Use Your Imagination

Good reminders Surge. As for the video taping. I have to get back to that with my new sticks to see if I am vertical and "in the bowling alley still. You're right Surge I need to continue to tape and review my swing to really see what I'm doing. Exagerating the correct moves really does help.

Posting my practice report here because I don't want to interupt the flow on Doc's Driver subject :)
      Okay here's the latest good news on my two weeks of short game only practice after week one. I'm making some serious progress. Great session today. Had my coach and wife Cindy came along and watched and video taped my swing. We noticed several issues that needed correction. #1 Alignment. No big surprise there. My alignment challenge is something that creeps back in from old bad habits. Though I was aligning correctly with my feet, knees and hips my shoulders kept ending up aligned left of the target at address. What was causing this was after I accordion and sink into my set up I would take that last look at my target. As I make this move I naturally turn a bit left with my shoulders, neck and head. Then when I get back behind the ball though I felt square I was now aimed maybe 20 degrees left with my upper body.Of course that contributed to either pulls or fades because it promoted an unwanted coming across the ball swing path. How to fix it? First of all, we realised that I was aligned correctly with the feet, knees and hips. So I needed to look from behind only when lining up my target. Then "two step" in and knowing already that I have the right club and distance in mind with correct alignment, not turn and look down field again, period. Second, when I accordion into position, I bring the clubhead behind the ball by going heavy right and pre-tilting right. This automatically brings the clubhead centered diectly behind the ball.I Trust it and go back into the mit without any further thought. Bang, straight shots to the target. I was hitting my 8, 9, pw, 53,and 58 high and straight.
Being aligned correctly with my shoulders also made it easier to stay balanced and just lift into the mit and be 3/4's and more vertical. Then I was more balanced as I got into the FUS too. She had to remind me a couple of times to finish up and at my target, NOT with my club and belly facing left. It worked. Now to make it all a perminent good habit.
I Also got in an hour of short chips and putting. All improving.

I've found an interesting variation on the aiming line that is working really well for me. Instead of picking a spot 2-3 feet in front of the ball, I stand about 10 feet behind the ball, hold my club shaft vertical, align the ball and my target, and then pick a spot 18-24 inches behind the ball. When I align parallel left using that point and the ball, I pretty much eliminate my penchant for looking at the target again. My attention is on that 18-24 inches leading into the ball. I don't know if it will work for anyone else, but if you tend to keep looking at the target and re-adjusting your alignment, give it a try. Fairways and greens!

Robert,

I really had a blast doing it, especially since she was so anxious to learn.  Funny thing, at one point while we were waiting on the tee she called her husband and told him she was playing with guy that was giving her tips that really helped.  His reply, "Have you yelled at him yet?"  I laughed when she told me and said it was kinda like a parent teaching their kids how to drive.
 At one point we allowed a couple to play through as she explained that she was learning the game and I was instructing her.  The guy asked me with a straight face, "Oh, how many students do you have?"  LOL

When we were finished she asked if she could buy me a beer.  OK, my memory isn't THAT bad, but I don't remember the last time that happened. ;0)

Robert F doesn't score as well as Steve, mostly because I don't get on the course very often (the way life is right now) so my course management and green-side skills have suffered. If I can get things running a little more smoothly, I like to think that I can get back to where Steve's scoring is, especially now that the ball goes where I'm aiming 90% of the time (as opposed to 50% of the time before).

Robert and Steve you both have good swings.

I had a pretty good practice session to night hit a lot of good shots. Spent 4 hours at the range it was like somebody turned the air conditioner on out side tonight. I am pretty sure that when my bad rounds creep in during tournaments I am getting to quick from the top and reverting back to turning in stead of bumping then turning. There is a big difference in letting the swing happen and trying to over swing / swing to hard. If I just let it happen like tonight I get the swoosh through impact and up to  the recoil and to a nice T finish. I had the same distance swinging with in myself versus try to over power everything / swinging hard.

I keep going back to Don and Dj swinging through the bag videos and watching them over and over trying to ingrain the image in my mind..They both look like they swing so effortlessly.

