Keep Hitting Pulls?

Mon, 06/27/2011 - 16:33 -- Don Trahan

We got a question on the blog about how to stop pulling the ball. The writer said he was doing fine with the short irons but when it came to woods, especially the driver, he hit too many shots to the left. Robert F dove right in with a good suggestion: check hip and shoulder alignment.

There are a number of reasons for pulls and in this video I'€™ve tried to get to all the major points to check. Robert was right on. We can get our feet square but our hips and shoulders aren'€™t. That'€™s usually caused by having your back arm higher than your front arm when you get into the address position. That'€™s a pretty common mistake. That will get you into the Sacred Burial Ground in your backswing.

Also, the ball position could be too far forward which gets you reaching and literally pulling the ball.

Then, even with a shortened driver, longer clubs are harder to hit and even a minor miss hit can pull the ball way off your target.

Check the alignment of your entire body, from head to toe, and say goodbye to those pulled shots.

Keep it vertical,

The Surge!

If you can't view the YouTube video above try CLICKING HERE. You must allow popups from this site for the link to work.

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Comments

Robert F's picture

Submitted by Robert F (not verified) on

Seriously, exactly how would this tip be any more effective with Don standing on a driving range, or a tee box, or on the moon? If golf tips and lessons are only effective on the driving range, then you'd better take your computer to the range to watch them, as well. Don't waste Don's time having made a video if you're going to watch it sitting in the comfort of your house without a golf club in sight.

Sorry for going off on you but we see this same, inane comment on almost every video Don does, even when the video is something like using a note pad to keep notes on the range or course. You really need to ask yourself why you have a problem receiving Don's wisdom just because he's standing on his back porch.

jim's picture

Submitted by jim on

Thanks Robert. I would like to see that video or a new one. I had it my mind that the mitt was a little more inside than you describe. I probably manipulate the club head up the tree and actually was taking it up and slightly away back toward the target line and shutting my club face. Surge's video on "Pulls" let me see that I am not keeping my right arm under far enough at address either (I am a rightie). The result? Slight pulls. I would go out and try the adjustment right now but it is 100 degrees and humid in Houston. I will go Friday morning.

MikefromKy Go Bama. Go Irish's picture

Submitted by MikefromKy Go B... (not verified) on

Just curious why are these blogs easier to read because of not using LOL ?

Roger   ( LMAO and LOL ) 

CharlieY's picture

Submitted by CharlieY (not verified) on

Brett--I just discovered yesterday that I have the the problem of hitting toward the heel by using impact tape.  Fortunately, I was hitting the same spot repeatedly, so it wasn't an erratic swing problem.  For me, it was a set up problem.  I was setting up with my hands too close to the body, almosts inside my chin.  So, when I swung the club on the FUS, my hands moved toward the ball around 2.5 inches, thus hitting toward the heel by about an inch.  A quick fix for that day's round was simply to set up with the club head inside the target line.  I thought it was going to be a little nerve wracking to set up with the club head inside the target line, but it worked so well from the first hit that I stayed with it the whole round.  I intend to revise the position of my hands at set up so that I can set up with the club in its proper position behind the ball as soon as I get back to the driving range.  I'm sure there are other causes.  This described mine.

Boogm's picture

Submitted by Boogm (not verified) on

Very good video, Surge, I seemed to have one of those problems last week with Doc. As the session got longer, Doc had to remind me to square my shoulders to the line, I had started to let them open.
May I also add, I like the closing theme song, nice beat & rhythm.

Kevin McGarrahan's picture

Submitted by Kevin McGarrahan (not verified) on

Mike,

I'm seeing it too. All the frames for the elements on the page are screwed up. Someone from Tech Support needs to take a look at it. I sent them an email.

CharlieY's picture

Submitted by CharlieY (not verified) on

T Medley--your response to Roger started my morning on a big high.  I didn't understand your comment when I read it in the "Recent Comment" section, but the humor came through after I read  Roger's "be me" post (or mis-post). It was a big Johnny Carson Carnac moment.

