How to Stop an Inside Takeaway in Golf

An inside takeaway can feel like your golf swing is doomed from the start, but getting it back on the correct path is much simpler than you might think. A good first move sets the stage for everything that follows, leading to more power, better contact, and real consistency. In this article, I'll walk you through how to identify an inside takeaway, understand why it's happening, and give you practical drills to build a solid, on-plane start to your swing for good.

What Exactly Is an Inside Takeaway?

An inside takeaway happens when, in the first couple of feet of your backswing, the clubhead moves too far behind the line of your body instead of moving straight back or very slightly outside. The best way to visualize the correct move is to think of the "one-piece takeaway." Imagine a triangle formed by your shoulders and arms at address. The goal is to move that entire triangle - the club, arms, and chest - away from the ball together as a single unit. When that triangle moves correctly, the clubhead stays in front of your chest and naturally moves up the correct plane.

In a faulty, inside takeaway, that unit breaks down immediately. Usually, it's the hands and arms acting independently, pulling the club away from the ball and whipping it behind the body. Instead of the clubhead staying outside or in line with your hands, it darts inside instantly. From here, you're in a terrible position. The club is now 'stuck' behind you, and you have no choice but to make a compensation on the downswing just to get back to the ball.

The Bad Habits It Creates

An inside takeaway is the root cause of some of golf's most frustrating swing faults. Because the club is stuck deep behind you at the top of the swing, your body's natural reaction is to throw the club forward and "over the top" to get back to the ball. This is one of the most common causes of a big, power-sapping slice. Your swing path comes from out-to-in, cutting across the ball and putting that dreaded sidespin on it.

Alternatively, some golfers try to save the swing with a massive forearm rotation through impact. They sense the club is stuck behind them, so they furiously flip their hands over to try and square the clubface. This move can lead to a violent, low snap-hook that dives left of the target. Trying to time that hand action perfectly is incredibly difficult, which leads to massive inconsistency. One shot slices into trouble, the next one hooks out of bounds. If this sounds familiar, your takeaway is a great place to start looking for answers.

How to Tell If Your Takeaway Is Too Far Inside

You can’t fix what you can't see. Many golfers have a very different idea of what their swing looks like compared to what is actually happening. Luckily, there are a couple of very simple and effective ways to get a real look at your first move.

1. The Alignment Stick Test

This is my favorite way to get instant, physical feedback right on the range. It’s incredibly simple:

• Take an alignment stick and lay it on the ground directly behind your golf ball, pointing at your target.
• Now, place a second alignment stick on the ground a couple of inches outside the first one, also parallel to the target line. This creates a "track" for your club.
• Address the ball as you normally would.
• The goal is to start your swing and take the club back without it ever touching the inside alignment stick. On a proper on-plane takeaway, your clubhead should travel back along the ground hovering directly over the track you've created. For taller players or those with slightly more upright swings, the club might even feel like it's tracking just over the outer stick for the first foot or two.

If you're immediately bumping that inside stick, you've got an indisputable case of an inside takeaway.

2. The Down-the-Line Video Test

Our phones give us access to the most powerful tool any golfer can use: video feedback. Set your phone up on a small tripod or have it propped up on your golf bag. You want the camera viewing you from behind, looking straight down your target line (this is called "down-the-line"). Position it about hip-height.

Hit a few shots and watch the replay in slow motion. Pay attention to the relationship between your clubhead and your hands in the first move away from the ball:

• A good takeaway: As you start the backswing, the clubhead will appear to track just outside your hands for the first few feet, or at the very least stay in line them. The club looks like it’s moving straight back from the ball.
• An inside takeaway: The clubhead vanishes behind you almost instantly. It dives behind your legs and body, well inside the line of your hands. The camera will show the clubhead getting deep and disappearing from view right at the start.

Top 3 Reasons for a Faulty Takeaway

Once you've identified the issue, understanding the "why" is the next step. An inside takeaway is almost always a symptom of one of these three common causes.

1. Overly Active Hands and Wrists

This is the number one cause. Instead of initiating the swing with the rotation of their body, many golfers instinctively start the swing by rolling their forearms and "fanning" the clubface open. The right hand pulls the club inward while the left wrist bends unnaturally. This single move sucks the club inside, lifts it off its plane, and puts you in a weak and stuck position right from the start.

2. No Body Rotation (An "All Arms" Swing)

A golf swing is a turn, not a lift. The power and consistency come from rotating your torso. When a golfer fails to turn their chest and shoulders away from the ball in sync with their arms, their arms are left to do all the work. without the guidiance of a turning body, the arms tend to pull inwards, collapsing against the chest and dragging the club too far behind. A great swing begins with that one-piece takeaway, where the chest rotation and arm swing are beautifully connected.

3. Incorrect Posture at Address

Sometimes the swing flaw is baked in before you even move. A setup that is too "slumped" over, where your chest is collapsed and your shoulders are rounded forward, makes it very difficult to rotate properly. With no room to turn, the arms are forced to lift and pull inwards. Similarly, having too much spine tilt away from the target at address can pre-set the club on an inside path. A balanced, athletic setup with a relatively straight spine and shoulders set back provides you with the space and freedom to rotate correctly.

Drills to Get Your Takeaway on the Right Track

Knowledge is a great start, but true improvement comes from performing the correct motion over and over. These drills are designed to retrain your muscle memory and give you the proper feeling of an on-plane start.

Drill 1: The Headcover Under the Arm

This is brilliant for training the connection between your arms and your body.

How to do it: Tuck a headcover (or a glove) into the armpit of your trail arm (your right armpit if you're a right-handed golfer). The goal is to keep that headcover held in place during the takeaway and bachswing. If you get disconnected and your arms start working on their own, the headover will fall to the ground. This drill forces you to turn your chest to move the club, which is precisely the a goal of a one-piece takeaway move.

Drill 2: The Two-Ball / Headcover Push-Back

This drill provides fantastic visual feedback that you can use at the range.

How to do it: Place your ball on the ground as you would normally, but then place a second ball (or a headcover) about a foot directly behind your ball, but also a few inches outside your target line. Your objective is simply to push that second object straight back with your clubhead as you start your takeaway. If your takeaway is correctly moving straight back, you'll be able to nudge the object away on the proper path. But if you have a tendency to suck the club inside, you will miss the headcover entirely, providing clear confirmation of the fault.

Drill 3: The Wall Drill

This is an excellent indoor drill you can do without even striking a golf ball, which focuses on keeping the proper width in your swing.

How to do it: Get into our golf posture with your rear end just brushing up against a wall. Take a slow one-piece takaway. If you're correctly 'wide' and staying on plane, your hands and club will move away from your body with room to spare. But if you're whipping the club inside, the club head will jam into the wall immediately. Your mission is to feel what it's like to turn and swing your club without it ever banging into the wall behind you. this builds tremendous amount of awareness of your spacing and teaches you to rely on proper body pivot rather than a disconnected, armsy takeaway.

Final Thoughts

Fixing an inside takeaway is about going back to basics and understanding that the first move away from the ball sets up your entire swing for success or failure. By using simple checks and focused drills, you can retrain your muscles to begin the swing with a connected, on-plane "one-piece" motion. This will lead to a better position at the top and a much more powerful and consistent downswing.

Knowing if your practice is working is a huge part of improving. With Caddie AI, we’ve built tools to give you that instant, expert feedback when you're working on your game. For example, if you find yourself in a terrible lie because your swing path was off, you can snap a photo of the situation and immediately get smart, strategic advice on the best way to play it. We believe having an expert second opinion takes the guesswork out of difficult situations and helps you play with the confidence that comes from making better decisions.