 

I have been doing the same technique.  Even when you do not necessarily have an obvious point to latch onto, I find that I focus on the piece I choose and then walk in and only set up to that mark.  I rarely look up at the target and just settle in swing.  I have been happy with the majority of my hits being on line.  Kevin McCarthy

Nice report on the short game, Robert, glad to hear of your improving shots.One question, when you hit your pulls was your belt buckle pointing at the resulting spot of the pull? The reason I ask is the last two drives I hit yesterday were slight pulls about 10-15 yards to the left of center and that's where my buckle was pointed. I should've checked my alignment after both shots but I had a whale of a thunderstorm coming in from the east and was trying to beat it back to the clubhouse, I did but had to pick-up and dash after my 2nd on the par 5 17th. I'm trying to remember now if I happened to peek back down the fairway on that drive and the one on 16. Both were nice and long but like I said slight pulls to the target line.
happy golfing.

It could be a setup problem, as A-thunem mentions, or a club issue, as Dragonhead mentions. It's possible that the clubs have a severe toe-down in your swing and so when your body brings the shaft back through aimed at the ball, the club head has actually moved severely in from that point, causing the toe hit. It's also possible that in trying to swing your arms faster, you're pulling them in closer to your body. You can possibly see this on video, but also just try to be aware of where your hands/arms swing through impact. You might even imagine that you're trying to shank the ball.

Gil,Perhaps your clubs are not right for you?ie, too upright a lie,or wrong length shaft etc.If everything else is OK,look at the clubs ; - ) Good luck and good hunting.

Basically yes that is correct. It was correcting my shoulders that fixed it. Again my shoulders were set up to open and my arms were simply following that line from outside to in along my left aiming shoulders. Make sense? So my upper body alignment is as important as the lower body. Surge refers to them as the three boxes or squares, feet to knees, knees to hips and hips to shoulders. All three have to be parallel and perpendicular to the aiming line.

The Wayne DeFrancesco video is created by a guy with a vested interest in trying to poo-poo Don's swing. DJ has some minor variations in takeaway from the standard Swing Surgeon Swing, in part because of his physical build, and in part because of his incredible athleticism. He has a much faster rotation of the forearms at takeaway rather than the true one-piece takeaway Don uses. Aside from that DJ's swing is a fine example of a Swing Surgeon Golf Swing.

Steve:  A few years ago, I was having exactly the same problem - bending my head too much.  I talked to the pro at our local course and the first question he asked me was, "do you wear no-line bifocals or progressive lenses?"  Turns out I was trying to look thru the center of my progressive lenses.  I can't wear contacts due to some old eye injuries, so I got a pair of single-vision "driving" glasses".  After a little practice, the problem went away and my posture improved quickly.  One more thing I do during practice sessions is swing thru the ball with my eyes closed and just try to "feel" the take-away, club path during BUS, FUS and the T-finish.  I also do this with the Swing Rite.  It has helped me better understand what each stage of the vertical swing should really feel like.   The more I play and teach this great game, the more I realize it is a "feel" game (but some days the feel is just not there!)  lol.  Anyway, keep hitting 'em straight.  ps: we are proud of you making the "Surge short list"  Way to go :-)  :-)  R2

Interesting concept, Kevin. Thanks for sharing. I'm hoping to get back to the simplier things myself.

Thanks, Robert, I thought that might be the case and checked myself via the bathroom mirrors and mine appear to be slightly open. Yep, I know all about the 3 boxes, I think between the manual and the all the video series I have, I heard or read that expose about  6 times the last couple of soggy days.Thanks for the reply and now that once again,I've flipped my biological clock, I may catch the squares for the 7th time.
Happy Golfing,my friend!

Steve, sorry for the late response, just got back from doing 18, it's approx 6.00pm here
in Perth Western Australia, hit 84 of the stick so the "LAG" is starting to work at last.

My problem is during the BUS my torso gets more vertical, approx. 3inches above its
address position, but it gets back to where it started at impact, which is why I make
resonable contact with the ball. Irrespective of this it ultimately must lead to mishits
as they do happen some times.  I believe I have good posture at address, straight back,
slight flex of the knees, standing more vertical than leaning, what do you think. 

Surge, I think that much like Eddie Hendricks & the Temptations, I've let my imagination run away with me. After today's fiasco on the front nine.I'm thinking about going back to
the drawing board. The first time I used this swing after months of
studying the manual & videos was the Friday after Thanksgiving of
last year. I remember calling my wife from the range and telling her, "I
love my new swing and I don't hurt at all."

Now I think I've went off the deep end, so to speak, and I'm trying to
much. I think I'm to long in my swing and keying in on stuff that used
to be natural and like Doc & others have said I seem to be suffering
from paralysis from analysis.

