Center of Gravity, Center of Swing

Surge Nation

I am hitting the rack to get my beauty sleep so I am not the beast when I take on dad and his posse tomorrow.

I want to leave you all smiling again tonight before I turn in.

 
The Bum

A man was walking in the city, when he was accosted by a particularly
dirty and shabby-looking bum who asked him for a couple of dollars for
dinner.

The man took out his wallet, extracted two dollars and asked, "If I
gave you this money, will you take it and buy whiskey?"

"No, I stopped drinking years ago," the bum said.

"Will you use it to gamble?"

"I don't gamble. I need everything I can get just to stay alive."

"Will you spend the money on greens fees at a golf course?"

"Are you NUTS! I haven't played golf in 20 years!"

The man said, "Well, I'm not going to give you two dollars. Instead,
I'm going to take you to my home for a terrific dinner cooked by my
wife."

The bum was astounded. "Won't your wife be furious with you for doing
that? I know I'm dirty, and I probably smell pretty bad."

The man replied, "That's OK. I just want her to see what a man looks
like who's given up drinking, gambling, and golf."

Hey, it is golf related,
Dick

Amos
 
I feel for you guys that are in those high tourist areas the cost to play does get quite expensive during the busy season. The summers here get quite warm around here but are still playable. The season is going to be over before we get started here.

I have not touched a club sense May 8th. I have not been to the range for a couple of weeks.

The last time I went to the range was to have this nice young lady assistant pro look at my swing. She is not a SS certified teacher but teaches people for their ability not out of the PGA book and she knows what I am working on with the SS swing.
The first thing she told me was I had to many thoughts in my head and to clear it out and just swing the club when you do this you have a limited turn ¾ quarter back swing. I tend to get to consumed with what my body is doing and end up over rotating in the back swing and turn instead of bump on the FUS which results in pulls for me.

I am going to the range tonight and tomorrow to work on the setup and the FUS. I do have a Tourney Saturday  the first Major of the year worth double points so I guess I better get at it again. Sometimes it does me good not to practice for a week or two just to get away from it and stop going through the motions.  

Roger     

You keep looking for your notebook to write down that reminder #1? ;-)

I know if my shoulder gets under my chin I've turned way too far and the swing is in trouble.

Hi John, did you start the chainsaw up and give it a rev?  Sorry mate just a Surge Nation in joke.  

Look, the boys have given you good advice in their replies.   If your knees are hurting then you are doing something seriously wrong.  As stated the outward pressure of the knees is only slight to act as a guide to control excessive lower body sway and to give a feeling to the limited turn and the end of the backswing for the BACKSWING only - its only for the BUS.

Upon the Forward UpSwing, the FUS, the knees and hips have shifted forward laterally SLIGHTLY toward the target, with only a slight turn of the hips, to shift the weight from a heavy back leg at setup onto a flexed front leg.    The shoulders stay inline with the target line until impact then the upper body rotates around in one piece on the flexed front leg to face the target while the arms are swinging the club over the soft part of the front shoulder.

Also you have to remember that the saying around here is that the ball doesn't get hit by the BUS only by the FUS and the FUS is driven by a good BUS!   

A drill that you can try is a SLOW half swing drill that may give you a feel for the whole swing.
First get into your athletically ready address position, feet flared, weight mostly on back leg.
Rotate arms back until front arm is horizontal and club is standing vertical (allow rear hip and shoulder to rotate back at the same time).
Let arms drop and allow arms to rotate club back to address position while keeping the body stable (later try a tiny hip slide forward) 
Swing through the address position and turn your body with the arms, pivoting on the front leg.  
Allow arms to rotate until rear arm is horizontal and the club is again vertical.   Allow your weight to transfer onto the forward leg and your upper body should have rotated around to face forward towards the target.

You can swing back and forth through this mini half swing drill to warm up (I do this to warm up my lower back) and you can transfer some of the feelings into the full swing.   Hope this is of some help, regards Craig

 Dick Lee:

    I HEaR you Brother !  My own "life altering/life changing" experience experience occured in Feb 2008 from a perforated colon -- nearly at death'd door for month - and falt on my back in the hospital for 3 months -- with nearly every external muscle atrophied.  Praise the Lord and some wonderful PT/OT people, everthing returned to normal except for my left ankle and my righ hip where some muscle tissue had to be removed.  The rally fortunate thing about it all --- an ultra tiny colon cancer polyp was discovered near the site of the perforation  -One of the doctors said "They would never have found it at that stage, except for being in there to repair something else" ---- The LORD does work in mysterious ways indeed -- and every cloud has a silver lining.

