The Science Behind the Swing: Part 3

OK, I won't tell anybody.

I don't think I could live with myself as a criminal defense attorney. I don't think I could get the shower hot enough.

Thanks to Don for updating us daily. I never miss one of his videos.

T

Nice report. It is good to get out there for the first time and take a "swing" at it. It is even better to play for less than half price. Nice deal for you folks. Don't be too hard on yourself. There is a reason the NFL has a bunch of preseason games. Even the pros have to get warmed up and back into the grove.

Glad you had fun and were able to get in a round.

I wish we would get some rain out here. We are almost 7" below normal for the year. I know a lot of you folks would be glad to let us have some of what you have been getting.

Dick

When you finish, look at your hips. Are your hips and shoulders both facing down line or did you stop the hips from turning and kept turning the shoulders? Another thing to look at is the right foot and knee. Is the right knee bent and right leg also facing target and you're up on the right toe. Or, did is the right knee only slightly bent and the leg facing more to the right where the ball had been and you're just kind of up on the ball of your foot? A common cause of pulls is that the hips stopped and the shoulders kept going. Another cause can be over rotation. If the first scenario isn't the cause then I'd check upper body position once the swing is finished. If you put the shaft into your sternum, does the club point a good bit left of target? If so, this is over rotation and this causes a pull.

The information below has nothing to do with your problem. I mean, you hit a pitch shot with less than a 3/4 turn and it doesn't have to go left. But as is often the case, there is a post that has absolutely nothing to do with the question.

Thanks for the advice, Bob. I'd not heard of Charles Barkley, so I googled him. Thankfully I'm not *that* bad! :-) I watched those Don and DJ videos last night and in my head that's what I'm doing. As Robert F suggested I think I need to video myself and put that side-by-side with Don and pay my kids to play 'spot the difference'. I knew that new iPhone would come in handy.

Cheers

etw

Kevin, You can ask us if you desire. You can also find lots of help through google. Just enter a short question such as, How to ---------.In google reader.

Dick, you need to talk to Jackoz. He has a two-tone tanned head thing going on, so I think he'd definitely be willing to try out your two-tiered hair piece. Be careful though -- I have a feeling if you fitted DJ with it, you'd be putting him back in diapers! Then he could win his preschool championship!

T,
any pointers would be great. I fully understand the senior moments. What were we talking about? ;-P

Steve,

Following along with my other response of a minute ago, you are correct IF the forearms do NOT roll over to point the toe of the club straight up. The act of rotating the forearms brings the club head to the toe line at the same instant that the hands reach the toe line, without pulling the left arm across the body or turning more than 70*. Physiology and trigonometry do not lie. Surge's science validates the 70* body turn with the ams going vertical at the toe line.

Having said that, I know, based on my own physiology, that accomplishing the Surge Swing is easier said than done when trying to convert from years of doing something else.

Kevin

As an over-swinger, I have been using Don's technique for about a year now, and this latest video is as IMPORTANT as Don states. It is only recently that I have been making very focused attempts at truly limiting the back swing. As a result, all my shots are rapidly becoming more consistent and POWERFUL. I think there is more clubhead speed now, because the focus is so much more forward and on-line. I usually drive 200-220, but with this new SHORT swing, I have managed 265. The 250-yard drive is becoming more common (1-2 times per round). With more practice, I'll actually be able to play this game as intended. My heartfelt thanks to Don Trahan and staff for taking the snake oil out of golf instruction.

Albert

I am sure you have a very limited time to watch golf tips. Why would you waste the time to watch Surge when you could be over there learning some great stuff?

We will try real hard to keep the blog going while you are gone. I hope we can do this without you.

Bye bye.
Dick

Jack

If you go to work on a fishing boat, you have to bait the hooks for the tourists. You start as an apprentice baiter. If you stay with it long enough, you can work you way up to the position of master baiter.

Dick

got to play for the first time using the vertical swing,after a long winter here in ohio! only got to practice once before being asked to play with the guy's.shot a 93 and had a hole in one on a 158 yard par 3!! played well except for my putting!! i'm a 25 handicap!! !!!!thanks surge

editted

The driver was still getting very close to parallel there, yes. About where DJ gets sometimes when his backswing gets long. I've been working on it but haven't had a chance to get to the range and film more in a couple months.

But don't get confused an think that a Surge Swing stops with the club pointed straight up. Do a search for "Swing Clock Defined" to see the parameters. From a head-on view like that, the swing should get to somewhere between 1 o'clock and 2 o'clock.