 That Friday after Thanksgiving, My only swing thoughts were, "Thumbs
Up" & then as I fired into the FUS, "Down the line". The former got
me to a nice position in the BUS and the latter got me into the front
mitt and into the T finish. It's that simplicity that I'm trying to
chase and revert back to. So I plan on more range work in the future
until I get the feeling of those swings back.
I'm sure it wont be long & then I'll be once again,
Happy Golfing.

Surge's comment about "exaggerating" aspects of the swing, reminded me of my martial arts training years ago.  One of the things that instructors repeatedly would remind us as we were marching up and down the floor practicing different blocks, punches, and kicks was that we needed to exaggerate the technique, without sacrificing the integrity of our stances and body alignment.  The thinking was that if we did not exaggerate the technique in the relatively stress-free setting of practicing single techniques, we would never come close to properly executing them when we were sparring and our bodies/minds were likely to be more tense and our movements more restricted.

Yeah, the ability to actually practice hitting a particular shot really, really helps. I would have had something to say about my scoring next week when I went for my mandatory birthday round, but life has decided that I won't be getting on the course--or probably even the range--for at least several weeks.

This reply does not directly relate to this post.   My question deals with triggers and swing thoughts.  When I practice I use the numerous cues - "in the mit", "up the tree", "limited turn - 70 degrees", "sacred burial ground"  "bump" up the tree to a T finish"  These are great visuals that provide quick feedback.   My question is "What are some methods to initiate the swing?   in an effort to think less under pressure and maintain a swing that will flow and repeat?  Thanks for your time. 

Bob

Don
Great lesson. We have to learn to become our own coach.

I am headed to the range tonight to work on my swing. I am trying to get it to look like Robert F's swing and beable to score like Steve Smith the best of both worlds not taking anything away from Roberts scoring just do not know how he scores.In the end the goal is to swing like DJ he makes it look way to easy.  

Gil, I don't know if this will help, but I was having the same problem the last couple of days. it turned out that I was standing too far from the ball, i.e reaching out for the ball. As soon as I realized that and adjusted my setup accordingly I was hitting sweet spots almost every time, and my swing was back to vertical again.

Right on! I found this as well. Two things that may help fellow beginning surgites, firstly there is no need to bring a tripod or get someone to film you. Just get some ready rod from the lumber store that fits your camera or camcorder mount and put a wingnut on it. I used a 3' piece of ready rod pushed into the ground with the camera on it.Its about the perfect height for recording my swing and fits in the golf bag. Secondly, you may want to check out V1 sports software. The basic package is free and allows for great analysis of your swing. I liked it so much I ended up paying for the deluxe home model. This allows you to split the pane and show my swing and the surges side by side. Lots of great features even with the free version. There are most likely other websites offering these tools but the V1  works for me.

I hope this helps someone, I don't post all that often but really enjoy the site!

Don B.

Lynn,
That's a heart warming story for me too read first thing in the morning. It just reinforces that we can not only learn this simple and effective swing but share it with others. Thanks for that Lynn and also for helping others enjoy this great game Surge style :)

I know Surge, the "body feeling" is the biggest liar around. Every time I think I'm doing something,
the video is telling me the exact opposite, thats why it's essentail to video your swing. Looking
into a mirror or glass panel is'nt that good either as you're changing your posture when tying to see what's going on and also you need to see the full swing in motion and it's impossible to
track that with your eyes. The best way is as you described, exaggerate the feel, then video it.
Many times when I thought I had outward pressure on my knees, the video showed them turning,
when I thought I had the club vertical , the video showed it was laid back, when I thought I had
good spine angle the video showed me I was straightening. So folks the message is get a video.
Kodak have a mini cam, so small, light and cheap, every golfer should have one.
 

Surge,

I played an interesting round today that demonstrates what you teach every day really works.  I went out as a single behind a lady that the starter told me wanted to play as a single because she was new to the game. 

I caught up to her on the third tee and she told me she was new to the game and play through if I liked as she did not want to hold me up.  I told her I was in no hurry and there was a threesome in front of us.  Her husband and two sons all played and she had taken some lessons while they were in FL.  She proceeded to top her tee shot on the par4 and asked if I could see what she was doing wrong.  I told her I had made every mistake possible and would be happy to try to help.

Her swing looked pretty much like a wet noodle with a backswing that would make John Daly jealous.  Just watching it made MY back hurt.  First tip I gave her was, you guessed it, alignment.  I had her lay her driver down in front of her toes and walk behind it to show her she was lined up 20 yards right, headed straight for the trees.   I had her take a few practice swings and think only about a 3/4 backswing and follow through all the way to the finish.  Her tee shot was about 145 down the middle.  Not bad for a 60 something newbie.  The look on her face was priceless. ;0)

She was all questions for the rest of the round.  I gave her some tips on lining up putts and had her think half swings when her backswing would get too long.  I emphasized smooth and all the way through to the finish with her swing every shot for the rest of the round.  The good side effect was I realized my swing got smoother and finished better.  Not only that, I started sinking some putts.