MikefromKy Go Bama. Go Irish's picture

Submitted by MikefromKy Go B... (not verified) on

I am looking for insight on something I have been pondering the last couple of days. I have a Cleveland 3w 13 degree and a Cleveland 17 degree fw that Cleveland considers a high lofted 3w.They both have the same shaft length 43 - 43 1/2 need to measure them. I took the 13 degree out of my bag Sunday to put a 3 hybrid in to play a 205 yard par 3. I hit the 17 degree of the tee Sunday 5 - 6 times and was hitting it 225 - 235 with a little roll  center of the fairway 13 degree I generally carry 240 - 245 plus about 15 yards roll when it is dry out.
 
My question is my driver fitting last week with the swing I have now still transitioning to vertical with the woods he suggested 441/2 for driver for now and maybe shorten it more later. If I decide to shorten it now below 44 or the same length as the fw's the driver being 11 degrees of loft would that be suffient to get 10 -15 yards more distance than the 17 degree on loft a lone, I really do not want to shorten either of the fws the 13 degree I hit off the tee in the fairway the majority of the time. The 17 degree is my go to club out of the fairway, rough and off the tee dead straight 95 % of the time that I pull it out of the bag. The 13 degree will most likely stay out of the bag.
 
Just trying to make an educated decision before he builds my driver over the next couple of weeks waiting on the head to come in its on back order they can’t keep them in stock at least with the specs he is ordering.  
I am going to pose this to him when I pick my irons up this week to see what he thinksabout it.
 
Hopefully this makes sense.

T Medley's picture

Submitted by T Medley (not verified) on

Luis, I agree with Robert's comment below. The problem is not with where the lesson is taught. The problem is with your inability to expand your mind. Most folks can learn in any location, if they're serious , that is! Quit whining about the location, and focus on the message. The back porch is just fine to most of us.

George's picture

Submitted by George on

In reply to Robert F....Thanks for the suggestion of using music & practic swings.  I feel I will improve my game by 5 or 6 strokes (90's golfer) if I could just learn a simple rythm.  When you follow the Surge's principles....in the mit up the tree etc.  my swing gets mehanical but at my age it is working to keep me in the fairway and a "pitch and put" for par.    George 

T Medley's picture

Submitted by T Medley (not verified) on

Disqus generic email template I agree with you. It is just a case of some folks looking for every little thing to complain about.
----- Original Message -----
From: Disqus
To: t*****@neo.rr.com
Sent: Tuesday, June 28, 2011 11:30 AM
Subject: [swingsurgeon] Re: Keep Hitting Pulls? - The Surge's Daily Blog

Bobtrumpet wrote, in response to T Medley:

I can see the videos just fine on my Asus netbook with its small screen - I just make the YouTube video full screen. The netbook does have sound issues on occasion where the volume is a little low, but this seems to have been corrected in the videos over the last several months.

Link to comment

George's picture

Submitted by George on

Speaking of rhythm....I have tried various methods to get a rhythm in my back and forward swing...i.e. "count "one, two and hit".  "slow back and hit".  I have not found any method that will allow me to be consistant and therefore I am unable to repeat a good swing with the same rhythm.   I can feel myself getting to fast or too slow but cannot seem to find a method which will cause  me swing with the same back and forward speed each tiime..  
 Any suggestions on how "I can get rhythm"??    George

Tom Jans's picture

Submitted by Tom Jans (not verified) on

Hey, Surge Nation

It should be fixed now. One of our members got a bit carried away with his online laughing!

