The Science Behind the Swing: Part 3

Righteous Indignation!

Early in my career I was a criminal court clerk and later worked for a public defender's office. I dealt with a lot of scum. But believe it or not, sometimes innocent people are charged with crimes. And unfortunately, sometimes we saw some very gung-ho less than honest law enforcement types, too.

Dick Lee:

Us "Country boys" can survive!! -- even without Hank Jr.

Keep hitting them STRAIGHT and LONG

Amos

avguy....beware of the so-called "old geezer."

These guys can play. Amos, you are a gamer.

SG

You are busted woman.

ezch2013,

You have it right. I fought this quite a bit when I first started the Surge Swing and still suffer "the steeps" from time to time, although "the flats" jump in more often.

Kevin

Congrat's Dean, I love hearing success/improvement stories. I do not think using a 5-iron for 150yds is far from average or normal. The point is, to know your distance with each iron, and be able to repeat. Sounds like you have a new low round to celebrate. Congrat's again!

Phil's site sure is a ripper - content & design

Phil's long athletic arms may be a contributing factor to the arm / elbow comparisons you detected
I still reckon your a hard marker on yourself - sweet swing

Either way, if either of you wake up one morning to find your swings gone, you'll know I stole it

Surge,
Speaking as a golfer, I am happy that I found you and your golf method. I am adopting your swing system and teachings, and feel that I will be able to improve significantly this year. As a scientist I must ask, however, do the rotational swing gurus have similar scientific evidence supporting their methods and teachings?? Have you seen any of their data or studies??
Curiously,
Tom K

Given the discussion between Steve and myself, I'd love to hear the explanation of a trained professional.

I've solved "Hat hair" - what about "hat skin" & don't start me on 2 tone heads

Amos and avguy,

one of my brothers lives up in the Paradise Valley area. If I ever get out that way, I'll try to hook up with you. I really like the dry heat of the desert, but my wife prefers to stay in the east. I was last out there in 2006.

Kevin

Hey T: Glad I finally caught up to you. I have been trying to register on Discus but every time I try, they ask for my site, url, and etc. There is nothing I can do and there are no options on the screen. Any suggestions? I would really like to be able to follow everyone's comments better. Hope you see this. Thanks much, R2

Kim

Ok, if we get all technical about it, you are right. Maybe when they thought he was kicking, he was actually swinging in there.

I had a full beard during the winter since I work outside a lot. It made it a lot warmer for my face. My loving wife did not really care for it, but she put up with it for my sake. Her birthday was the 22nd of last month. I shaved it off on her birthday as a present to her, and it was already near the end of March so it was only going to be warm from then on. Right? No, wrong. Later that week it got real cold for 3 or 4 days. Everyone in the family had a big laugh at my expense. They just told me to get used to how the weather works in Oklahoma. I learned from it. We will see when I shave it off next year.

I truly hope you will still be able to visit with us on the blog when you go back to work. We will miss your wit and warmth. You are a part of the Surge Nation in more ways than one.

Dick

John, Mr Wilson's daily videos are not individually made, or even currently made, as are Surge's. Notice how Paul has worn the same pants and shirt for every video. These are just short clips, pulled from his full video lesson package. He hasn't actually done a REAL DAILY VIDEO, since he took over. The ones from the fitter are newly made, but not Paul's. Odds are, he has someone else even doing the clipping and posting for him. Surge is the only one i know who actually takes the time to make new current daily videos.

Jack

I knew I could count on you.
Dick

To clarify: My original shoulder injury came from the vertical (repetitive motion)
of raising and lowering a chainsaw, not from the Surge swing.

avguy :

Where abouts in MESA ? I am in CHANDLER -- would love to meet you sometime and play a round or two -- If you can tolerate an "old geezer" who only plays on week days.

Keep hitting them STRAIGHT and LONG

Hello all

Just got in. Had a little vehicle problem this afternoon. I am going to watch the video, and catch up on the blog. Will have an update on the game for you in a bit.

Keeping it vertical, and still alive, in Oklahoma
Dick

Bkelso

I could not have said it any better than that.

Good post.

Dick

Kevin- thanks for the follow-up. Much appreciated.

The olive-branch effect has kicked in. Now, where were we?

Here's to finding a comfortable, functional swing.

I look forward to reading your future posts.

