There are several characteristics that are paramount in contributing to the success and efficiency of a golf swing. After solid fundamentals, a good place to start is the one-piece takeaway.
At address, your arms and shoulders should make a slightly tilted triangle. This tilt is caused by a slight leaning of your spine angle away from the target at address, and the fact that your trailing hand is lower on the grip at address.
This tilt is what helps to determine your ball trajectory. This fact is important to remember anytime you wish to fiddle with your ball trajectory – this is where it all starts.
But anyways, moving onward… your arms and shoulders must behave as a unit. The first few movements away from the ball should be initiated by the turning and shifting of the upper body. Not your arms, not your wrists and not your shoulders. This is what the one-piece takeaway is all about – the body moves as a unit to initiate the golf swing. This triangle should be maintained until the arms reach the height of your trailing hip pocket. Afterwards, the wrists and arms kick in, the wrists starting cocking the club upwards to finish the backswing.
Extra body movements before this position only disrupt the rhythm and tempo of the backswing. Doing this properly sets up the proper sequencing of your swing.
A poorly initiated backswing occurs when either the hands do all the work, which leads to a loose, handsy swing, or when the shoulders start the swing, which can lead to extra unwanted body movements. The correct sequence of the backswing is initiated by the turning of the body, followed by the arms, shoulders and wrists acting together. Keep this in mind, and try incorporating the one-piece takeaway into your swing.
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