Swing Surgeon Tech Crew

MikefromKy Go Bama. Go Irish's picture

Submitted by MikefromKy Go B... (not verified) on

Terry
 Trust me you do not want to be me. You want to be you. Especially if you’re hitting fairways.
I was trying to reply to a post by Robert M and it did show up and posted again neither showed up so logged out and back in and they both showed up in the wrong place. I was seriously dazed, confused and traumatized by the whole thing and did not catch that typo. My mind is on me getting my perfectly fit driver and hitting 90% of the fairways and being able to shoot those elusive low 70 rounds that I dream of.  LOL   
Roger  
      

Robert F's picture

Submitted by Robert F (not verified) on

17* sounds like a strong 4 wood rather than a 3 wood. Nothing wrong with that, and with help from Doc I think we've all learned to ignore what club manufacturers want to designate their clubs as and work from the actual specs. How well you hit the driver at whatever length and how much roll out it gets is going to depend largely on your own comfort hitting the club. The lower loft should reduce spin allowing for more roll, but it's going to depend on how you hit it and on what sort of ground you're hitting onto. Out here in the desert Southwest, you can get an awful lot of roll. ;-)

Eszalaj1's picture

Submitted by Eszalaj1 (not verified) on

I find that if I set up with a tilt to the right, just enough to feel the weight on the outside edge of the right foot, then initiate the FUS  with a slight weight shift to the INSIDE edge of the right foot, (the bump), and on as high as I can get my hands,  to finish with all weight on the left foot.

George's picture

Submitted by George on

Thank you for the suggestion on using music to develop rythm...and practice swing)..Using the Surge's principles "in the mitt up the tree" etc.... I find them becoming mechanical and I know I will trim 5 or 6 strokes from my score when I learn a simple rythm swing...Keeping it vertical has help me stay in the fairway and "a pitch and putt for par.  Your blog note to keep the left arm parallel to the ground is a new tip that will help my rythm....too far one time and not far enougn another on my back swing??  George

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL LMAO's picture

Submitted by LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL... (not verified) on

HUH?

MikefromKy Go Bama. Go Irish's picture

Submitted by MikefromKy Go B... (not verified) on

Robert Meade

The was a response to your earlier post down below don't know how it ended up here.

I here you. I am spending a chunk of change on this driver with the fitting and
my tour discount. I am going to the best of my ability and my fitter’s ability
to get this driver right the first time so I do not have to choke down on it
and be messing with it.  My fairways hit from the tee stats are horrible
at best this year I hit 1 driver in the fairway Sunday with 46” driver and was
6 for 6 fairways hit with the 17* FW at its length of 43 – 43 1/2.

Lynn42's picture

Submitted by Lynn42 (not verified) on

Boog

Good luck with the new sticks.  You may have to get certified if they work like I think they will.  :0)

Tom Jans's picture

Submitted by Tom Jans (not verified) on

Mike,

We have edited the post in question to remove all that excessive laughter (LOL)! Thanks for the notice.

Swing Surgeon Tech Crew

MikefromKy Go Bama. Go Irish's picture

Submitted by MikefromKy Go B... (not verified) on

Robert

I here you I am really struggleing with the driver right now and when I did the fitting at 44 1/2 I was able to keep it in the center of the face but a little high on the face. At 43 I was in the middle of the face but missing the sweet spot to the right and left just on the edge of the circle on the impact tape. I not being a expert on this stuff and coming from hitting a 46" driver for the last 5-6 years I dont know if struggling with the driver to begin with while trying to convert to this swing If I would be able to correct the swing issues and hit a 43 - 43 1/2 driver in the sweet spot I guess what Iam saying is if  their will be a adjustment period with that short of a driver. My 4w is 43 -431/2 and I hit it on the fairway off the tee 90% of the time and hit straight out of the fairway and rough. No way shape or form will anything be done to my fw's I hit both of them well.

Roger 

T Medley's picture

Submitted by T Medley (not verified) on

Same for you Mark, Time to schedule an eye check up, or perhaps a new monitor.

MikefromKy Go Bama. Go Irish's picture

Submitted by MikefromKy Go B... (not verified) on

Terry

It was a great LOL . I have been sitting here at work LMAO to the point of tears reading tech supports response's.

