I fixed my takeaway with this clever drill. Here’s how it works

I recently made the trek out to Alpine, N.J., to meet with Jonathan Yarwood. Yarwood has been a GOLF Top 100 Teacher since 2019 and has coached major winners like Nelly Korda and Michael Campbell, along with his work with up-and-comers at the International Junior Golf Association. Suffice to say, he’s one of the brightest minds out there when it comes to golf instruction.

I always enjoy picking JY’s brain when I meet with him. Not only does he have an impressive resume but he’s also got a simplistic way of teaching the swing. He never over-explains or gets too bogged down in technical jargon. His communication style is typically to the point and and easy to understand. When it comes to golf, we operate on a similar wavelength.

For that reason, I always have him take a quick look at my swing when we have meetings. He can usually take a quick look at my swing, give me a pointer or two, and I end up leaving hitting the ball better than when I arrived.

On my recent trip to see Yarwood, he watched me take a few swings and remarked at how well I was striking the ball. However, he did give me a tip about my takeaway that he then turned into a short video, which you can see below.

Easy takeaway drill

Starting your swing in the correct manner is critical if you want to hit the ball solidly. Everything you do during the takeaway influences the rest of your swing.

When I was taking the club back, I had it on the correct path, but my right arm was staying straight for too long, which prevented my trail arm from folding correctly and got me out of position by the time the club got halfway back.

To fix this, JY had me hold a bucket of range balls in front of me at my address position. From here, the goal was to turn until my arms were parallel with the ground without spilling any of the balls.

“If I go like this and my right arm is high and it’s not bending, I pour the balls out,” Yarwood says. “If I do this, and my right arm spreads and my arms rotate, now I can keep all the balls in the bucket.”

Not spilling the balls forces me to properly rotate my arms at the beginning of the swing. From there, I can properly fold my right arm and keep the club in the correct position all the way to the top of the swing.

Zephyr Melton

Golf.com Editor

Zephyr Melton is an assistant editor for GOLF.com where he spends his days blogging, producing and editing. Prior to joining the team at GOLF, he attended the University of Texas followed by stops with the Texas Golf Association, Team USA, the Green Bay Packers and the PGA Tour. He assists on all things instruction and covers amateur and women’s golf. He can be reached at zephyr_melton@golf.com.