Albert,

In my opinion Paul Wilson is a very good teacher of his golf swing. As you may know, his swing is modeled after a golf swing machine. The golf swing machine was supposedly modeled after Byron Nelson's swing. I tried Paul's swing for about 2 years. I never could get the results he claimed would come with practice. I got more club head speed within two months of using Surge's swing than I had in the two years of attempting Paul's rotational swing. Using a Speed Stik, I had to really go at it to get my swing speed to 80 using Paul's swing. With the Surge swing, with similar effort I get 90. 85 is my nominal average now.

Steve

Hire rednecks, we are fun to watch. Play golf with rednecks, just don't turn your back on us. I get some of my best shots with the side of my shoe.

Dick

Kevin: welcome to my first official venting:

I've had an epiphany: your opening comment (above) now pisses me off :

"I have serious doubts as to whether you really understand the vertical swing."

Uh...hello. Really? That's a sweeping judgement. I do understand the essential
elements of the Surge (PPGS) swing, and a number of the finer points thereof.

Does asking good questions, pressing the edges, offering viable alternative viewpoints really
indicate a lack of understanding?

And are you the caliber of instructor or golfer (that can extrapolate enough info)
from my comments to pass that kind of judgement ?

BTW, your remaining comments were noted: well articulated.
That part is helpful.

Now you have something to ponder.

SImply Golf.

Hello Jackoz
Do you have any info where I can see the PPGS swing in action preferably with Don or DJ making those swings in slow motion as up to now I have no feeling about what to do and it does not help watching Don on the back porch swinging a childrens club
Is there anywhere on You Tube I can view this, and I would love to see Don make a demonstration of the PPGS swing with an extra long club although I doubt the system would work if he had to do this...............all comments welcome
Have a great day and god golf play.............Thanks.

Oh my gosh, Dick, I have a lot of stories, and I'll bet you do, too. I was eventually made head of felonies in my little county, and I got to do all the probable cause hearings, which made me feel like a big shot because I was entrusted with all this information and had to hide all the big news from the local press. I learned the importance of keeping my mouth shut. I was paid $600 a month, and it was absolutely the best job I've ever had. I wouldn't trade that for anything.

So you suffer from pixel gap hypnosis, too!

Keving:

"GOD bless WK -- and keep him FAR away form US!!" (apologies to Fiddler on the Roof)

Amos

Phil

Good luck and happy shooting tomorrow.

Let us know how it goes, inquiring minds need to know.

Dick

Wow! That's amazing! Congrats!

Dick,

You forgot the other components of the MacGyver toolkit - chewing gum, baling wire, and a Swiss Army knife. I used the baling wire which I found in an old shed nearby :-D

However, you are correct in that duct tape would have worked better. I will remember in the future, O mighty smart master LOL.

Kevin

How supremely rude of you to come here and post such a thing on Don's website! There is not a single person here on this website who wants to know anything about what's going on at the other website, not least of all with the hack that they replaced Don with.

R2, I found a good instruction page through a google search. It has pictured instructions and is easy to follow. You can now register at the blog site. Here's the link to the instructions. Good luck.
http://conservatives4palin.com...

k
Thank you once again for your unsolicited opinion
Your predictability is one of the consistencies I can count on
It warms my heart that you are at last speaking on a subject that you have expertise in
Despite your long experience in the world of pathetic, it's hard to believe that any pathetic would be left over for anyone else since you cornered the market

Please feel free to inform me on other subjects that you have experience in
Examples - Dodgeball, Monotony, Self destruction, Loneliness, Eunichs, Isolation
Other bloggers may have additions to this list for you to wrap your attention around so you can take your mind off "pathetic"

Bob,
I find that when I pull a shot my toe line is usually lined up right of the target below the waist and my upper body is twisted above the waist so that my shoulders are in-line with where my toe line should be. Sometimes I hit a hard draw that ends up well left of the target and that is usually caused by setting up to close to the target which I do a lot when switching beteen irons, hybrids and woods at the range. So I try to limit switching about beteen clubs to only once or twice during a practice session.

Actually, Don's is and DJ's isn't. If you want to know why, I'll explain. Just don't want to type all of the explanation if not needed.

Hey Steve, You're right that to an extent it feels like we're talking different languages, even though it looks like we're using the same words. The rotation of the arms always seemed to be natural and a given to me, since one of the other base principals is trying to keep the palms perpendicular to the ground and you can't do that with your upper body bent over unless you rotate the arms. I remember when you did your super-slow examination of my swing and Surge's and so on and discovered that you were missing that arm rotation. I never would have thought to mention it because it was just an automatic motion. That's why it's great that you're here and take the time to break things down and examine them. You're right that there are a lot of folks who seem to come and be run off by the sometimes overly aggressive feedback we give.

