Most golfers misunderstand the purpose of the takeaway, and greatly underestimate its importance. It’s well known that the takeaway, as part of the backswing, helps you to generate power through the turning of your body, and that a good takeaway helps towards good rhythm and tempo in your swing. But the perfect takeaway also plays a crucial role in establishing not only the initial path of the golf club as it moves away from the ball, but the...

We start learning how to move in the perfect takeaway with a movement that isn’t actually part of the takeaway itself. Moving your pelvis independently of your shoulders is crucial for a good golf swing, especially in the transition and downswing, helping you to both create and close the separation of your pelvis and shoulders for power and consistency.  In order to prepare your subconscious mind and your body for the correct...

This drill teaches you how to move your body in order to make the key movement of the golf swing takeaway, turning your body away from the target. This drill assumes that you have worked on Drill 202 – Pelvic Disassociation, which helps you to feel the activation of the muscles used to make this movement. As discussed in Drill 202, moving your shoulders independently of your pelvis is crucial for a good golf swing, especially in the...

Once you are adept at turning your chest independently of your hips, which you have been working on in Drill 203 – Core Disassociation, this drill extends that movement by introducing one of the most important aspects of the takeaway; a weight shift away from the target. If you are not yet able to turn your chest about 45 degrees without moving your hips, then go back and continue working on drills 202 and 203.  Rushing ahead with...

Once you are adept at turning your chest independently of your hips, from your perfect address position, while at the same time shifting your weight, which you have been working on in Drill 204 – Takeaway: Turn with Weight Shift, this drill builds upon that movement by lifting your arms and rotating them slightly as you turn. You’ll note that we’re not yet introducing a golf club into the takeaway drills — you’re...

So far in this section we’ve concentrated on how your body should move in the golf swing takeaway, how to use your muscles and how to sense what the perfect takeaway feels like.  Now we’ll describe how the golf club should move in the perfect takeaway. Most amateur golfers become too fixated on the movement of the golf club, manipulating their hands and body in an effort to keep the club “on plane” as it swings around their...

In order to fully understand the perfect golf swing takeaway, it is important discuss some of the common faults made by amateur golfers, and their consequences. Understanding these faults will help you to better understand the correct golf swing mechanics.  You will be able to identify problems with your own golf swing, to analyse them using pictures and video taken during your practice and drill sessions, and to more quickly correct them...

The takeaway is, after impact, the most important part of the golf swing.  As your first movement away from the golf ball, it initiates a sequence that will determine the quality of your entire golf swing — its power, accuracy and consistency. A great takeaway doesn’t guarantee a great golf swing, but even the slightest errors here will lead to manipulations and compensations which will make the rest of the swing very difficult...