Following on from a previous article of ours in Simply Algarve Magazine, that carried the message: ‘To be the BEST YOU on the fairways make sure you appreciate the fundamentals of golf,’ we are going to discuss now the start of your golf swing…the takeaway.

If you can start each swing along the right path, keeping the club in a good position early on, there’s a much greater chance that the rest of your backswing will follow that good path – and that in turn will promote a good downswing and a solid, straight strike on the golf ball, whch is exactly what you want.

A number of common takeaway faults are evident in many golfers who, as a result, spend the rest of their swing working hard to adjust in order to make a decent contact with the ball. Not great if you want to become a more solid and consistent ball striker. Rather than go through each common fault, let’s stick to what a good golf swing takeaway looks and feels like… There are three very useful, very objective checkpoints that you can use to make sure your swing begins on the best possible path.

They are these:

1 Start the takeaway by allowing your left shoulder to turn towards your chin (for the right-handed golfer). Keep the left arm straight and the hands passive (no wrist hinge or rotation at this stage) until the club reaches hip height, keeping the club in front of you for as long as possible.

2 As the club reaches a horizontal position, check that the butt end of the club points at your target. If you have access to a mirror use the down the line view to check that the club is in this position.

3 The club head should cover the view of your hands. Looking down the line, the blade of the club should run parallel to your spine angle (see the photo above).