Symptom: Your takeaway is plauged by lateral movement or swaying off the ball on the backswing. Your lateral sway puts you out of position at the top, causing an inconsistent and weak downswing.
You frequently say to yourself, “you would think I’d never hit a golf ball before” because your swing has just left you, without any warning and without even saying goodbye…
Overview: The unwanted lateral movement, or lateral sway on your takeaway, is killing your swing, but is easy to fix with a Starter Move.
The Starter Move is very simple and can be done in many ways. Basically, to initiate your takeaway, from a powerful setup position, you point your inside right knee at your inside left knee, ever so slightly and rather quickly. You then push off with your left foot to initiate the backswing.
Why it Works: The Starter Move is probably the least understood, simplest, and most important part of the golf swing. Pretty bold statement, you are thinking to yourself? It is true. The Occasional Golfer should ALWAYS use the Starter Move to initiate the takeaway because it will prevent lateal swaying off the ball.
Key Takeaway is to Fix Your Lateral Sway with a Starter Move
To see how the Starter Move eliminates your Lateral Sway (or to see if you are swaying), stand facing a reasonably-sized mirror and swing with and without a Starter Move.
The great Sam Snead, and many other golfers, use a starter move on the takeaway to eliminate lateral sway.
Simply take a stance as if you are about to hit the ball, look up in the mirror, identify a vertical line in back of you that is approximately in line with your right hip, and pretend to start your backswing.
Pay particular attention to your right hip — does it move to the right, even the slightest bit, relative to your reference line, on the backswing? If so, you are swaying on your backswing. You cannot sway on the backswing! — it is the root of much evil and the cause of great inconsistency for you.
Now, take your same athletic stance, look in the mirror, and initiate the backswing with a starter move. Did your right hip move at all to the right? I’ll bet not — probably you started turning around your spine immediately on the backswing, and avoided the dreaded lateral sway.
Try it a few more times and see for yourself. With the Starter Move you can totally eliminate your lateral sway on the backswing.
Slammin’ Sam’s Takeaway has a Pronounced Starter Move
Sam Snead had 82 wins in his PGA Tour career. He is currently tied with Tiger Woods for all time PGA Tour wins. So, surely we can learn from this legend.
Here is some footage of Slammin Sam through the year. His rhythmic swing is poetry in motion, even today. His Starter Move was easy to spot and very pronounced throughout his career:
Believe me, there is not a simpler, easier, and more effective fix for your lateral sway, and your golf swing in general, than the starter move. Make it part of your swing on every full and intermediate shot, every time.
Watch the pros on TV also; some have a pronounced starter move, like Stricker, Spieth, Cabrera, and Stenson. Some have a less pronounced starter move, and others will not have one at all.
But believe me — and verify this for yourself — there is no pro who has a lateral sway on the backswing. Because the lateral sway is death to the golf swing.
So Simple for You to Stop Swaying
It is, of course, possible to eliminate your lateral sway without a starter move. But for the Occasional Golfer, it is much, much simpler to always use a starter move, so you don’t have to worry about it!
You can then enjoy a more consistent and dependable golf swing that works from week to week and month to month, without a lot of tinkering and babysitting. And isn’t that what we all really want from our golf swing?
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