Always Start Your Swing Like This

So many of our swing faults can be traced back to something going wrong in our takeaway. In this video, PGA Pro Jack Backhouse explains how to start your swing correctly to give you the best chance of success.

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Always Start Your Swing Like This – Don’t Stand Still

There are not many explosive movements done from a still, standing start, so your golf swing shouldn’t start from a very still position either.

I encourage golfers to try and stay in some kind of constant motion before starting the club away as this helps with sequencing and creating speed. Just watch a world long drive competitor before they start to swing, there is plenty of movement to get them going.

This can be done in the form of waggling the wrists like Ben Hogan used to, or stepping/shifting the weight between the feet. OFten when the golfer starts from a still position the club head moves away first too low and causes an inside takeaway.

Push into the ground

There should be some kind of pressure shift into the trail foot in the backswing in order to create a dynamic, powerful golf swing. Most golfers do this too late in the backswing, causing them not to get their weight enough on the front foot at impact, this might be the biggest fault I see as a golf coach.

The pressure shift should happen right as the club first starts moving.

I encourage golfers to start their swing first by pushing down into the trail foot; this then makes it very easy for the rest of the backswing, like extending the trail knee, turning the hips, and shifting to the lead side.

This small pressure shift tips over the first domino in a long line of dominoes that need to go down for you to have a proper golf swing. Rory McIlroy is a great example of this and does it quite obviously.

Hinge and Turn

The next step for amateur golfers to have a perfect takeaway are components that you might be more familiar with.

At the same time, the hips should start turning, and the wrist should start hinging.

The hips should turn in a tight circle with no lateral movement away from the target, and maybe a little recentreing towards the target.

The wrists should hinge not vertically but on a 45-degree angle up towards your trail shoulder.

This sets the club in motion to stay out in front of the hands, rather than get sucked in low and inside, and also starts to bring the hands inwards from their initial starting point starting to create depth in the hands that is crucial to hit the golf ball with a draw.

2 quick tips for when you are tiring on the back 9

Getting the golf swing started correctly is so important when trying to build a consistent move that will produce you consistent results over time. So many of our impact faults are caused by moving the golf club poorly in the early part of the swing, correcting it and working on a better move away will pay dividends in the long run.

In the video I outline a couple of drills that I believe help golfers learn the correct first move correctly, so be sure to check that out!

Give these tips a try and let us know how you get on! If you want to keep up to date with Jack’s instruction you can subscribe to his YouTube Channel here, or keep watching our instruction page!

If you want to watch some more of Jack’s instruction videos, you can get to his YouTube Technique Tips playlist by clicking here. Please check out our other instruction articles if you like this video on the best swing for senior golfers. Senior golf swing.

If you are interested in seeking further information from Jack that is more specific to your golf game, you can book an in-person or online golf lesson by clicking here.

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