I had a call from an Instructor wanting to get certified as a PPGS instructor. But even before he got into asking about certification, he asked if he could ask me a question first. He asked me if I was teaching Camilo Villegas, as his swing looks quite similar to the PPGS. I know Camilo through D.J. and had dinner with him a few years ago in Phoenix. Camilo is a great player and last year had an awesome year, but I cannot take any credit, as I do not teach him. His swing has many features of the PPGS but in a few details I believe his swing has too much motion and thus margin for error.
Camilo's is just about text book PPGS in his backswing. He has wide knees, but for the PPGS setup his stance is a little too wide. His knees are quite quiet in the backswing, but the left moves inward a smidge more that I like to see, which I will say is due to the wide stance as he has to move more to get his weight loaded onto his back leg and foot. He definitely has the limited turn and looks real good with his left arm over the toe line. And, he is a solid ¾ vertical backswing.
Camilo gets a little off track with the PPGS in the transition to the finish. He starts his transition into the forward upswing, with a lateral shift of his legs and hips as I like to see. For me, I would say his shift is too intense. The lateral shift, slide or 'BUMP' as I call it, is too much or far and his leg drive tends to drive downward too much. With that statement, I will ask the question: How much lateral shift/slide/bump is the right amount?
When the stance is shoulder wide, the lateral shift/bump, transferring the weight which is loaded on the right or back leg to the left or front leg, will be around 1 to 2 inches max. That is, if you track your belt buckle, it would move only around 1 to 2 inches to transfer your hips and torso from your back leg to your forward leg as you swing up and stand up on the forward leg into the T ' Finish square to the target.
The width of stance is the key to the lateral shift/bump, being 1 ' 2 inches and not more. A wider stance will need more lateral movement to reach the left leg to stand up to the finish. More lateral movement means the spine is moving more laterally and a downward leg drive of the back knee will cause the right or back side (knee, hip and shoulder) to be pulled down. All of this extra movement, changing the spine angle, is increasing the margin of error in the swing. Increased error means decreased ball striking and consistency hitting the ball more on the toe or thin and toward the heel and, of course, chunky.
With the PPGS shoulder wide stance, the feet under the outside edges of the shoulders for a driver and slightly less wide as the clubs get shorter, the transfer from the back foot and leg over and onto the forward foot and leg is much less in distance. It also speeds up the time to get there. With less distance to shift, the hips get from back to forward quicker and most importantly, with less movement. Thus, less changing of angles, especially the spine. And because the shift is less in distance, the transition happens faster, which makes swinging up and standing up AFAP (as fast as possible) much easier and speedy. This is why I say the forward up swing is AFAP, or like a pop tart popping up out of a toaster.
When the transition distance is less, the margin for error is less and the transition is faster, more efficient and more powerful. The PPGS transition is much like a karate fighter throwing a punch or breaking a brick. The stance is shoulder wide and there is just a little turn and load onto the back leg. The hips, in the forward movement, barely shift and turn as the punch or chop is thrown. The PPGS, like a karate punch or chop, is fast, efficient and powerful because of the narrower stance needing such a small and tight weight shift and transfer from the back foot to the forward foot to deliver the hit.
The Surge!