With Ross McArthur, PGA Teaching Professional, Al Hamra Golf Club
Every golfer is constantly in search of a consistent shot and strike pattern, and a very important factor in achieving this is to have a good takeaway position at the start of the backswing.
A poor takeaway can lead to many different shots and poor positions throughout the golf swing, generally impacting the plane of the swing. Slices, hooks and poor strikes can be traced back to the first movement of the golf swing.
To improve your takeaway position, try this following drill using two alignment sticks:
1. Place one of the sticks on the ground at your target and hold the second alignment stick against the handle of the lead side of the club (side closest to the target).
Now take your address position. The rod should be touching your lead hip at this point.
2. Start to move the club away for the backswing until the clubhead reaches around the 8 o’clock mark. What we are looking for here is the alignment rod to still be in contact with the lead hip. Two key points you will notice here is that the clubhead is outside of the hands at this point and the lower hand of your grip is more “on top” of the handle.
This will give you a great feel of where the club should be on the takeaway keeping better connection, swing plane and stopping the hands getting too active early on in your backswing. If you struggle with this you will get instant feedback that the alignment rod has come away from your body or moved from its original position.
3. Now, when you set the club to complete the backswing you are looking to have the club shaft pointing to the target line on the ground.
Again, this will aid the correct feel of the club being on plane through the backswing.
Come to Al Hamra Golf Club in Ras Al Khaimah for top class golf lessons from Ross and the team and test your skills on the wonderful track that is set to host the European Challenge Tour Grand Final in October.
