Golf Swing Takeaway: How To start Your Swing Correctly

Golf is cause and effect as each part of the swing builds upon itself. 

The golf swing takeaway sets up the rest of your swing; if things don’t go right with your first motion in the backswing, it has a direct impact on your transition and downswing. 

So many golfers think they need a better transition or better downswing. When in reality, the takeaway and backswing might be the part of your swing that needs adjusting as one impacts the other. 

What you do with your first move determines where the club will be at the top and ultimately at impact. The good news is that you can change your takeaway pretty quickly and in this article we’ll show you exactly how to make those changes. 

Soon enough, you’ll have a smooth, powerful takeaway that will set up the rest of your swing for a consistent motion. A better takeaway should help you hit it longer, straighter, and lead to lower scores on the golf course. 

Golf Swing Takeaway 

So, how do you take the club away from the golf ball and start your swing? 

First, let’s talk about what should happen on the takeaway in a perfect swing. 

After setting up in an athletic stance, square to your target, your left shoulder should make the first move. The big muscles move the swing even though it might look like the hands move the club. 

In reality, the left shoulder rotates underneath your chin. 

The left arm remains straight in this process and the hands have not done anything at this point. Once the club is parallel to the ground, you want to look at a few key checkpoints to see if things are starting off correctly.

First, where is the butt-end of the club pointing? Is it at your target, left, or right? 

When the shaft is parallel to the ground on your takeaway, you want it to point directly at your target. If it’s right, the takeaway was probably too far inside and if it’s left of the target, probably too far of an outside path. 

The next checkpoint is to see where the clubhead is pointing? 

Even if the shaft is pointing at your target, the club face itself is very important too. If the clubface is pointed toward the sky, it will likely lead to a cut or slice. Conversely, if it’s closed and pointing straight at the ground, it will likely lead to a draw or hook. 

Ideally, the club should be covering your hands and in a neutral position. This is what would happen in an ideal takeaway. To groove your backswing like this, let’s break it into three parts; setup, pre-shot waggle, and takeaway.

Also Read: Top of The Backswing – What You Need To Know

Part 1: Setup Position

To create a proper takeaway, you need a solid starting point. If your address position isn’t fundamentally sound, it’s going to make it challenging to take the club back in a strong starting position. 

While there are a lot of components to the setup and it varies with each shot you face on the course, here are a few of the golf swing basics.

• Grip: Your grip has a big impact on the first part of your swing. Strive to have a neutral or even strong grip at setup. A weak grip makes it easier to suck the club back too far inside, which creates all kinds of problems on the downswing. 
• Arms: At address, try to get your arms as close together as possible so they will work with the shoulders on the takeaway. 
• Square clubface: Finally, make sure your face is square to the target. If it’s right of your target, it’s easy to take the club too far inside or vice versa if it’s pointing left of your target at address. 

Strive for a neutral, square address position to set up the waggle and correct takeaway. 

Related: Golf Ball Position for Every Club in the Bag 

Part 2: The Waggle

Did you know that a waggle can lead to a more effective takeaway? 

According to the great Ben Hogan in his book, Ben Hogan’s Five Lessons, “The bridge between the address and the actual start of the backswing is the waggle. As the golfer takes the club back on the waggle, he accustoms himself to the path the club will be taking on his actual backswing.”

So if you want to improve your takeaway, start with a waggle. 

The waggle is a preview of the shot that you want to hit; it provides a mental picture to let your mind and muscles start to work together. If you don’t have a pre-shot waggle, you’re making golf harder on yourself! 

Here are a few tips to using a waggle as part of your pre-shot ritual:

• The left hand controls the waggle and the right-hand works with it. 
• Keep your arms close to the sides of your chest. According to Mr. Hogan, there shouldn’t be any shoulder rotation in your waggle, just hands. 
• Vary your rhythm of the waggle based on the shot. For example, if you’re hitting a driver, you’ll want a faster, more aggressive waggle (Bryson DeChambeau illustrates this point very well). 

Once your waggle paints a clear picture of the shot in your mind and removes tension, it’s time to take the club back. 

Part 3: Upper Body Moves First

So many amateur golfers think that the hips should start turning as soon as you take the club away. But instead, your hips should remain in the same position and instead, your upper body moves first. 

Here’s what Ben Hogan said about the first part of the backswing in a later chapter. “The shoulders start turning immediately. The hips do not. Just before your hands reach hip level, the shoulders, as they turn, automatically start pulling the hips around.”  

On your backswing, the goal is to turn your shoulders as far around your body as possible. In an ideal scenario, the shoulders would turn at 90 degrees (or more if you’re very flexible) while the hips are only about half that much rotation. 

A good checkpoint for shoulder rotation is to make sure that your chin is resting on your left shoulder at the top of your swing. If the chin isn’t resting there, you might not have made a full backswing and broken down your left arm to get the full turn. 

The bigger the shoulder turn, the better! 

Tiger Woods agrees with Ben Hogan on the importance of a big shoulder turn. As he said in his book, How I Play Golf, “Midway through the backswing the club should be parallel with your stance line. You get it there by swinging the club back with your shoulder, arms, and hand working together smoothly. From there, it’s easy to swing the club into perfect position at the top of the backswing.” 

Finally, make sure the initial motion of your backswing is smooth. If you jerk it too fast, it can throw off the tempo and timing of the rest of your swing.

As you can see, the takeaway sets up the rest of your golf swing. 

Work hard on the first move to make it easy to get the club into a powerful position at the top and on the downswing. This is known as a one-piece takeaway and the most commonly used method among elite players.

Alternate Option: Right Side Takeaway

A different version of the takeaway is the right side takeaway where the arms remain supple on the first part of the swing. The wrists don’t cock until much later in the swing and the swing doesn’t begin with the left shoulder. 

Instead, the right hand or right arm begins the swing in a two-piece takeaway. While this method can work for some players, it typically takes more time to learn and not nearly as common. A good example of this type of takeaway is Bryson DeChambeau. 

Related: Understanding the Stack and Tilt Golf Swing 

Best Takeaway Drills  

Hopefully, you have a clear understanding of a proper takeaway and how you should begin your swing. Here are a few drills to help you feel a correct takeaway and make it feel effortless. 

Alignment Stick Drill

Watch the video version of the alignment stick dril below: