THE PLAYERS COACH

The Takeaway

Learn these basic swing positions for a guide to what to monitor each time you practice. When your swing get off, you will know how to get it back quickly!

 

 

take-away-girl-

Step 2. Take away

The first move when swinging the club is the take away. Great golfers have different swings, but they all error on the “safe” side of certain positions. For the take way, you want to make sure that the club head never gets inside the hands when the club is hip high, you can over do it and have them outside the hands, but never inside!

SET UP & BACKSWING

The golf swing is cause and effect, how you start dictates how you move throughout the swing

P-2, the takeaway is the first position of the golf swing that is dynamic (moving). This is the easiest position during the swing to physically control because it is slower and you have not had any manipulations if you set up correctly.

Do not over look this aspect. After the set up, this will set the stage for the rest of your swing. If you do not do it correctly, you will be trying to compensate positions coming down to impact, which will not be consistent.

 

When working on swing positions, always try to implement timing and tempo to see positive results when hitting shots.

  • TEMPO

    Find the best tempo for your style. Blast motion is the first piece of technology that gives you factual data of your tempo, timing and how to optimize your swing speed.

  • TRANSITION

    The top of the swing, when you complete your backswing, the transition to downswing needs to be smooth and consistent.

FULL SWING DEVELOPMENT, P-2 - THE TAKE WAY

The secret is how you practice your swing changes!

 

“I DON’T HAVE TIME” worst excuse I hear every day.

YOU WILL IMPROVE FASTER WITHOUT HITTING A BALL! Instead do slow rehearsal swings, make sure each position is perfect by monitoring yourself with a mirror or cell phone camera.

PLEASE work on your changes WITHOUT hitting a golf ball.

FACTS

  1. The golf swing is muscle memory (we are focused on training motor patterns)
  2. It is going to be uncomfortable (any change is different, therefore uncomfortable)
  3. You make changes, ONLY when you perform slow rehearsal swings
  4. You can buy a Saber Training Stick to change your muscle memory (motor patterns) faster. It has a light end and a heavy end, the heavy end changes your swing positions much faster than a normal weight club. BUY NOW ⇒ *Use Code golfgpg at checkout to save $10

SWING TECHNIQUE CHANGES

 

Changing Swing Technique (positions) the best way to make changes quickly is to make slow rehearsal swings without hitting a golf ball. The heavy club drill listed above is the secret drill to making permanent changes in as little time as one week! Do this every day from the home or office when you need a break from work or bored. The heaviness of the club changes your muscle memory much faster.

© 3 sets of 10 every day and you will change in one week!

You can buy a Saber Training Stick to change your muscle memory (motor patterns) faster. It has a light end and a heavy end, the heavy end changes your swing positions much faster than a normal weight club. BUY NOW ⇒ *Use Code golfgpg at checkout to save $10

APPLY TEMPO, TIMING AND FEEL TO YOUR SWING

 

Developing Feel for New Swing Technique (Positions) when hitting a golf ball at the range you need to make your focus on routine and feel, not mechanics!

In the video below you can see how I rehearse the feel for the swing change I am trying to make. I do this in my pre shot routine before hitting each golf ball! You have to exaggerate the new feel, yes it is uncomfortable but any change is uncomfortable! Keep doing it until it is automatic. Trust your coaches guidance!

BLAST MOTION SENSOR is the only device that gives you feedback on your tempo (timing/feel). I like to warm up with Blast to see how my tempo consistency is, do my technical work, finish with blast practicing tempo consistency. You will notice how consistent your tempo is before working on technique, at the end your tempo will be more inconsistent because your brain is analytical. Work on tempo consistency at the end until you get all the clutter out of your head and return to being athletic! BUY BLAST MOTION SENSOR ⇒

 

Below I filmed my practice session where I am working on fixing a swing flaw. Please notice and implement to your swing practice the following:
1. I have a stick down for proper alignment and ball position *8 iron slightly forward in stance
2. I break up the swing fixes, thoughts, drills to work on them 1 by 1 *never think about more than one swing thought when hitting a ball!
3. I put it together by going through my routine, focusing on tempo and establishing one swing thought/feel that gives me the best chance to execute.