Roger 

MikefromKy Go Bama. Go Irish's picture

Submitted by MikefromKy Go B... (not verified) on

Robert

I agree. Going from 46 "  to 44/1/2 is going to be big enough of a change this is as short as I could go during the fitting and keep the ball in the center of the face with the swing with the driver that I have now I think the best thing maybe to do is play around with my R9 its 45" and shorten it to see if I can get use to it after the season. I get vertical with the irons easy and the fws maybe I sould just leave well enough alone for now.

Roger.

Twgleason's picture

Submitted by Twgleason (not verified) on

Good reminder here.. Like most amatures, I take a bit of advice and then over do it.. over loading right, over tilting and closing shoulders.  there is no doubt in my mind that my misses now are from being just a bit too much at set up.. I started with Don's approach last June, have dropped from a 9 to a 6 and just shot my first under par round in my life!  GO VERTICAL!!!

Robert F's picture

Submitted by Robert F (not verified) on

You're welcome, George. It can feel pretty mechanical when you're first learning it. Changing over to this swing, I spent a LOT of time standing in front of a full-length mirror just slowly moving my body through the positions Surge teaches until I could increase speed to a normal swing. No matter what, though, I always finished every session of practice with a full smooth swing motion (even if it wasn't yet a correct Surge Swing) so my brain and body kept working on the idea of all of these bits fitting into a whole. I still spend a couple minutes most mornings in front of that mirror checking my setup and swing mechanics.

My using "The 59th Street Bridge Song" for tempo goes back years to when I accidentally discovered that the tempo worked for me. I had been getting really jumpy on my swings one round and almost yelled at myself to slow down. My brain being the agglomeration of randomly connected data that it is started the tune running in my head. Wouldn't you know, I hit the next shot dead solid perfect. I kept it up for the rest of the round and have used it ever since.

Robert F's picture

Submitted by Robert F (not verified) on

Like the guy who says, "If two aspirin get rid of my headache in 15 minutes, imagine how quickly 20 aspirin could get rid of it."

Robert Meade's picture

Submitted by Robert Meade (not verified) on

I have to say that though I only got my new driver one week ago i am very happy with my fairways hit so far. I'm on or just a hair off the fairway consistently. I don't ususally choke down. I was only saying that because of my grip type(the Jumbo Max) I have the option to choke down if I think it will help on a particular  hole wher accuracy is more important than distance. Shorter is better in my opinion, be it 43 1/2 or 44 1/2. Much more managable than 46 or even 45. It is amazing what an inch can do.
BTW he also shortened my fairway woods (the Adams F11 3 and 5 woods) by one inch.

peter's picture

Submitted by peter on

With regards to rhythm         When I was in Spain some years ago a young pro

suggested the best thing to say was  S E V E R I A N O      BALLISTEROUS

Robert F's picture

Submitted by Robert F (not verified) on

I'm not sure how much you flare your left foot, but you should end up with your weight on the outside of it. If you flare it a lot, that may well put the weight out onto the balls of the feet (certainly onto the outer edge of the foot at least). The more fully you are able to release up and out through impact, the more you'll notice that. It's the Gary Player effect where you can release so completely that you throw your whole body into a walk down the fairway. ;-)

Boogm's picture

Submitted by Boogm (not verified) on

Ah, I had planned on cutting my grass today but Mother Nature is giving us much needed rain again. Only bad thing about that is, isn't much else you can do  to work on your game...oh, I can go putt some in the greatroom . There is no way I can endanger myself or the ceiling fan doing that is there?
Happy Golfing & good afternoon everyone

Van C's picture

Submitted by Van C (not verified) on

I have really been struggling with blocked tee shots.  Some of my most solid hits are dead right.  I also have a tendency to snap the club inside on the way back.  Can you offer any drills or swing thoughts on these problems?

Robert F's picture

Submitted by Robert F (not verified) on

Could be the weight shift is causing you to sway, rather than bump. Have you videoed yourself from head on to see what's happening? What Boogm mentions about pop-tarting too early is another possibility. It's a matter of the upper body not maintaining its position through impact.

