‘One-piece takeaway’ is wrong. Pros start the swing with this move instead

Some instructors have long preached the importance of a one-piece takeaway, where the club, hands, arms and shoulders start back together. But taking everything back together often gets the club too far inside the target line and starts a chain of events that can produce an out-to-in slice.

What great ball-strikers do, instead, is start the clubhead back after the body makes a small movement toward the target, known technically as a counter movement. Think of this first move like a “forward press,” where you push some of your weight into your lead leg before starting the backswing. Then from there, the clubhead starts back.

Blackburn's Moves You Can Steal From the Pros: Keep Your Trail Arm Soft | "One-Piece" Is Wrong | Turn Your Ribcage | Push Your Butt Back | Swing Wide on Wedge Shots | Use Your Pivot for Chips

Now some players may feel like they have a one-piece move off the ball but feel and real aren’t always the same! When we look at the swings of the best players in 3D and study their ground reaction forces, we see that most of these players have a slight movement toward the target initially, followed by the clubhead starting back. It’s a dynamic move, and it’s certainly not “one piece.”

Once the club is loaded in the backswing and you’re ready to start down, simply reverse the sequence in the downswing by starting from the ground up. Move your lower body toward the target, followed by the hips, torso, arms and finally the club. That’s how you maximize speed.

But it all starts with the takeaway. To nail this move, focus on pushing toward the target and into your lead leg, as a sort of “trigger” move to start the swing. Then from there, get the clubhead moving back with what might feel like an earlier wrist set with the arms, as opposed to everything moving away together.

Blackburn’s new book, The Coaching Code, is now out. In it, he explains the concepts he has used in coaching dozens of tour players, including Justin Rose, Matt Fitzpatrick, Max Homa and Collin Morikawa. Blackburn is a Golf Digest Teaching Professional.