Problems with your takeaway food? Use this guide to find an easy solution

Welcome to Shaving Strokes, a GOLF.com series where we share improvements, insights and variety from amateur golfers like you — including some of the obstacles and challenges they've encountered along the way.

If you had asked me about a month ago how I struck the ball, I would have told you that I am still a pretty inconsistent ball striker, often leaving the clubhead way too open and pushing everything to the right.

When that happened from the tee, I produced a significant Slice. With irons it would cost me distance and also hit the ball from the middle to the right – that's not how you get through a round of golf.

Frustrated, I talked to a few people about what I needed to do to improve. Almost immediately, everyone said the same thing: work on your takeaway!

In the last month, I have not only hit more irons, but I have also mastered my drives and consistently flown further than I have ever seen as a golfer. But could it really all be down to a simple adjustment in the first few small movements at the beginning of my golf swing? Indeed.

To improve my takeaway, I have to consciously think about turning all the way back, getting my arms in the right position, keeping the clubhead level, and using my upper body as a pendulum as I come back through impact. The results now speak for themselves; I'm starting to hit more fairways and greens at regulation height.

How to master the perfect golf takeaway

Since the takeaway is such an important step in the swing sequence, GOLF Top 100 instructor Jason Baile demonstrates a drill that feels good and has helped me hit better shots. The video above (Courtesy of Titleist YouTube Channel) shows how it works.

Baile says it's important to get a feel for a good takeaway, so he uses a simple hardware store product (Gear Tie) to provide instant feedback during this exercise.

“[This drill will] You get an understanding of some of the feelings you need to get the golf club moving much better on the takeaway in the first three feet,” he says.[I then wrap the gear tie] a few times around the shaft and make it look like airplane wings.”

Baile then goes on to discuss two common takeaway mistakes, an open takeaway and a closed takeaway, and shows how to correct both mistakes.

Open Takeaway

“When I set up for the golf ball, I tend to roll my airplane wings flat to the ground with the clubhead a little too far behind my hands and the grip a little too far out. As a result, I pick it up too often and hit it too far over the line,” he says.

But when players make this exaggerated motion, they often try to self-correct on the way down, which typically results in an open clubface and shots sailing to the right (for a right-handed player).

Instead, Baile advises making sure the “airplane wings” he created on his club with the Gear Tie are pointing down toward the target line so the clubface stays straight during the downswing.

“So I like to feel it when I take the club back with my hands, the clubhead stays outside my hands and the airplane wings are pretty much pointing at the target line – which creates a nice shaft angle that we set at address,” he adds. “If I can get the club back into swing like that, all I have to do is bend my right arm and the club will come up in a really good position.

Close for takeaway

Next, Baile offers advice for those players who tend to keep the takeaway too short in golf, which is often the reason they hook the ball too often.

“If you're the type of player that tends to take the club a little too far back, with the hands too far in and the clubhead too far out, the wings of the plane will either be pointing too far toward the ground or toward my feet,” he says. So the clubface will be closed, which will cause me to have to do some sort of redirection on the downswing to get back to the ball.”

To correct this, Baile says he likes to feel his upper body twisting backward and a slight tug on his front shoulder to help keep the “airplane wings” in the correct position.

“I like to feel the upper body working and keeping the wings of the plane on plane,” Baile adds. “I also feel a slight pull on my left shoulder that really brings my shoulder into plane nicely when I keep the grip in and the clubhead out in relation to my hands.”

This simple equipment setup drill will help you feel the correct takeaway, get instant feedback on clubhead position on return and impact, and correct common (and frustrating) miss-hits.

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Nick Dimengo

Golf.com Publisher