.
This is a good takeaway because it helps to promote the great shoulder turn while bringing the club back and allows the body to stay more connected and involved while swinging the club and thus the shot brings great pleasure.
Generally, the golfers avoid the concept and only focus on bringing their golf club back, but when you are on a golf course, reality hits harder than your expectation. At the time of the strike, many things should be happening while swinging the golf club and it’s not just about swinging it back.
Right side takeaway
The right side takeaway is slightly different from the one-piece takeaway, when you are swinging the golf club then your left shoulder is not initiated.
This method may take some time with some practice to master as it is not easy as the one-piece takeaway. While swinging your golf club, you have to learn and feel to make your strike hard and effective with your right hand.
It may be hard to master but this technique is one of the best ways to take the golf club back and if you learn this method and perfect it, you can easily place the club in a great position for the rest of the swing.
Starting the takeaway
Hitting the golf is very easy, but swinging the golf club and setting it before the strike is hard. You have to focus on your posture, grip, alignment, and your brain should be mentally active about all the concepts.
When a golfer is ready to strike the golf ball they need to make sure the proper takeaway thought is in their mind otherwise they might make the mistake while bringing the club back and end up with poor results.
It’s all about the takeaway method is used by the golfer.
Either using a one-piece or right arm takeaway, the awing patterns are slightly different when you start swinging your golf club.
The starting takeaway patterns are mentioned below by breaking down all the steps to easily understand and bring changes in your golf swing when you are pulling it back to the swing plane.
Starting the takeaway– One-piece
- You may feel that your left shoulder will turn under your chin.
- While hitting the golf ball, it is better to imagine the perfect swing path in which the club should be traveling back in a straight line.
- Always focus on keeping the golf club low to the ground.
- Don’t lock your body while swinging the club.
- Your spine should be free to rotate and not feel any pressure while positioning the club.
- When you are ready to swing the golf club, it is necessary to start with slow motion because a quick takeaway can interrupt the swing and you may get a poor result.
Starting the takeaway- right arm
- It is best if you use your hand so that you are going to hand the club to a person standing behind you, and thus the body will acquire the proper posture before striking the ball.
- Try to keep the golf club low while swinging back.
- Let your spine free to make a turn.
- Don’t pull and drag your golf club too far inside, this may cause you trouble while swinging the club. It is best to start with the ‘Low and Slow’ process for good results.
- While swinging the golf club, don’t let your right arm get separated from your body. It is best if your right-hand starts to rotate around you.
Hand and Arm Positions
When you are progressing with your takeaway, it is highly recommended and best if you give importance to positioning your hands and arms.
The golfers make a common mistake: they lift the club too upright before swinging and striking the ball and end up with a poor shot and the ball may go directly in pond or sand.
You may think that the golf club goes in the air while striking, but it goes there because of the series of turns and rotation while swinging the club and not because it is necessary to lift the club high to strike the golf ball.
When you start swinging the golf club, your arms and hands are lifted away from your body, you may face difficulties while bringing it back on the track. Your body position, the hands, and arms with your elbow should stay connected during the takeaway and when you are about to hit the golf ball.
Once a professional golfer told me that when your body is synchronized with your hand and arms to work independently, you would be an extremely talented golfer and can greatly impact the golf ball.
Being a good golfer, you should always focus on increasing your consistency and try to learn repeatable and reliable things.
It doesn’t matter which type of takeaway you choose; try to adjust your body with your arms and hand and don’t cause any stress on your golf game.
Head position during the takeaway
There are many debates among the golfers about positioning the head while swinging the club and striking the golf ball.
When you ask professional golfers, they suggest that keeping the head straight through the entire swinging process is the key to performing better in golf. In contrast, other professional golfers suggest moving the head several inches behind the ball and this will create a tremendous amount of pressure on the golf ball whole striking.
In all the thoughts there is a common scenario of heads movement. Whether you move your head or not but you should take it quite seriously and try not to move your head while swinging the golf club this will may affect the takeaway.
When you are moving your head while swinging the golf club, it will affect other things and it may change your shoulder turn, club position, and you may get off the track and miss the target.
So, you should keep your head straight in a line and don’t let your head move either lateral or horizontal movement.
If you cannot focus and like to keep your head in lateral movement while swinging the club then your transition from takeaway into wrist messes the swing portion.
Speed of takeaway
If you are not aware of the concept of a Low and Slow golf swing takeaway, then you have missed a big step in learning the golf game.
The Low and slow concept is a universal concept to improve and master the golf swing and it is applicable for almost all golfers. Low and slow is an important and rare investment in the golf world to get a higher benefit.
When you are swinging the golf club and take it back to strike position slowly, you can easily examine the position of the club and the movement of your body. Thus, you can make the shoulder and hip turn to keep your spine at the appropriate angle and hit the ball in the perfect position.
Whenever you try to swing your golf club too fast, the club’s head almost changes its position and misses the swing plane. Thus, it ends with an inside or the outside of the target line, and the golfer gets a poor result.
It is a difficult mistake to recover and the golfer may lose the game. Whereas, it is very easy to take the club back into position when the golfer avoids moving the club faster.
The exact golf swing takeaway speed is hard to calculate and different from player to player. It can only be calculated by practicing the swing.
