My Session Trying That Rory Swing Start
Alright, so I spent some time at the range today, really trying to get that first part of the swing sorted out. You know, the takeaway. I’ve been watching Rory McIlroy, like everyone else, and man, his swing just looks so fluid, especially how he starts it all off. My own takeaway felt… well, kinda messy. Too quick, sometimes whipping the club way inside right away. Didn’t feel powerful or connected.
So, I decided today was the day. Grabbed my trusty 7-iron, dumped a bucket of balls, and just focused on that initial move. First few swings, just trying to copy what I thought Rory does. Didn’t work great. Felt super awkward, like I was just lifting the club straight up with my arms, or yanking it inside like usual. The results were pretty bad too – pushes, pulls, the whole lot.
Time to slow down and break it down. What does it look like he’s doing?
- It looks wide. Like he’s pushing the club away from the ball smoothly.
- It looks like his arms, shoulders, and the club all move together in one piece. No handsy stuff right off the bat.
- The club head seems to stay outside his hands for a bit longer than what I was doing.
Okay, new plan. I started focusing purely on that ‘one-piece’ feeling. Tried to feel my left shoulder pushing the club back, keeping my arms relatively straight but relaxed. Forget hitting the ball hard for now, just get that initial move right. I put an alignment stick down just outside the ball, pointing down my target line, to give me a visual reference.
This felt different. Really different. At first, it felt like I wasn’t moving the club back far enough, or like it was going way too far outside. My old habit of snatching it inside was fighting me hard. I kept making really slow, deliberate practice swings, just feeling that connection between my chest and arms, pushing away.
Then I started hitting balls again, focusing solely on that takeaway feeling. Didn’t care where the ball went initially. Just push away, one piece. Slowly, it started to feel a bit more natural. Less jerky. The strikes weren’t amazing yet, but they felt more solid when I got the takeaway feeling right. It felt like I had more width, more space at the top.
I probably hit half the bucket just working on this. Lots of rehearsal swings, then hit a ball. Rehearse, hit. I even tried closing my eyes for a few swings just to focus purely on the feeling of pushing the club away with my body, not my hands.
By the end of the session, it wasn’t perfect, not by a long shot. But it felt better. More connected. Less rushed. I could feel how starting the swing better set up the rest of it more easily. It’s going to take a lot more practice to make it stick, especially under pressure, but I actually felt like I made some progress today. Just gotta keep grinding on that initial move.