QUICK READS TO HELP YOU IMPROVE QUICKLY

  1. Understand Your Game
  2. Making Swing Changes

Warm up to make swing changes!

You have to activate the muscles properly to swing athletically without injury.

Dynamic Stretching
Hit it Farther, Stay Healthier

 

Warm Up Like Miguel

Pictured left is Miguel Angel Jimenez, most famously known for his funny warm up routine on the range. Truth is, he is warming up perfectly before he hits balls by activating all of the golf muscles properly.

“Warm up to hit balls. Do NOT hit balls to warm up.”

This is a common term used by golf fitness professionals. You need to get your body loose through dynamic stretching, not static stretching

Dynamic – stretches that have continuous movement
Static – Hold the stretch for a certain length of time in one position

Learn more here

Understand and Build your swing while you practice.

MAKE SURE TO END YOUR PRACTICE WITH THIS…

Consistent tempo does not just happen, you need to practice it. We have give you the drills to do each time you go out to the golf course to ensure you improve quickly.

Tempo
Glue that Holds the Swing Together

 

 

Tempo & Sequence

If you look back to the intro for building a solid golf swing on this page, you will notice that I discuss 3 things –

  1. Impact
  2. Tempo
  3. Key Swing Positions

You can not leave out any of these 3 elements and be consistent. #2, Tempo is the key that creates number #1 and #3. If you are missing step 2 – tempo, which sequences all the key swing positions together in one fluid motion, you will never have have proper impact and never play consistent golf!

Note, this step becomes before the swing positions because I want you to develop a smooth, effortless tempo without any swing thoughts. It will make it much easier – trust me! In step 3, you will add in a few key swing positions then quickly get back to working on the tempo to piece them altogether into one smooth, effortless swing!

 
 

How to Work on Tempo

Tempo is the easiest thing in the world to work on! Not only is it the easiest, but it is probably the least practiced and most important aspect of playing consistently well! Do you wonder why PGA Tour players have different looking swings, but all seem to hit the ball well consistently? Because they all have great, consistent tempo!

FIND YOUR TEMPO some players have slow tempo (Ernie Els) others have fast tempo (Kevin Chappell). Regardless if you are a fast paced golfer, or slow paced, just find what you are and repeat it every time! A couple tips on how to find your best tempo.

  1. Are you fast or slow paced naturally? If you walk fast, talk fast, move fast….then you are probably a faster tempo than normal in the golf swing. Go with it!
  2. When trying to find your tempo when swinging, be as relaxed as possible and make effortless swings. This does NOT mean be lazy, just effortless – still accelerating through to a full finish.

I like a few different training tools to work on my tempo. Before the blast motion sensor, we did not have any feedback to show us if we were working on our tempo correctly. Before you use the modern device such as Blast motion sensor, try a couple of these drills first.

  1. Feet together drill cures all
  2. Tempo practice for great transition

Learn these basic swing positions and you will have a guide of what to monitor each time you practice. When your swing gets off, you know how to get it back quickly!

KEY ELEMENT – TRANSITION

 
 

After the take away position, the transition is at the top of the back swing. Keep your arms connected to your shoulder turn allowing you to properly load to eliminate any weight transfer issues and generate speed through impact.

  1. Make sure to keep turning your shoulders to the top of the golf swing
  2. Your arms swing up as your shoulders turn, NEVER let your arms/ hands get behind your body during the back swing
  3. At the top of your swing, the “transition” is when you complete the back swing to starting your down swing. Fill like you pause for 2 seconds in order to fully “load” and generate more speed to the ball, it will also allow you to swing the club consistently on the right “swing plane” on the down swing.

Here are a couple drills for transition and turn.

  1. Gabe Trainer 
  2. Turn in Posture
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