How To Actually Start Your Golf Swing and Perfect the Takeaway

Fix your setup and master the first 18 inches — learn the exact golf swing takeaway and golf takeaway tips that set every great shot. Email me here greg@gregjonesgolf.com

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0:06 – Why the takeaway matters: the first 18 inches and common confusion 🎯
1:56 – The most-forgotten fundamental: proper distance from the ball (right-arm check) 📏
2:38 – What being too close or too far does to your path (snatch vs. push) ⚠️
4:27 – Bottom-of-grip trace drill: track the white stripes down the stick to start correctly 🔍
5:29 – Toe-line drill: get the shaft on the toe line and clubhead aligned with your hands 🦶
6:56 – Club-box drill: “motion creates position” — ride the box and let it fly off 📦
8:51 – Takeaway checkpoint routine (TV pros use this) — feel the correct position before you start ✅
10:00 – Practice plan: mirror/toe-line/box progression and nightly reps challenge 🕒

This video teaches how setup distance and three simple practice drills produce a reliable golf swing takeaway so your entire swing tracks better. You’ll get step-by-step golf takeaway tips (right-arm check, grip-stripe tracing, toe-line alignment, and the club-box motion drill) and a nightly practice challenge to ingrain the feel.

What You’ll Learn
-How to check and set the correct distance from the ball (the right-arm swing test)
-A simple golf takeaway drill using the bottom-of-grip stripes and a ground stick to guide the first moves
-How to place the shaft on your toe line so the clubhead lines up with your hands (avoid getting it “deep”)
-The club-box motion drill: use motion to create the correct takeaway position
-Why being too close or too far wrecks your path and how to stop snatching or pushing the club
-A practical practice progression (mirror/toe-line/box) and a 25–50 reps nightly challenge to build consistency

#golftakeawaydrill #golfswingtakeaway #golftakeawaytips #golftips #golfswing #golfinstruction #shortgame

