Achieve the perfect takeaway in your golf swing with this step-by-step guide

To improve your performance on the course, it is important to perfect the basics of your golf swing. It doesn’t get more fundamental than the takeaway.

This is the first part of the golf swing, when the club moves away from the ball to start the backswing. It is how a golfer begins a swing. 
But for a lot of golfers, it can be where things go off track. A poor set-up before you hit the shot and a faulty grip are some of the factors in your takeaway that can lead to problems.  

To help you solve these issues and to achieve the ideal takeaway, we spoke to PGA Professional and golf coach Liam Branson. Here’s his step-by-step guide to build a more stable foundation for a smoother swing...

A simple check, once your lead hand (left hand if you’re right-handed) is on the club, is to look down and you should be able to see roughly two to two-and-a-half knuckles. This tells you your hand is in a good position. 

Then bring your other hand onto the club, just underneath your lead hand, so that both hands are touching and feel like they are working together as one unit rather than two separate hands.

Think of it like holding a tube of toothpaste. It has to be firm enough that it won’t fall out of your hands, but not so tight that you squeeze any out of the top. Too much grip pressure creates tension in your arms and wrists which will make it much harder to swing the club freely.

Step 2. Build your set-up and posture

With your grip in place, it’s time to get your body into the right position. Begin by hinging forward (slightly leaning forward) from your hips - with a slight bend in your legs. 

From there, keep your spine as straight as you can manage.
A great drill to check this is to place a golf club along your spine, keeping your back pressed flat against it, then move your wrists vertically from your hips. This will force you into the correct posture and makes it easy to feel the difference. 

Once you have your posture set, check your distance from the ball, which should roughly be a hand’s width between the end of the grip and your thigh.

Step 3. Move the club, your arms and your shoulders together

The most common mistake beginners make is letting the club head (the bottom part of the golf club) drift away from their body without their hands and arms moving with it. 

This causes a loss of connection from the start of the swing. A good takeaway is a one-piece movement, where the club head, hands, arms and shoulders all begin moving away from the ball at the same time. 

Focus on rotating your shoulders to initiate the takeaway, rather than picking the club head up (with your hands). Let the shoulders do the work and the club, hands and arms will follow naturally.

Pro tip: As your shoulders rotate, your lead shoulder (left shoulder for a right-handed golfer) should rotate down and under your chin, not across and into it. This ensures a proper shoulder turn and keeps your golf swing on the right path.

When you practice these, it’s OK to only focus on one or two at a time, get comfortable with those before you add more. Most importantly go and have fun.