The problem is two-fold. First, some players have assumed that getting a wide backswing means s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g as much as they can in an effort to push the club handle away from their body. They lock their elbows straight out and they extend their wrists in an effort to make the club shaft point straight out, hoping to get the clubhead as far away from them as they can. They look stiff, and they ARE stiff; there's no way to make a good swing from that position.
The arms should be relaxed, but simply relaxing won't eliminate the main culprit: In order to make a useful one-piece takeaway, you simply MUST turn your shoulders. This turn is often called an upper body coil; you've seen that term mentioned in this blog before (here, for example).
This coil is the key to a proper one-piece takeaway. If you don't coil properly, you'll merely lift your shoulders as you attempt the takeaway, causing you to close the clubface on the way back (which you'll almost certainly open on the way down, causing a slice) and to lean your spine toward the target (which could cause an over-the-top swing, again causing a slice).
In the coming week I'll do some posts about how to make a proper coil, but for now I'll leave you with a diagram showing about how long a one-piece takeaway is. And please note one misleading thing about this diagram, which is also true of any picture showing a player making a one-piece takeaway: No matter how much it looks like it's moving up, that right shoulder is actually moving back as the upper body coils.
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