I fixed my takeaway with this smart drill. Here's how it works

I recently took a trip to Alpine, NJ, to meet with Jonathan Yarwood. Yarwood has been a Top 100 GOLF Instructor since 2019 and has coached major winners such as Nelly Korda and Michael Campbell, as well as his work with newcomers to the International Junior Golf Association. Suffice it to say, he is one of the brightest minds when it comes to golf instruction.

I always enjoy picking JY's brain when I meet him. Not only does he have an impressive resume but he also has an easy way of teaching the swing. He never over-explains or gets too bogged down in technical jargon. His communication style is usually to the point and easy to understand. When it comes to golf, we work at the same height.

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 hitting the ball better than when I arrived.

On my recent trip to see Yarwood, he watched me swing a little and commented on how well I was hitting the ball. However, he gave me a tip about my takeaway that he turned into a short video, which you can see below.

A simple takeaway drill

Starting your swing correctly is important if you want to hit the ball hard. Everything you do during transit affects your overall swing.

When I returned the club, I had it in the right direction, but my right arm stayed straight for too long, which prevented my trailing arm from bending properly and threw me out of position when the club came mid-return.

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

“If I walk like this and my right arm is high and not bent, I'm getting the balls out,” Yarwood said. “If I do this, and my right arm spreads and my arms rotate, now I can keep all the balls in the bucket.”

Not throwing the balls forces me to turn my arms properly at the start of the swing. From there, I can properly wrap my right arm and keep the club in the right 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. Before joining the GOLF team, he attended the University of Texas followed by stops with the Texas Golf Association, Team USA, Green Bay Packers and the PGA Tour. He assists in all instruction and covers youth and women's golf. He can be reached at [email protected].