I wasnt too worried, as I still played good, just had a a few rough holes,
You would think the golf gods could have given me better luck, considering it was my birthday!
Actually thinking back on it, it was a pretty entertaining day, my mate with me had some funny moments also.

Allen

Good to know there are some die hard Surge fans in SD.

I wish you luck for your Friday outing.

Dick

Kevin

I keep baling wire, a multi-purpose tool, some rope, duct tape, and oh yes, a Glock in my truck at all times. I guess you could call it my date kit.

I don't know much some times, but I do know my duct tape. Did you know there is a book on the many uses and benefits of duct tape? There is. It made it to number two on the redneck book review. I helped that there are only 5 books on the review. It came in second only to the Bible, followed closely by "Things my momma says."

That is how we roll out in the country,
Dick

0 putts always helps the putting numbers, though. Congratulations, RogerZ!

Lynn

Good shooting pal. I have to learn to keep better stats too. Sounds like you had a lot of fun.

Don't worry about me, I am watching them like a hawk.

I am out the door. I am playing with just dad today. We will have a nice quite day. I have to make sure he does not have the posse hidden in the bushes running out to grab my ball and throw it in the water. Hahaha

Talk to you guys when I get back,
Dick

Thanks, Doc.

Thanks for the reminder.

My shoulder left injury, to clarify, started with using a chainsaw in a vertical, (up then down) motion. The (then) PPGS swing did NOT cause my injury.

The portion of Surge's swing "into the catcher's mitt" is very kind to my shoulder. The motion "up the tree" is the first concern.

The bigger question, though, is in the FUS: to wit, what happens to the shoulder when the shaft gets stressed, moves from (proper) vertical back on to plane ? In a swing where arms generate speed, the shoulders will obviously be a key part. And does (should) a PW create different shoulder stress than a driver or fairway wood?

Doc, the motion of a gentle arc, somewhat laid off swing seems to create fewer angles
and a gentler transition on to plane.

BTW, nipping the grass vs creating big divots is probably a bigger shoulder saver
than any of the aforementioned. Shoulder surgeons unite, and support the
full-rotational-big-divots School of Pain.

Don's swing got me started on a different path, thank goodness.

And your thoughts have been appreciated and enlightening.

Simply Golf

That is certainly your choice. Some people like Fords and some like Chevrolet's. It's called personal preference. We prefer a vertical swing, because we know through practice and use, it is more body friendly with less stress, aches and pains. If it ain't for you just take your balls and move on. BTW, did you see Tigers Monday interview at the Masters this week. They asked him why he decided to change his swing. He said, because the old swing was too hard on his body and he couldn't continue to repeat it anymore, without serious injuries to his body. How interesting is that???????

Bob:

An idea ... I make the same error. Not enough turn, not to 3/4 might be the cause. I got a tip from Derek Hardy that if you go slightly into the SBG at the mitt as opposed to going straight vertical as Surge suggests then it helps you to get a fuller turn to 3/4. I was only to a little less that 60 degrees with my shoulder when I thought I was at the mitt.

5 to 10 degree tilt helps you finish your turn and approach the ball from the inside -- still very vertical and no back pain thus far.

avguy - when golfing aggravates my left rotator cuff, I always find that I have been swinging too steeply at the ball. Usually, the steepness occurs because I had not properly pre-loaded my right side and/or had become lax in how I flex my knees.

Simply Golf,

Your epiphany is noted, and I am always pondering things. That is wHy I have trouble focusing on my swing on the course.

Some of my comments are obviously more well articulated than others. When I read your initial post, I did not realize you were making the comments to "press the edges." What I read that made me question your understanding of the Surge Swing was, "what happens to the shoulder when the shaft gets stressed, moves from (proper) vertical back on to plane?" That, to me, indicated a lack of understanding of the vertical swing, since it is my understanding of the SSGS that "proper vertical" and "on plane" are the same thing; that you can't have one without the other (there is a song in there somewhere, I believe ;-))

Had your initial post indicated that you had a good understanding of the SSGS and that you were asking questions to find the limits of what defines it, I most likely would not have made that particular comment. Like everything else posted on this blog, the muddy water eventually clears (... was blind and now I see.).

Kevin

Here you go harry
Don
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
DJ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

Enjoy

OMG, when my son was a baby (24 years ago), I used to rock him and sing "Close to You" to him. I don't think he sings it about himself though.

There were times I could have killed my son. I can laugh about all that stuff now (especially since I think the statue of limitations has run on most of it and I'm not legally liable anymore). But I guarantee you that your mother thought you were pretty fabulous. Mothers are like that. It keeps us from eating our young.