You ever get over your golf ball and wonder where should I go? Which direction should I go when I start the swing? How do I get this thing underway? Should I hinge it up? Do I keep the club outside my hands? Do I roll my forearms? Is it all one piece? Well, today’s video is all about takeaway. And I’m going to show you how to get your swing underway correctly. And I’m also going to show you what causes the biggest mistake in all the takeaways. One of the most forgotten fundamentals in all of golf, the distance away from the golf ball that we should stand. Today, I’m going to show you how to check your distance away from the ball. And I’m going to show you three great ways to build a super takeaway. I’m going to use this show you how to trace the stick with the bottom of your grip and show you how to get over your toe line. And I’m going to show you how to take a club box and motion creates a position. I’m going to show you how to use a club box to build a great takeaway. It’s no secret that the takeaway is vitally important. It sets the tendency for everything in the swing after the takeaway. It’s going to set the tendency for your arm path. It’ll probably set the tendency for the way you pivot and pressure shift. So many things that the takeaway affects in the golf swing. And many of the legends have said that the first 18 inches is the most important part of the swing. Well, I tend to agree. If we get the takeaway right, we’re off to a great start. We get this takeaway out of whack, man, we’re in for a roller coaster ride and the hands are left to guess a lot of times. So, one of the biggest problems I see with takeaway starts as a student steps up to the golf ball. And so many times I see them standing either too close or too far away from the ball. So, distance away from the ball is often forgotten as a hugely vital fundamental in the game and in the setup. to start your swing. So, we want to make sure we’re standing the proper distance from the ball. Well, what is the proper distance? Well, there’s lots of ways to check, and I’ll show you a couple ways real quick. One of the ways is the proverbial hitchhiker thumb right here at the seam of your pants, and you’re a hitchhiker thumb away. Well, that’s pretty good right there. Another way to check is to put this club right above your kneecap and reach down and grab it and you should be the right distance away. If you were too far away, you wouldn’t be able to reach your kneecap. Another great way to check distance away from the ball. My favorite is what I call the right arm check. And I’ll show you what I mean. I’m going to purposely set up too far away from this golf ball like like I am really reaching right here. You can see that I am really reaching right here. I’m doing this on purpose. So, what I’m going to do is I’m going to look away and swing my right arm back and let it fall. And look where it fell. Right in line with my left hand. I’m too far away from the ball. That’s pretty easy to see. Well, if I was really too close to the ball and did this right arm check, swung it back and let it fall, you can see I came up about two or three inches away from my left hand. I’m too close to the ball. So, we want to check this right arm, right arm swing. Take your grip, look away, let your right arm swing, and when you get it right, it’s going to come right back to where it’s supposed to be. That is a great way to make sure you are the proper distance away from the golf ball. this right arm check. Now, once we get that right, now we’re off and running and ready to have a great takeaway. So, what would happen if I’m too far away? Well, if I’m too far away, I’m probably going to snatch it inside just like that. I’ll probably snatch it inside and get the club too deep. And we all know this is a death move, and we don’t want this move. Well, if I’m too close, I’m probably going to push my hands out and also get the club too deep and also a death move. So, the a lot of mistakes I see in the game or in the swing start right away in the takeaway. And the takeaway is usually affected by your distance away from the ball. A hugely important part of the setup. All right. So, now that we’re the right distance away from the ball, now we can start our swing properly. Can make a great takeaway and get our swing underway properly. So, what I have here on the ground, I have this white stick that’s about onethird of the way from my toe line to the ball. And what’s really neat is I, as I look down from this perspective, and I can see these two white stripes on the bottom of my grip, I’ve got them exactly in line with this white stick. I’ve also got the white stick on the back side of my trail foot. And what I want to do is practice my takeaway and keep these white stripes behind this white grip. I don’t want to see them get out and I don’t want to see them move in. I want them to track right down that white stick or just behind it. There we go. And that’s a good way to track the first few inches of your takeaway. And we’re going to track that right back here to the back side of our trail leg. right there. I just want to track it to there. Okay, that’s the first part. And then the next part, I want to make sure I get my shaft on top of this red stick, which is down my toe line. And I want to make sure that I track the stripes down the white stick, and then get this shaft on my toe line. And when I get this on my toe line, you’ll see that the club head is right in line with my hands. The club head should block out the view of your hands. If you were looking in a mirror, like right where you are, if you were the mirror, I can check and see that my club head is right in line with my hands, not here. Okay? Right there. Now, what you will see frequently now is a lot of the guys on TV, if they’re going to air, they’re going to air on this side. their club head is going to be on the outside of their hands or on the outside of this red stick, but you will never see them get in there. You will never see them get it deep because once you get it in deep, you’re in for a roller coaster ride. And I can identify with that because I do it sometimes and if I ever go play and I see that club head or feel that club head get behind me, I’m saying to myself, “Hang on, we’re in for a ride.” So, you can always work on this at home. Track that white stick, then get it on your toe line, and your golf swing is off to a fantastic start. All right, I’m going to show you another way to work on your takeaway. All right, so now here’s another great way to work on your takeaway. And this comes from the concept that motion creates the positions and not vice versa. Motion creates the positions. So, now I have an extra element involved here. I’ve got a club box down here on the ground. And what I’m going to do is I’m going to set up so that the shaft is just resting on that box as my club is barely on the ground. And I’m going to get this thing going back and forth like this. Well, as I’m doing that, the stripes on the bottom of my grip and the stick on the ground are right in line with each other. So, I had to position this box properly. And I can see that as I ride the box, these white stripes are staying on the white stick. Well, what would happen if I went away? I would leave the box. We don’t want to leave the box. And so, way I’ve got it positioned is I’ve got this box right off the back side of my trail foot here. And I’m going to get this thing going in motion. And after about a three count, I’m going to let it fly off the box. And there’s a great takeaway. motion created that position. There we go. And now my swing is off to a great start. Right over here on my toe line, I kept the stripes on my grip behind the white stick and I stayed on the box. I didn’t get away from it. So, staying on the box. There you go. Motion creates a position. There’s three great ways to work on your takeaway. And you can actually put all three of them in play at one time. And hey, you get this swing off to a good takeaway, you’re in for a pretty good ride. You get it sour to start with, it’s going to feel like a roller coaster and you’re not going to like it. All right, so now I’m just going to make a few swings with a takeaway checkpoint and then go. We’re going to do this in two steps. I’m going to do a takeaway checkpoint. You’ll see this on TV. Justin Thomas, Ricky Fowler have been known to do this. You’ll see others doing it. In their routines, you’ll see them check right here, then go back to the ball and swing. Well, I’m going to do this in two pieces. I’m going to do the checkpoint, then go. Okay, it’s a little awkward at first. So, set up checkpoint on my tow line. And now I know what it feels like to have a great takeaway as I’m moving backwards. All right, here we go. This is one you might want to take a picture of. Takeaway foundations. The first thing you’ve got to do before you can have a great takeaway is make sure you’re set up properly with your distance away from the ball. One of the most forgotten fundamentals in golf is how far away should you set up from the ball. And I showed you a great way to do that with that right arm swing test to make sure you’re the right distance away from the ball. Once you’re the right distance away from the ball, now we can get this swing underway with a beautiful takeaway. I showed you three great ways you can work on the takeaway. You can use the bottom of your grip and trace that stick on the ground that’s about onethird of the way between your toe line and the ball. You can do the toe line drill. That’s where we want to make sure that our shaft is on our toe line and that the club head and the hands are in line with each other. That is a great practice and I hope you’ll do that some this off season. And then the box drill is a great one. Motion creates the positions. We’re going to ride that box and let it fly off and you’re going to be on your way to a great back swing, a great takeaway. And that is a great way to get your swing underway. So this off season when you’re at home, my preference would be that you do the mirror drill, the toe line and inline drill where you’re getting the club shaft on top of the toe line and that that club head is in line with your hands. I challenge you to do it 25 to 50 times a night. You’ll be so happy you did next spring when golf season rolls around. So, I hope this video helped you. If you think it’s going to help you, if it has helped you, please consider liking and subscribing. It means a lot to me. Hey, and if you want to come work with me, come on down to South Alabama. Got a beautiful facility. Would love to see you. Would love to work with you. We can also work together remotely via the Coach Now app. It’s easy to work together so that we can work on your swing, your takeaway, or any specific drills that you might need to get your swing in top shape.