This ‘mistake’ happens when the turn starts, said a senior teacher. Here is his fix
Getty Images
Bryce Cope begins his swing, and sooner than you can say ‘wrong,’ the head teacher commits a sin. The purpose of the movement, of course – is to teach a lesson – but the point remains:
Swing mistakes can happen quickly – and he says one in particular is common.
Cope was speaking in a video posted on his Instagram account, and his focus was on the takeaway. There are proper ways to start a swing, and then there’s the move he often sees — and one that can lead to disaster.
The players said in this video that they should not remove their hands from their bodies when they walk.
“Usually from here to get the club behind them,” Cope said in the video, “the players roll it inside, which opens up the face and gets them up.”
So what should players do instead?
Keep your hands down and in, says Cope. In the video, clips of Viktor Hovland, Nelly Korda and Justin Thomas are shown.
And how do you keep your hands down and inside?
“I feel like your back hand [right hand if you’re a righty] it goes over the back of your shoelaces as the palm lands,” Cope said in the video, “don’t move away from you and roll the palm up toward the sky. This will keep the hands in and the face square, putting that group in a position where it can sink very well. “
Below is the video, and below are more thoughts.
For convenience, here is what Cope said in the video:
“One of the most common mistakes I see is pushing the hands away from the body. Often from here to get the club behind them, players roll it inside, which opens the face up. Instead, we want to keep those hands down and in as you will see from many of the best players in the world. Feel your back hand go past your back shoelaces as the palm lands on the floor, not moving away from you and you roll the palm up toward the sky. This will keep the hands in and the face square, putting that group in a position where it can sink very well. “
And in the Instagram post, there were answers to a few questions, and that helpful exchange is below, with the questions in italics.
— “Do you want the bells, too?”
“Yes,” said Cope.
— “Is there a reason why I see myself doing this only with my driver? Not a problem with my irons or even my 3 woods. I only have a driver, which makes me very sad.”
“That’s tough,” Cope said. “It is possible that since it is the longest and heaviest group, it is possible that you are trying to help it around you.”
— “Is this only for the driver? I always try not to put my hands too far into the takeaway. It always makes sense to keep the clubhead out of the hands. “
“This is for all clubs,” said Cope. “I would say it’s a different way of thinking about it, but the same goal of hands that don’t move and the club stays without hands. It is not a mandatory rule, of course – there are many ways to do it and you will see good players with that club inside a little; mostly just trying to avoid overdoing the way in or out.”
– “I was told to imagine a long and wide arc.”
“It’s not a bad idea, but it depends a lot on the players,” said Cope. “I see that thought gets many players into trouble, as they like to overdo it by closing their wrists and putting their arms out and away from the body. And you will see this causes the players to move the golf ball as the arms remain more extended. Not bad information; I have a lot of faith in the players.”
Lexi Thompson taught me how to shoot in the air
Jessica Marksbury
— “What’s the tip for doing that with your hands but not dragging the club in with it?”
“I give the concept of ‘hands in, club out’ to players who seem to be clicking,” said Cope.
— “Definitely drawing it; not a direct hit.”
“JT, Nelly and Hovland in the examples are not great football players,” said Cope.
“He tried this and every shot is a great game.”
“The grip can be tight,” Cope said. “The other thing is that if you ever had a push motion and you rolled the club from the start, you would flip your hands to balance it. So if you do this and the club stays too square at first but you maintain the same amount of spin, the ball will go too left. “
—“Tiger [Woods] he says push your right hand out and if you can kiss your hands behind your back, you are doing it wrong. Now I do what Tiger says and put 50 to 60 yards on my drive. And it doesn’t reflect the full swing of expertise. Not good advice, in my opinion.”
“You can keep your hands down and inside and keep them wide,” said Cope. “Arm span is not only achieved by pushing yourself out and away from the beginning of the swing. I can keep my arms outstretched but I always make them work the body.”
Editor’s Note: To help keep the discussion going, below is an article written in March by GOLF’s Zephyr Melton titled “This cheat code will help you get it wrong every time.” You can also read it as by clicking here.
***
The takeaway is one of the most important aspects of the swing. The first move you make also dictates how your other moves will play out. If something is off in the takeaway, you’ll be making up for the whole year. That’s why it’s so important to call your takeaway.
Despite the importance of the takeaway, many recreational players do not emphasize it enough. They are too busy focusing on the results of their photos rather than their reasons. Usually, the main cause goes back to the wrong intake.
If you want some reinforcement of the importance of the takeaway, watch Justin Thomas or Xander Schauffele go through their pre-snap routines. You will see that they are both practicing their takeaway as they prepare to hit every shot.
If the experts put a premium on the takeaway, you should too. Here’s how, courtesy of pastor Brian Mogg.
One of the most common swing mistakes for beginner golfers is the tendency to suck the clubhead in during the backswing. This causes the club to lag behind you on the upswing, and the only way to fix it is to come from the top and swing as it backs up. This robs you of tons of energy and usually results in a bad slice.
The fix for this is simple – and all you need to focus on is keeping the clubhead out of your hands when the shaft is parallel to the ground during the backswing.
To incorporate this feeling into your swing, take the alignment stick and hold it in your grip near the butt of the club. The steering rod should come up towards your body, and you want the end of the rod to touch your lead hip. Next, get into your swing stance and begin to swing upwards.
When you do your takeaway, you’ll want to bend your wrists so that the steering rod pulls down on your lead side to touch your lead knee.
“What you’re going to see is, if you do this right while adding the curve, the clubhead is above my hands and outside,” Mogg said. “And from there, we turn around and raise our arms up.”
Once you start drilling the feel of the right takeaway, remove the steering stick and keep the same feel in your arms and hands. If you do this, you will find that you can deliver a good takeaway every time.
