Golf Swing Takeaway Tip

By John Lynch

I’ll never forget the time a few years ago when my brother in law Steve explained to me how he discovered a major break through in his golf swing. He describes this golf swing takeaway tip as “lightning in a bottle”…the true holy grail of golf!

Steve told me he had been sitting at an 8 handicap for about 4 years and was getting very frustrated at his lack of improvement. He practiced diligently however he had truly reached a plateau in his golf game.

He went through about 4 golf pros during this time and every one of them told him there was nothing wrong with his golf swing. Eventually he started playing less and less golf and was about ready to give it up altogether.

Steve said while on vacation with his family he was browsing through an old book store on Martha’s Vineyard when he came across a used copy of Joe Dante’s “Four Magic Moves to Winning Golf” written in 1972. He said he couldn't put the book down so out of courtesy to the store owner he bought it.

Steve showed me the book and as I leafed through it I was amazed at all the beautifully drawn illustrations showing how to swing a golf club properly. Andy Brown has since revised this book for the 21st century and offers many media formats to read or listen to the book.

Steve turned to the chapter that explains “the early backward wrist break” and told me this one magic move has totally transformed his golf game! He went on to say how golf pros never tell you HOW to break the wrists during the backswing for whatever reason. Steve believes the first 18 inches of the backswing are the most critical.

Most golfers fan the clubface open early in the backswing causing them to swing the club way too much to the inside…this knocks the swing off plane early in the backswing. Golfers then usually spend the rest of the golf swing trying to adjust so they can just make contact with the ball…not a good recipe for success!

The book goes on to say there should be no open or closing of the clubface early in the backswing…if you correctly perform the early backward wrist break your swing will be on plane early in the swing…Steve says he feels like the club is swinging itself…a truly effortless swing!

I am happy to say that my brother in law Steve is now a scratch golfer, thanks to this one magic move that has transformed his golf game!

When you make the backward wrist break perfectly - only one knuckle of your left hand (right handed golfers) and two knuckles of your right hand should be visible and the golf club should be parallel to your target line.

(Photo courtesy of The New Four Magic Moves to Winning Golf by Andy Brown and Joe Dante.)

You pay a lot of money to play this great game of golf…so why not enjoy it more by playing the golf you are capable of?

Try this golf swing takeaway tip and build the early backward wrist break into your golf swing and I promise you will halve your handicap in 2 weeks!

Hit ‘em Long and Straight!

John Lynch