Rich's picture

Submitted by Rich on

I can hit a3wood down the middle about 225 to to235  driver is not my friend  i go down 3 inch can hit not to bad should i cut it down .                                                                                85

Twgleason's picture

Submitted by Twgleason (not verified) on

Two questions here..
1. Where do you go on the web site to ask don a question for the back porch?
2. has there ever been a discussion about how to hit a purposeful fade or draw?  There are times where shaping does help...

Robert F's picture

Submitted by Robert F (not verified) on

I don't think I said left arm parallel to the ground, and if I did, that was an error. It should go as high as you can get it without altering your spine angle (which for some people may be parallel to the ground, but for most it will be a little higher than that). The palms should be perpendicular to the ground throughout the swing, and the left arm should be essentially covering the toe line at the top of the back swing.

Robert F's picture

Submitted by Robert F (not verified) on

You may want to come edit this one, Terry, as it posted your email again.

SEO USA's picture

Submitted by SEO USA (not verified) on

Nice video clips..and good tell about that video..great thinking that.thanks to share this video here,

seo usa

Boogm's picture

Submitted by Boogm (not verified) on

thanks,Lynn, I just want to be able to play golf in the short grass much of the day.

Tom Jans's picture

Submitted by Tom Jans (not verified) on

Hmmm...We can still "hear" the echoes of too many LOL's, even after editing the comment. We're on it!

Kevin McGarrahan's picture

Submitted by Kevin McGarrahan (not verified) on

I normally flare both feet about the 30* recommended by Don. I'm experimenting with that a bit to see if I can find a point that helps. So far, not much change. I think what I may be doing is not popping up AFAP, as Surge says. I seem to be reacting to my weight going too far forward.

Robert F's picture

Submitted by Robert F (not verified) on

First, have you checked your alignment (feet, knees, hips, and shoulders) to be sure that these are pushes and not just accidentally being aimed right? You'd do best to check this on video if possible. Put the camera on your toe line or midway between your toe line and your aiming line for the minimum possible error in perspective.

If you've determined that it's definitely a push, the video should provide you with other useful information as well. You have to be bringing the club at the ball from too much inside, which could mean that you're turning too much and getting stuck behind yourself. Since we don't use a big hip turn in a Surge Swing, from stuck behind your arms have no choice but to swing out through the ball across the target line. Also check that your arms aren't over-rotating, which can get the club well back into the SBG and again force an excessive in-to-out swing path.

I'd suggest working on the palms perpendicular drill (which you'll find in the standard video series and also was one of Surge's daily lessons earlier this year), and/or using the laser drill that Steve Smith and I discussed repeatedly (put a laser on the butt of a club and practice the takeaway so that the laser traces an arc approximately along your toe line (going inside it perhaps as far as in line with your ankle in front and behind you as viewed from the target). In order to keep the laser pointed along that line, you have to keep the club vertical, and you have to keep your hands with palms perpendicular to the ground.

I hope those help.

Robert F's picture

Submitted by Robert F (not verified) on

Look at the thread below this comment: http://swingsurgeon.com/DailyV... and this comment: http://swingsurgeon.com/DailyV... for information about measuring yourself and your club and find the approximate right length to start with.

Also see what your driver actually is currently. There are a lot of things other than length that could be misfit on it causing you swing problems. Hacking several inches off of the club is not necessarily the solution, and it's always best to have the work done by a professional so that they can properly re-weight the club. Preferably, you should find a qualified fitter who can build a club that actually fits you. Check in at Doc's site (www.docgriffingolf.com) for information about his distance fitting for drivers. He's built ones for several of us on the site. (And he has those gorgeous looking new custom D-O-C 360cc heads now. Pretty.)

If your driver is not one that you think you can resell, and you're willing to use your 3 wood off the tee if you screw up the driver, then do the measurements as proscribed in the linked threads, chop the club down, and add lead tape to the head to get the weight back. Of course, if you're lopping off 3 inches of shaft, you're talking about needing to add a lot of lead tape back. Read this comment thread: http://swingsurgeon.com/DailyV... for more information than you care to know about lead tape and the types available. :)

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