Inspired by legends Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus espousing the critical initial movements of the golf swing, noted instructor David Leadbetter has spent much of his career teaching the keys to the takeaway. All of that experience led Leadbetter to invent his newest training aid: the StraightAway.
“Not only do most golf teachers concur on the importance of the takeaway,” Leadbetter told Andy Brumer, “they also agree that so many golfers get it wrong.”
Leadbetter says that overuse of the hands is the most common problem for golfers. Instead of moving the clubhead straight back from the ball, too many recreational golfers over-roll the club inside with their hands too quickly or push it outside of their target line. In either case, Leadbetter says the proper “hands in/club out” relationship gets lost in the motion.
To address this issue, Leadbetter’s StraightAway ($79) helps groove a golfer’s takeaway. The colorful aid clamps onto the club just below the grip to help visually guide a swing during practice to foster the proper start to the swing. With two strategically positioned guiding arrows – a red arrow pointing straight down the shaft aligned with the club’s leading edge and a yellow one angled approximately 45 degrees to the right of the first arrow – the markings point the way to a proper position in the first 2 feet of the takeaway to train either right- or left-handed golfers to “clip it and rip it.”
“The StraightAway is a very visual tool that lets golfers know if their takeaway is right or wrong,” Leadbetter said. “It doesn’t force golfers into the correct takeaway position; it guides them there instead.”
To illustrate his teaching, Leadbetter asks golfers to imagine a clock at address, with their head at 12 o’clock and the ball 6. With a correct takeaway, a right-hander can look at the StraightAway to see the aid’s larger arrow pointing to 9 o’clock while the clubhead should point at 8. This signals the golfer’s hands are properly “in” while the clubhead stays “out.”
“After working with the StraightAway, many golfers find themselves hitting the ball out of the center of the clubface, perhaps for the first time,” Leadbetter said.
PHOTOS COURTESY PERFORMANCE GOLF