Golf Tips, The Takeaway
Ernie Els takeaway.
More great golf instruction today from Steve Bishop. This time we’re talking about the takeaway. Steve talks about the 3 main takeaway concepts that people talk about, the right forearm, the one piece and the left shoulder.
Right forearm
This is basically using your right forearm to trace the swing path from setup to the top of the takeaway. Basically, at the top of swing, you want your right arm to form a nice L at the top.
One piece
The idea here is to keep your arms together when you take the club back. So you want your arms to move together and not one arm bending, the other straight, or vice versa.
Left shoulder
The left shoulder refers to how your shoulder should be tucked underneath your chin and your left arm straight out. Now, it’s probably hard for many people to do that, so it’s fine for people to turn their head slightly to the right. If you watch Jack Nicklaus, he does this every time he swings, just before his takeaway.
Combined, the three takeaways describe the ideal way to check to make sure that your takeaway is on plane. Taking the club back on plane will help you bring the club back on plane when you swing through on impact. An example of what how your takeaway shouldn’t look like is Jim Furyk’s swing. Obviously Jim has practiced and used his swing for so long that he can bring the club back on plane in the downswing, but his takeaway is not good form at all.
I also like how Steve Bishop talks about the early wrist cock and rolling of the arms, or as he calls leverage. That is a bad thing. I see a lot of people swing this way. Yes, you can hit the ball far this way, but you will be wildly inconsistent, with mostly duck hooks. I like a nice smooth takeaway with the arms going back in one piece, left shoulder tucked underneath the chin, and the right elbow in that nice L at the top of the swing.
April 21st, 2008 at 8:50 pm
This guy has some good ideas and thoughts and then DESTROYS them with completely wrong information and does not know the difference!! Physics and Fundementals if people would learn them they can get better.
Steve Wozeniak PGA Director of Instruction Bellevue/Lake Spanaway Golf Courses
http://www.stevewozeniak.com
September 28th, 2008 at 11:41 am
Very interesting idea on the takeaway. I am not a pro so have no idea what part of this is good ideas and completely wrong information. The amount of info on Steves website could fit on the head of pin. If your going to be critical about anything that goes against your beliefs, you’d better offer up the correct information as you know it otherwise your comment is useless. I have always brought the club back too flat or behind me. I could see it on video but no matter what I do, I can’t swing it into the proper position. Hopefully one day I’ll figure it out but I’m still struggling.