The Lesson Tee: Proper Takeaway with Todd Kolb

10/29/2013

Hey golfers, PGA Teaching Professional Todd Kolb with another segment of On the Lesson Tee.  Today I’m talking about the Takeaway, or the first move away from the golf ball; and the majority of the problems that golf instructors see in people’s golf swings when they’re working with their students—a lot of it starts right away in the first initial move, the Takeaway.  So this practice drill is a wonderful way to get your backswing started in the correct position and allow you to hit a couple of really good golf shots.

So it’s very simple:  I’ve got a couple sticks.  Now, you can use yardsticks—or I happen to use these Tour Sticks, doesn’t really matter—but you want a couple parallel lines.  When we swing the club back correctly, the club head stays relatively in a path that’s going straight back or slightly to the inside.  We don’t ever want to drag the club directly to the inside, nor do we want to take it way to the outside.  There should be a nice, natural flow to it; kind of almost a little bit of an arcing move because the club swings and moves as the body starts to turn and to rotate.

So if you’re taking the club back, and you’re snatching it inside real quick, you’re going to set yourself up for a lot of problems; not only on the backswing, but of course on the downswing.  So getting the club started in the proper position on the takeaway is a key component to hit quality golf shots; this practice drill will help you do that.

 Todd Kolb