    But it sure changes you out look and attitude about many things.  I now regard each day as a BONUS and a also "another day on my second life".  I am always thanking GOD that I am still here, still able to play golf (after a fashion)  and enjoy my family and grandchildren.

    Keep hitting them STRAIGHT and LONG

    Amos

Good work, Charlie.  I happened on that very thing the other day and did not realize others were having the same problem I was. 

Hey T...thanks for Sam Kinison video...classic!   

Dick:  Bad news brother.  But you will heal - just remember, never give up, never surrender! You are in our prayers tonite.  Take care and keep us up-to-date.  R2

Roy,
 I agree, Doc's driver is the best money I ever spent on anything golf. 

 Robert, Just checked out the site for the Wolf course. The island green 15th hole looks challenging. Will you be playing the 162yds or the tips at 182. It's interesting that they are the longest course in Nevada from the tips. The 18th looks like a long challenging finish hole as well. Enjoy it buddy, it looks like a nice course.

Here they are.
Don
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

DJ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

Mike, sounds like you've put your time in and "paid your dues". Now you get to play some golf. Myrtle Beach! Wow your rewarding yourself and finally going to play a nicer course. Good for you! Have fun:)

Hi Mr T Medley,
Whenever I make a mistake like I have done I tell all my friends to treat me gently as I am a Senior (79) Sometimes they forgive me & I get away with it. I thank you for explaining it again to me & I fully understand everything now. I am on a 30 handicap (the worst I have ever been) but I had 38 points today so I must be doing something right. Robert F explained about swinging the arms on the plane from the toe line to the nape of the neck & that is also a great thought for me.
I don't remember if I have asked this before (another Senior moment) How do you measure the length of the driver? Do you place the clubhead flat on the floor & imagine projecting the shaft through the head until it touches the ground & then measure from that point to the tip of the grip? As Don explains we all should try a shorter shaft. The thing that worries me if I do shorten the shaft is that the swing weight will be altered & the club may feel a lot different.
Have you any thoughts on this?
Regards,
Eric 

Phil,

My in-laws live in Lacombe and told me to be sure to bring my clubs when we visited them.  My father-in-law gave me directions to your course in Abita Springs (small world for sure).  I've played there 3 or 4 times and really like the course. 

My father-in-law did give me a piece of advice about playing the course (He does not play).  He told me if by any chance you hit one sideways into the woods especially near any of the water hazzards, don't go looking for it...lol.  I didn't see any gators or snakes, but I really didn't go looking for any either.

BTW..I did deposit a couple of balls in the water on #1 til I got smart and decided to lay up. :0)  It's a challenging course, but fair.  My favorite hole is the par 5 5th hole. 

With the physical challenges you've overcome I'd say your round is one to be proud of for sure.  Stick with Surge and he'll help you hit em long and straight.

Say hi to the snakes the next time you're out...lol.  Good luck.

Lynn42 

T:  How in the world do you remember all this stuff??????  I can't even remember what day it is!!! lol  Anyway, thanks for being our "Coach".  You need to change your blog name now.  R2  

 Dragonhead:

   THAT is Classic!  right along with Kipling's "IF" -- and it is fits my "BullDog tenacity" (or is it stubborness?) perfectly.

    Amos

Craig--to complete the current chapter, I got off the IV antibiotics, and the doc said I was 99.9% clear of the infection, but he says he has to reserve 0.1% for a relapse. I'm back to my old self, but weaker and lower, until the next attack, which will happen in all probability. Seems to be chronic. I have learned to look at life differently now. Thanks for your posts.

 Bob

Glad you got in a round.  Some times we only have to play against the course.  That is hard enough.  Some times we have to play the course and mother nature.  That usually gets real tricky.

I know how you feel about keeping the course looking and playing right.  I love being a marshal at my home course.  I get to serve basically as the "welcome wagon."  Most of the time I am just driving around meeting folks and returning lost sticks or head covers.  The down side is that some times I have to be the "course cop."  I just try to do that in the nicest possible way that the circumstances will allow.

