takeaway

[dlbrown@capousd.org]

After struggling with this game for 25 years , I have recently had some sucess in terms of extra distance, by holding the swingthought of turning the body and coiling the back, rather than concerning myself with anything to do with arms or clubhead.

A takeaway governed by legs/hips/back is slower/fuller than one governed by arms/hands.

What are your swingthoughts on takeaway and at the top?

I agree 100% with this notion. Thinking about the body and how it torques has helped me straighten out an lengthen my drives. My swing motion is a modest imitation of Stuart Appleby's. Try a controlled preparation that includes the sort of stiff-armed takeaway he uses as he prepares. I do a couple of these, keeping the arms straight and feeling the back muscles tighten. I step up and concentrate on turning back into the ball with my body, nothing else. This works for now.

[jman100]

Re: takeaway

hey all, I'm only just getting into golf but this is something I have recently begun to get the hang of too. I think it is what people mean when you hear them saying to 'stay connected'. You start your takeaway with a nice smooth motion, allow the arms and wrists to do what they have to do without thinking about it on the backswing, connect the upper arms with the chest again as soon as you can on the downswing, and use your body rotation to generate the power, this rotation will mean that your arms will have no choice but to swing into a correct finish position. Thats my bit of a rant, and porbably not described very well! lol

[The Hud]

Re: The Takeaway

You are quite correct in what you say. The takeaway is much slower and smoother when controlled by the larger muscles such as the shoulders and back, and this is good advice for anyone who tends to snatch the club away from the address position.

A great example of a smooth takeaway is Ernie Els, he begins the takeaway by simply rotating those shoulders.

If you begin the takeaway with a wrist break then it is likely to be a quick takeaway and in turn a little harder to control. So the next time you are out hitting balls try starting the takeaway with your shoulders and back rotating to get that smooth movement away from the ball.

Good Luck

Greg Hutton
P.G.A. Professional

I read a book recently by Ernie Els on the golf swing in which he says he concentrates on just swinging his arms, in fact he says "I am all arms", which is a contradiction to what just about everybody else says.