You can also improve your golf swing takeaway by watching professional golfers play. Many golfers swing the club very fast and you have to find the proper speed for yourself and try to keep the golf club in the position while swinging the club.
When you are on the golf course, it is worth taking some videos of your golf swing and examining the golf swing speed can lead you towards successful swing in a first attempt.
Common mistakes
Generally, amateur golfers make many mistakes when starting the golf swing takeaway.
There are plenty of mistakes that you should look out for and try to avoid. This will make you an ultimate golf learner to perform great on the golf course.
Too much wrist involvement
While swinging the golf club, our wrist involvement is an important part because it helps gain more power and angles while striking the golf ball and thus reaching maximum distance. The problem arises when the wrist hinges are too quick.
Many golfers are not aware of the golf swing and they ultimately make mistakes by involving their wrist while swinging the golf club. Gold is a professional game and to maintain consistency you should only use the bigger muscles like the shoulder and avoid smaller muscles like the wrist.
The smaller muscles may take you away from the path of the swing, but bigger muscles can lead the club’s swinging on the proper path and help maintain the body movement.
Clubs getting off the line
Golf swing takeaway is an initial part of the Golf game. Always try to take your club backward before striking the golf ball and the concept of taking the club straight back will help you to adjust the position.
Many mistakes might happen while swinging the golf club but the most common mistake is taking your club too far outside the swinging plane takeaway. Many players try to pull the club back on track and exaggerate the concept of Straight back and push it too far inside.
Try to focus while swinging the club because at some point the golf club will hinge and rotate around you when your golf swing comes to an end.
Club getting too far off the ground
It is very hard to recover the golf club when it goes far off the ground during the golf swing takeaway. When you involve your hands and wrist while swinging the golf club, then it goes several inches off the ground and you may miss the swinging plane and gets a poor shot.
When you are swinging the golf club, it is best to take your club back low and slow and thus the larger muscles will not be engaged and the club will remain on a swinging plane.
If you find your club is straight off the ground, it may cause a large issue and there is less chance to pull back the club on the track, and many people find inconsistency.
Drills for a better takeaway
To improve your game you should focus on maintaining your golf takeaway. Many drills can help you with almost every part of the golf swing.
Some of my favorite drills for a great takeaway to improve your golf swing:
Basketball drill
To improve your golf strike you can add this drill to your list. This drill is performed using a basketball or an empty bucket of range balls. Try to replace the ball with your club after hitting the club.
Keep the ball in either side and start swinging the club and when you turn, immediately start the takeaway.
It is very important to keep the ball adequately and not let it slip away or rotate from its initial position. Make sure you don’t rotate your golf club too much after completing the takeaway and this will lead towards the open or shut golf club and you can easily recover it before the impact and strike the ball correctly.
Arms on the Chest
This drill is a bit similar to a basketball drill. In this drill, you have to cross your arms and place them on your chest and your hand should come by touching your shoulder and this should be the position to start focusing on your swing, and thus your body automatically initiates the required turn. This drill is best for those golfers who are usually involved too much with their golf club while swinging the takeaway and having a hard time incorporating their bigger muscles.
Leaf on the Ground
This drill will help you with a low and slow Takeaway and for this drill, you can use leaves or Tee. If you face the problem while lifting your golf club and it goes directly upwards and misses the swinging plane, this drill will help you take it along the ground.
Place a few broken leaves or a tee about six to eight inches from your golf ball and when you take your golf club back, cross it from the object you placed behind the golf ball. You can contact leaves or the tee whole by striking the ball to hit it by acquiring the perfect angle.
Why is takeaway important?
This is the base of the golf swing and if your sequence is better, it will automatically improve your game skills.
Your larger muscles engage while turning the club back to strike the ball, and the club shaft on the plane will help you strike the golf ball at a proper angle.
Many golfers think they can easily improve their swinging and bring the golf club on the track perfectly.
I accept the concept, but I believe I take away is an area where a golfer should focus and try to achieve the perfect shot in one blow.
What happens after the takeaway?
When the golfer is done with the takeaway, they hinge the wrist and complete the backswing.
When you take your club back up straight and it reaches the top of your golf swing, you may face some manipulation on your hands and wrists.
The club shaft position may also get affected due to change in body rotation and turning. This is the main reason to involve your bigger muscles and fix these glitches.
Does the takeaway change from one club to another?
Generally, the basic concept of movement of your hands while swinging the club may remain the same, but the golf swing takeaway will look slightly different when you change your golf club.
When you hold a pitching wedge in your hands, your takeaway will be quite long and extended because this is not a long club and usually prefers to increase accuracy.
Whenever you switch your driver, you may feel a lot of extensions while swinging your club back and you need a little distance to fix the issue. This extension will become bigger when you hold the wood in your hands.
When you compare the pitching wedge with the wood and driver, you will feel the pitching wedge is more helpful for a perfect takeaway.
Conclusion
Golf swing takeaway is the base of the golf game. It can affect or make an impact on your golf game. The swinging technique is key to taking your golf club back and striking the ball with the proper angle. When you are on the golf course the positioning of the club makes things a bit harder but with the drills mentioned above, you can easily conqueror the problems.
Always focus on low and slow techniques and settle on one specific takeaway swing to improve your game. I hope this article is beneficial for you.