I am happy for you that you are getting to spend a week with your dad.  That is way cool.  Is he a golfer, and are you guys going to get a few rounds in?

Dick

Aw! And here I thought my magic wand was broken.

Steve, I am definitely NOT playing you where money is involved!  Oh shucks just once, your swing doesn't look that menacing (Danger, Danger Will Robinson!).   It probably won't happen but I'd love to have a game with you Steve as with all the other Surge Nation people, man Dragonhead would be an experience especially if I played over there in Dalian.  regards, Craig

Charlie,

You were the one that got me started on 75% idea a couple of months ago. Time for me to return the favor. I get carried away every so often...lol..I guess we all do.

Two thoughts get me back on track. After I pick my target line and set up my thought is SMOOTH. Then it's ONEEE on the BUS and TWOOO on the FUS. Try it.

Dick likes "Here's Johnny" and "Happy Birthday" works for some. But, I'm a simple guy and can only handle one syllable words. ;0) ONEEE-TWOOO works for me.

Good luck

Don I can't understand how you can possibly have a vertical swing & still be on the wagon wheel plane which goes from the ball position over your shoulders & beyond.
There is quite an angle between the vertical plane & the wagon wheel plane.
Can someone please clarify this.
Regards,
Eric 

Thank you sir.

patg 

 Keep at it ... it took me a year and it is finally all coming together. A visit to SC with Lynn and Greg did magic.
Steve R

Lynn, until the next attack (and the doc said it will come), I'm all ok except for being out of shape from 7 weeks on the sidelines.  I can play 18 a day, riding the front nine and walking the back nine, or I can walk nine and play two sets of tennis doubles on the same day, but it feels like I'm running  in sand.  I hope to be back at full strength in a month.  The two months without playing golf really set me back.  Actually, I didn't play from Jan. 13 through May 11 except for a week in March.  I don't know how people in the far north keep their games in playing sharpness.

Terry, actually I'm planning on laying from the middle tees all day. that would make the 15th 138, almost identical to the 17th at Sawgrass lengthwise. I am just now getting ready to head out to the course, only 15-20 from where I live. I'm actually thrilled that we've had some rain today because that means a peaceful round with fewer players showing up. I lived and played golf on the north Oregon coast for 3 years and it rained 9-10 feet of rain per year. I had alot of magnificant days on the golfcourse in the rain. Actually love it. Different I am.
Thanks T, I will enjoy it. Hope I actually have some good holes too. I'll report later :)

For those of you who have been having difficulty posting a reply on the blog page, try this--it works for me.  When you do not get the cursor flashing in the text box, mouse over the "Cancel" link below the box, next to the "Post as ...." link, and notice if the cursor appears. 

Second Update: Either you will see the cursor flashing in the text box or your will see the words, "Type your commener ts here" shows up first. When you move your cursor into the box and click, the cursor then appears.

Pity the man who gives up golf women,song and dance. My favorite life policy is "love like you've never been hurt, sing like no ones listoning, and dance like there's no one watching" and at this point in my life "Play lots of golf"!

Eric,
Hogan is one of the bases of the classic rotational swing being taught, but it helps to recognize that the man was probably double-jointed so he could do stuff easily that most of us can't. I don't think about his plane or any of the rest. He was a great golfer, but I'm not him.

Getting yourself lost in that kind of theory will keep you in "paralysis through analysis." 

Disser

You should just  go watch the Bump 1 and Bump 2 videos over and over.  Dave did them on greens.  That might make it easier for you to pay attention.

I am no fan of Dr. Phill, but they say he gives great advise while sitting on the sound stage at Oprah's show.  Should he have the whole audience in his office lying on the couch?

Get a grip on yourself.  Use your imagination for a change.

Surge does his FREE daily videos on his back porch.  I watch them on my patio while I am smoking a cigar.  I guess we can just call it even.
Dick

Well put Keith, small increments for sure. Many of us (me included ) tend to over cook Surges tips when a minor adjustment might due. 

Steve Smith:

    In my case it is mainly finances -- I can handle the weather, usually -- when it is hot and dry here, with almost no wind.

     If this economy does not improve soon, I may be forced to rejoin the "working stiffs" once more.

