One piece takeaway

[cgrier]

Is driving me nuts.

My natural swing is inside and around my body and for the past year i have been killing myself with blocks and hooks. So i have been working on getting my backswing more on plane.

But i feel the one piece takeaway, where u turn your shoulders only gets me in the same position. INSIDE. Instantly this move gets your hands inside. I must be doing something wrong. Can somebody help?

Should i be trying to bring the club straight back with my arms on the target line as i turn my shoulders?

[gord962]

Re: One piece takeaway

Try my two drills:

First, find out where the correct position at the top is:

In you address position, club in hands, raise your arms to parallel. Next, cock your wrists 90* so your club is pointing skyward. Last, turn your shoulders 90* away from the target. This will get you into the proper position at the top.

Then to get to the above position with your backswing, try this:

Again, in your address position, start your backswing with your arms only (I know, backswing is supposed to start with the shoulders - we'll get to that at the end.) When your CLUB gets to parallel, stop. Cock your wrists 90* so your club is pointing skyward. Last, turn your shoulders 90* away from the target. This should get you into the same position as the above drill. For the first few times, try these drills infront of a full length mirror so you can see how it looks.

As for the second drill, keep this as 3 distinct moves. Once you have your muscles trained to how far the arms, shoulders and wrists move, start SLOWLY blending the three parts into one. As you get closer to your natural tempo, you will find that the shoulders will start the take away, as how you are supposed to correctly start the take away.

[cgrier]

Re: One piece takeaway

"In you address position, club in hands, raise your arms to parallel. Next, cock your wrists 90* so your club is pointing skyward. Last, turn your shoulders 90* away from the target. This will get you into the proper position at the top."

When i do this.... it looks nothing like how it should at the top of the swing

[gord962]

Re: One piece takeaway

Are you raising you arms straight in front of you? I failed to mention that....

[TeachingPro]

Re: One piece takeaway

Yeah, I know exactly what your problem is ... I get to see all sorts of nasties every day...

Essentially what you're doing is this:
When you start the takeaway instead of keeping the width you turn too abruptly with your arms and shoulders and that pulls the club inside. You'll find that the club ends behind the hands, which should never be the case.

Look at the picture I attached and you'll see: <1> how the club has turned inside the proper swing arc and <2> how the hands are closer to the ball that the club head during the takeaway ... (the pics are from THE SWING FACTORY)

A seriously bad position.

So, here's a drill for you to do that will get your takeaway 'straightened' up and in a good psoition to let you complete your backswing properly.

Set up a practice station with 3 clubs. The first one in line with the target about 2 feet in front of the ball. The other 2 clubs go in line with your toes on each side of the foot, again parallel to the target line. Stand behind the setup and make sure everything is in line correctly.

Now take a club and step into the station.

Now swing back and stop when the club gets to hip height right. The shaft of your club should be over the shaft on the ground. The toe of your club should be pointing to the sky. (see pic)

From that position, swing through and stop when the club gets to hip height left. Your club should be a mirror image of the position right, where your club shaft is over the shaft on the ground and the toe is poiting up at the sky.

If the club is not over the club on the ground you have either turned too much inside or not enough and the club has now gone outside.
If the toe of your club doesn't point up, you've let the club face open or close by turning your wrists left-right instead of cocking up-down. (I will explain this in more detail if you need help on this).

Okay? Let me know if you're still struggling.