Tom is doing some nice work toward his main goal of un-steepening the shaft in his downswing. In this video he tries out the takeaway-stop drill and I have a chance to compare it side by side with his full motion swing. The differences would be subtle to the eye (probably couldn’t pick any out) but are obvious once the lines are drawn. You can see what a major difference a couple of inches of depth in the hips makes to the overall motion and approach angles of the swing, as Tom’s drill swing gets much closer to what he is aiming for, which is, of course, the idea behind the drill.
It is becoming apparent that there are a few important things the drill does to allow the student to hit the ball from improved positions and with better timing. The first thing it does is to eliminate faulty trigger mechanisms in the takeaway, as the stop lets the player take his time and move the club away on plane and without extra movements that have to be compensated for later. Another huge factor is that since the swing is essentially starting from a completely different point (after the stop) it has already moved out of its normal pattern and can use a different timing sequence in transition almost without thinking about it. In just about every drill I have filmed or watched there is an increase in “catch” as the lower body wants to start forward sooner, a fact that produces all sorts of good things including a shallower approach (you can really see this with Tom) and more clubhead lag heading into impact. Of course, the drill has to be incorporated into the full swing from address, so these takeaway issues much be dealt with in order for the benefits to apply on the golf course.
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