      Amos 

Question for Tech Guys:

I have moved from my Florida home to my Michigan home where I have a slower internet connection.  I am having problems viewing the Daily Videos.... they stop and start alot and often the sound is ahead of the video.  Is it possible for me to download the Daily Videos to my computer, so when I watch them they will run better rather than watching them "streaming" from my slow internet connection?  My internet connection is suppose to be running at 1 Mbps, however speed testing is showing 0.4 Mbps most of the time.  I do not have a choice to change ISPs as I live way out in the woods and Hughes Net is all I can use.  No DSL or cable.

Thanks for any help.

Jerry 

Bryan,

In a "perfect golf swing" (mine is not), the center of the swing will be almost directly over the center of the body throughout the swing when looked at from the face-on position. There is a slight exception for the driver, for example, at set-up when the spine is tilted slightly away from the target. By the time you reach the top of the backswing, the two centers should be in line. Viewed from down the line, the two centers should be equal distances on either side of a vertical line up from the center of the arches, putting the body in dynamic balance.

Kevin

Tell you what REALLY stinks.  I have a new demo club from my PPGS golf fitter that I cannot even try out on the RANGE because the weather is so crappy.   My new definition of frustration!

Dick,
  On that note I'm heading for bed chuckling, silently of course.  The blog police decided to let you slide on this one.

 Charlie your condition is the absolute worst, I got nothing compared to that - a bit of arthritis here, a bulging disc there.   Its also difficult to diagnose, an old school buddy of mine caught a golden staff infection of the meninges from an epidural when delivering a baby.  The symptoms that developed later weren't picked up and identified early enough by her Dad, a veteran Pharmacologist, or her Sister, an experienced Registered Nurse, and she suffered immensely until the end.  Life can be cruel (It was her first baby and she was slightly physically challenged with Cerebral Palsy symptoms so her doctor thought the pains were due somewhat to her disability).   - Craig.

I play golf on grass.  Not a back porch.  Could you please do your lessons from a golf course or at least at grasssy area?  thanks. 

 Me too, but I'm still going to want to play the last two holes.

It is your understanding of how vertical is being used in reference to the golf swing. You have probably, like so many others, made an improper assumption that vertical means the strictest sense of straight up and straight down. This is not the case. We swing the club around our necks, not behind our shoulder blades, as a more rotational swing would do. This type of a swing is classified as vertical compared with the flatter rotational swings present today. These links might help you understand it more clearly, but read slowly and check the pictures carefully.

http://www.swingsurgeon.com/Ho...

http://www.swingsurgeon.com/Ho...

You are absolutely right about the grass.  I think we need to get Surge to spread some grass clippings on the back porch so I can better understand his daily tips. 

 Evening, Fellow Surgites,
 This schedule is really getting to me, let me tell you. Right after lunch I just ran out of gas, luckily I wasn't up in the rotation. I managed to struggle along and ran downtown to get my Red Cross supplies for tomorrow's CPR class and lazily waited for class dismissal. I had nothing on my mind but getting home to take a nice late nap.
 When I got home and was making my way to the front porch I noticed a small rectangular box laying there and postponed my thoughts on napping. My swingrite had arrived. So after letting Josh carry it indoors and helping me open it, I quickly read the instructions and took it out for a test spin. Let me tell you, all of you folks that have been  posting about initiating the bump the last couple of days...You need to go to Doc's webpage and order you one up. Once you work your way down the speed scale to reach the optimum speed setting for you, you discover that the only way to get that release clicking in the zone is to get the weight over to the outer edge of your left foot and how does that  happen...you bump, you don't think about it, you just know and you just do ( where have we heard that one before?) I am looking forward to working more with it in the upcoming days and continuing to use it as both a training aid and as a pre-round warm up.
 Thanks, Doc, for the quick turn-around, appreciate it....oh, btw, I only read your webpage twice today,lol
Boog

Dick Lee--what kind of exam did they do?  Did they take an MRI or xray?  The first day, the ER doc thought I had muscle spasms.  Second day, kidney stones.  third day, they found the infection in my spine.  I hope yours is nothing like mine.

Robert

You'd love my par 58. No par 5s and two par 4s on each side. It's a challenge and well maintained. It's pretty much a secret around here and we like that way...lol.

Enjoy your Dad's visit.

Lynn42

You're a one putt maniac Amos, my hero in that regard pal! 

 NO!