Dexter's Coming Over the Top, Part 3

Ok, we’ve gotten all the “theory” out of the way:

• You know what makes an over-the-top swing different from our desired swing: Instead of swinging along the plane, the hands get in a bad position which causes them to go straight up and “crashing through” the plane, resulting in a loop.
• You know the hands get in this position because you bent your right elbow (or left elbow, for you lefties out there) too early in the swing.
• You know you bent your elbow too early because you didn’t start coiling your shoulders early enough in the backswing, a move also called a “one-piece takeaway.”

So now you only need to know two more things:

• How to make a proper one-piece takeaway.
• How to know when you’re making a proper one-piece takeaway.

Don’t underestimate that second one. Golfers really get tripped up trying to do the right thing but not knowing whether they did it or not. While golf is a game of feel, unless we know what the proper movements feel like to us, we often find out that what feels right isn’t right at all. (Come to think of it, a lot of life is that way. But I digress…)

Because of this, I’m going to break the backswing into two parts:

• the one-piece takeaway, which carries the hands from the address position to about waist high; and
• the rest of the backswing, from waist high to the top.

Why am I including that second part? Well, if we’ve been bending our elbows too early, then we’re used to bending them incorrectly. We need to learn what they’re supposed to do after we get that one-piece takeaway working smoothly. Simple, right?

So today we'll start with the one-piece takeaway. It’s actually the easiest part of the whole swing! Here’s the first “feel drill” for learning the correct takeaway; all it does is teach you the proper position and let you learn how it feels to you. You can do this drill with or without a club; with a club is pretty obvious, but doing it without a club may be less so. Here’s how to create an “instant club” so you can do this anywhere you have room:

1. Hold your left hand out in front of you, as if you were going to shake hands. (You lefties out there will need to use your right hand.)
2. Make a fist and stick your thumb straight up as if you were giving somebody a “thumbs-up.” Your thumb is the “shaft” of your club.
3. Take your normal golf grip by placing your free hand on the “shaft.” You’ll be surprised how much this feels like your normal grip; at any rate, it will give you a solid way to position your hands.

Simple, huh? Now let’s try the drill:

1. Take your normal address position. On the outside chance you need to work on your setup, let me give you a couple of checkpoints:
   • Your knees should be slightly flexed and your spine tilted forward from your hips.
   • Your feet should be roughly shoulder-width apart, and your weight should be on the balls of your feet and pretty evenly distributed between them.
   • Your upper arms rest lightly against the outside muscles of your chest. I know not everybody stands as close to or far from the ball, but just avoid the extremes—don’t glue your elbows against your chest, and don’t stick your arms out so straight that the upper parts of your arms don’t touch your chest muscles at all.
   • And of course, your forearms and grip should be relaxed. You don’t need tense arms to do a one-piece takeaway. No locking those elbows, ok?
2. From this address position, with your knees still bent, straighten your spine so it’s vertical again. Don’t move your arms; let them just stay in the relaxed position they were in before. Did you know that your hands should be about waist high when you straighten your spine? Surprise!
3. Now, without moving your lower body, turn your upper body (yes, that’s your shoulders! Turn at your waist) so your arms, still relaxed and fairly straight, are pointing to the side. Did I hear you ask “how much should I turn?” Here are a couple of guidelines; use the one that suits you best.
• Turn until your club shaft points straight out to your right (left for you lefties) or angles up slightly. You might also think of the shaft being parallel to your toe line.
• Turn until your hands are just outside your right foot (left foot for you lefties).
Using these two guides, you should be able to get things about right. You can also check the pic of Paula Creamer below. I would guess this is about a 60- to 75-degree shoulder turn from her setup position. Note that her arms are still in the same position relative to her spine that they were at address; they haven't changed. Paula's club shaft angles up slightly; if you usually have your wrists completely cocked at this point, that's ok too. Letting the shaft "droop" just makes it easier to keep your arms relaxed during this drill.
4. Tilt your upper body back into your setup position. Let me point out that you did not poke your right hip (left hip, lefties!) out to the side when you did this, so don't start poking it out when you try to make the actual takeaway. Note how your lower body feels when you do this drill, and duplicate that feel when you actually swing!

Although you’re pretty much in the proper position, there’s one last thing you need to do. I’m making a big deal of it because it makes a big difference in the feel. Your left arm (right arm, lefties!) isn’t quite correct because your elbow is closer to your side than it should be. The reason is that we kept your elbows near your side, in the same position as they were at address… but at this point in the takeaway, your elbow should be pointing straight down at the ground. (When you actually make your takeaway from your setup position, you'll make this adjustment naturally.) If you just relax your arm, you’ll feel your shoulder joint pivot just a bit as your elbow swings away from your side a little. Just firm it up once it’s in position and TA-DAH! This is how a one-piece takeaway feels to you.

It won't take you long to get the hang of it; you'll be able to take your setup position and swing back to waist high with barely a thought. Once you do, you can try using your new takeaway to make short swings with a club, either just swinging in your back yard or actually hitting pitch shots at the driving range. (Yes, this will help both your full shots and your short game. MULTITASKING -- THE ONLY WAY TO PRACTICE!) Focus on keeping your forearms and wrists as relaxed as possible, and it will also help you improve your release.

Tomorrow is the Limerick Summary, so you've got a couple of days to work on this, although I doubt it'll take any of you that long. Just leave any questions you have in the comments. The fourth post will teach you how to turn this improved takeaway into an improved backswing... and how to kiss that over-the-top swing good-bye.