She parred a par3 hole on the back that made her day.  Her drives on the two par 4s on the back were both about 150 yards down the middle.  She thanked me profusely for all the help and the tips.  I told her they were all things I learned from a Red Sox fan I found online that just happened to be a pretty fair golf instructor. ;0)

Thank you, Surge

Lynn42  

Neil, not maintaining that posture is something I fight and work on all the time. The shadow drill is one great drill. Stable knees is key, especially that left knee in the BUS. Too, something subtle that I noticed a few months ago after rewatching all of Surges set up and take away videos that in one he talks about the small of the back and creating and maintaining  "that little arch as we use the accordian effect" It is one on 'Posture' where he is wearing the yellow shirt. It emphasises  being athletically ready. So it may not be your upper body and arms/shoulders causing that raising up in the BUS but what's happening below from the lower back/hips/knees and down. When you watch the videos of yourself see if you have that levelness in the lower body. Maybe take a card or something and block out the view of your upper body in your reviews so that you really focus on what's happening below. This will reveal whats up.It will show if your knees and hips are level or not going back or if you're 'standing up' or perhaps straightening the knees going back. Look for that posture video concerning the lower back too. Tell me what you see.

Hi Kevins and Booger,

I too use a similar technique, only I use it while putting.  I pick an alignment point behind the ball, and concentrate on taking the putter back over that spot and then back through the ball.  It seems to work pretty good.

Hit'em Long and Straight,
Bob

Neil,
Your absolutely right. It is a blessing for me that my wife is willing to go with me to hit balls ocassionally and videotape my swing. The film doesn't lie and so accurately tells us if we are getting vertical, if we are keeping the lower body and knees quiet, if we're staying out of the sacred barial ground and if we look balanced throughout the swing till the FUS. It really identifies the difference between what we think we are doing and what is really happening.
Cindy has been watching the videos and is my "coach". Heck she knows if I'm swinging Surge correct or not now. How does a guy find a wife like this? Guess I just got really lucky :) BTW, we jusy use my smart phone/ droid and easily download to my laptop. We can even analyze things slow motion. Wow sometimes it's ugly but again reality helps us make those corrections. Can't wait till Surge and his team set up the new video analysis program. Hope that it's affordable.

Please explain how far your son's swing follows yours. There is a video on You Tube that shows the difference between his and yours.
Paul Scaman.

Thanks you!!!   It all helps me,,,,

mw

five years golfing,,,

Steve, thanks for the reply. Yep, I also only concentrate on swing thoughts while working on my swing but I was tanking it so bad on the front side and was trying to find it for the back side which I did to some degree.As to my swing thoughts...thumbs up & down the line were more a cadence thing as well as swing thoughts. I didn't use them on the back today,I was using a waltz beat for my rhythm and it seemed to help. I did hit my driver better today, my alignment was off late I was hitting what one would think was 15 yard pulls but they were straight as an arrow. The reason I mention thumbs up was up at Doc's had hit push after push with the demo driver but when I reverted to my thumbs up thought those were the ones that finally got down range in a relatively straight trajectory. I guess in other words I'm trying to once again simplify my swing as it once was by the  KISS  method :)
 Glad that Mike had a great birthday with his old man, I checked out your videos and that course in Trenton is even more impressive than I thought. I like the elevation changes.

edit p.s: Take it from experience, you don't won't to stop or alter a swing once you pull the trigger, it hurts to much afterwards.

Don B
I have the latest V1 software also, cost me around $ 50 via a download. Extremely usefull
with the split screen because you can view "Face-On" and " Down the Line" on the same
screen, you can also download other golfers profiles to see how they compare with yours.

I have an old camera tripod which I drilled the top plate, attached a bolt from under and
are able to screw on the Kodak mini cam, works a treat. The software allows you to slow
the swing down to 1/5th speed, so if you use the software supplied with the cam, you can
additionally slow the swing down frame by frame.  

I need some help from fellow Surgites, can any one advise me of a drill to eradicate changing
my posture during the BUS. Vidoes keep shows me in a more vertical posture and the top
of the BUS, I can't feel it happening and have tried many things to correct it.