Golf Swing Error – Illustrated Guide

Adopting a great setup and address position goes a long way in helping you perform a good swing that will produce a great shot and ball flight. But the errors that you make during the takeaway – the first stage of the golf swing – can have severe consequences that can throw that good setup right into the garbage bin.

Follow the tips below to understand what can happen if you take your club too much inside during the takeaway and for tips on how to fix this swing error.

What is an Inside Takeaway?

Inside of the Target Line

Before we can define what an inside takeaway is we need to define what a good, square takeaway looks like. If you were to position a camera or a mirror directly behind the ball, in line with the target, a square takeaway would see your hands blocking the view of your clubhead when the shaft of the club is parallel to the ground. This would happen because the entire club is pointing directly at the target, again when the club is held parallel to the ground.

An inside takeaway would see the grip end of the club pointing to the right of the target. And this would happen because the clubface end of the golf club would be too far inside, too close to you in relation to the target.

Related Swing Error: Outside Takeaway

Problems Associated with an Inside Takeaway

Puts your Club on the Wrong Path; Can Get you Stuck

The takeaway is the first part of the golf swing and because of that it is especially important to get it right. Indeed, errors made during this initial step can put you on the wrong swing path right from the starting gate. And fixing that path will require a lot of adjustments.

Specifically, moving your hands and clubface too far inside will put you in a position where you are essentially blocked from moving up, where you can’t really reach the top of the swing. Blocked indeed unless you make adjustments in order to finish your backswing. And the adjustments that you are likely to make is to bring your club back outside in order to reach a proper top of the swing position.

The problem is that this motion will encourage an over the top downswing, where you will bring your club down on an outside-in swing path.

More on: Over the Top Swing Error

How to Fix an Inside Takeaway

Keep your Hands from Rolling Over

Thankfully, it is relatively easy to fix an inside takeaway once you are able to correctly diagnose the problem and understand the difference between a square takeaway and its inside variant.

When you are out in the practice range or even during your practice swing prior to a live swing, take note of how your club looks and feels like when the shaft is parallel to the ground. Many golf Pros do this prior to a golf shot and you can see them do this on television. Work on making sure that the club is pointing directly ahead at the target.

Also notice how your hands should avoid rolling over. This can be seen through the leading edge of the clubface. A good clubface position during that stage should see it either parallel to your upper body or pointing up at the sky slightly. You’ll want to avoid seeing the clubface pointing at the sky or to the ground too aggressively.

More on: How to position the clubface during the takeaway