The takeaway<\/p>\n
The takeaway is one of those golf things that matters a lot more for some golfers than others. You can find any number of great players with strange takeaways, and lots more great players who work hard on getting their takeaway perfect.<\/p>\n
One common mistake golfers fall into with their takeaway is using too much of their body to get the club going<\/a>, which causes them to sway and wobble and all sorts of things.<\/p>\n Another is the opposite; they use so much wrist movement<\/a> that they end up rolling the clubface open and inside, and hitting slices because of it.<\/p>\n It\u2019s why the guys at Athletic Motion Golf say a good feeling<\/a> is to feel like you\u2019re not turning, and to feel like you\u2019re shaking hands with someone to your right.<\/p>\n Hovland has a good player tendency of the second one. He says his tendency is to over-flex his lead wrist \u2013 to bow it too much.<\/p>\n Photo: David Cannon<\/p>\n When that happens, the clubface closes too much, too early. Now he has to compensate somewhere else in his swing to open it back up.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen that happens, I spend the rest of my swing trying to get out of it,\u201d Hovland said.<\/p>\n Either he doesn\u2019t compensate enough and misses left, or too much then misses right. A flatter wrist for him is the sweet spot.<\/p>\n It\u2019s why you see him rehearsing his takeaway move right before his actual swing right here.<\/p>\n A week before the Travelers, Viktor Hovland had just missed the cut by one at the U.S Open, and spent four hours the next day on the range practicing. <\/p>\n He was working on his takeaway; he said his left wrist tends to over-flexes, which closes the clubface.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen that happens I\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/tuWRSEg4OZ<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 LKD (@LukeKerrDineen) June 29, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n His problem and solution apparently were pretty spot on. After some range work at Shinnecock Hills, he arrived at the Travelers Championship sharp, led the field in Strokes Gained: Off The Tee, and won the tournament<\/a>.<\/p>\n ![\"https:\/\/www.golfdigest.com\/content\/dam\/images\/golfdigest\/fullset\/2022\/Screenshot](\"https:\/\/golfdigest.sports.sndimg.com\/content\/dam\/images\/golfdigest\/fullset\/2022\/Screenshot%202026-06-30%20at%209.27.55%20AM.png.rend.hgtvcom.966.1932.suffix\/1782826097273.png\")
Viktor Hovland\u2019s key move<\/p>\n![\"2194010591\"\/](\"https:\/\/golfdigest.sports.sndimg.com\/content\/dam\/images\/golfdigest\/fullset\/2022\/GettyImages-2194010591%20(1).jpg.rend.hgtvcom.966.1352.suffix\/1782826100521.jpeg\")
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