Takeway Swing Path

[tstrike34]

Folks,

I have been working on two things: my grip and my takeaway. In my recent update to my swing thread, I noticed that I was taking away the club too steeply. Last night I was reviewing a couple of lefty pros (Mike Weir and Phil) and noticed how their iron takeways are much more parallel to the ground.

I went back to the garage to try that and noticed how much more power I have (and I got a lot straighter). My shoulder turn is a bit more natural (my right intercoastals felt the burn) Is there a drill that I can work on whilst I am travelling that allows me to practice that type of takeaway. I get so inconsistent and it appears I still need a lot of muscle memory.

Is this is the right approach?

[saevel25]

Unless your taking the club to far inside, or the take away is setting you up for a bad habit. Take aways are so unique to golfers, its something that's not a standard to a good golf swing. I know its cliche', but Jim Furyk is the best example. Fred Couples. Jack Nicholaus. You  can hinge to early, most amateurs, roll there wrist in the takeaway rather than hinge.

As for a drill. I am very much a right hand oriented person  (for you this would be your left hand), i feel like my left hand is facing towards the sky, instead of having it turn over behind me. Somewere around waist high the right hand will hinge, looking like i can hold a plate near my shoulder (like a fancy waiter). I have a trouble with a bowed left wrist at the top, so i have to have my right wrist take charge and get bent. Not really a drill, sorry. But if you need practice, get a mirror. and set it up to the left of you, so you can look back and see your backswing. You can probably set up a little station, were you can put some tape on the mirror to show your swing path. Just make sure the clubhead isn't getting behind this line. At the top of the swing, you can check your clubface angle, as well.

Unless you can visualize what your doing, with a mirror or video, its nearly impossible to tell if your improving your takeaway. We can all say, "Do this or that", but unless you can check to see if its actually doing what you need, it just a crap shoot.

[Wally]

I've been working on my takeaway as well.  My problem is taking the club back too much to the inside and underplane resulting in a flat backswing.  I manage to unconsciously reroute the club on the downswing, but working on my takeaway has made me more consistent. The drill I do is making sure my club is parallel to me toe line when it's halfway back.  Also, a drill you can do is put the club in this position to start with, take it back to the top, and then swing with it and try to hit the ball (this being all one fluid motion).  It's hard but it will help you learn to take the club away on the proper plane.

[mvmac]