Simply Golf

Thanks Phil

I can't believe I wrote "statue of limitations." Typo. I meant STATUTE of limitations. (And I can't correct previous postings because I'm not registered with Disqus.)

Surge & Fellow Golf Nuts
Before I started the Surge Swing a year ago, my wife was watching my big old turn into the SBG and commented on how I was " de-accelerating " into the ball at impact. I looked at her in disbelief cause she had never used that word in her life before and she knows nothing about the golf swing, therefore, in her uncluttered innocent mind I knew she was on to something.
There is no dought that I accelerate better through the ball with the 3/4 Ltd. Swing. Not to mention the other four or five benefits.

If you allow your weight to get centered over your right foot on the backswing by the lateral hip shift you describe (hard to say how much you do without seeing it) then you are losing a ton of power even as it feels stable.

I did this too and then picked up 5 Keys to Distance by Eric Jones and he says to keep knee over the ball of the right foot and to keep your center of gravity about them both. I tried it and picked up lots of yardage - even as I go nearly vertical at the mitt. I find that going vertical is the keep to avoiding back pain but there are more power ideas out there that still allow you to use almost all of Surges ideas ...

Eric differs from Surge on knee location. Wide knees (Surge) limits hip rotation and I too also like a lot of participation with hip rotation up to the mitt. Wide knees stop me from getting as much hip rotation as I feel I need. More hip rotation while still maintaining stability translates to lots more distance.

Thanks Doc.

SG

Hey Steve, you ignoring email from me now?

Phil NZ,

I just got a chance to look at your videos and your progress looks great. The first couple I looked at, it seemed like you were not getting enough turn in the back-swing. In the last couple of swings in Swing Progress Driver 31 Jan 2011, your swing looked near perfect, with a good 70* turn. If I can get that far, I will be ecstatic!

Kevin

Dean

Congrats. Sounds like it is coming together for you.

With my physical condition, I have long ago divorced myself from everyone else's concept about how far we "should" hit each club. I know how far I hit each club. I carry the clubs that cover any gaps in length. If the club I am holding ain't long enough to reach where I need to go, I go get a bigger stick.

Enjoy your new found success, keep working on your swing, and forget about anybody else's distance chart.

Keep coming back and letting us know how it is working for you.

Dick

Ian, I was aimed at a flag over by the fence, yes. Also, though, with an inexpensive camera on the aiming line, it creates an odd angle to view the swing--not really down-the-line for the body. I need to try it on the toe-line next time I'm out to see if I can get a better view.

For the pulls, look again at some of the other recent comments about pulling the ball, and Surge's video last month about it. Get some video of your swing and check out what's happening. Quite possibly you're getting some reverse weight shift that's sending your swing around the ball rather than through the ball.

You're welcome, and thanks for the compliment.

If you are using Internet Explorer, the link i provided will be sufficient, as Google Reader is not available with it. However, if you are using FireFox, and go to the RSS Feed page, the site structure sort of sucks. So, under FireFox you will want to switch the page/site to use Google Reader. Here's how.
How to Change Your Default RSS Reader In Mozilla Firefox
1. From in Firefox, Click Tools then Select Options…
2. Click the Applications tab, and then under Web Feed Click Use Google from the drop-down menu. Click OK to save changes and finish.
Now whenever you attempt to open a Feed using Firefox, it will automatically redirect the feed into Google Feed reader. From Google feed reader you are only 1 click away from book marking and sharing your favorite feeds, as well as adding personal comments to each feed. Best of all, all your feed data, subscriptions and comments are tucked away safely in the Google Cloud should your PC ever experience a hard drive crash…

If you go to this link, they actually have pictures showing how/what to select.

http://www.groovypost.com/howt...

I played another round at my local course again today, without better results. I keep making too many mistakes, mostly based on too much tension in the swing. I did manage to get relaxed for 7 of my 101 strokes and execute an almost perfect Surge Swing. The first was my opening tee shot, which went high, straight and long, over the huge pine tree at the corner and into the center of the fairway, 217 yards off the tee. That is 33 yards further than my normal tee shot. Who needs a magic shaft ;-P

The second one was on the 3rd hole, where I have been hooking off the tee almost every time I play this hole. Again, I totally relaxed and swung the driver - straight down the middle 199 yards.

The third one was on the 8th hole, a short 209-yard par-4 from the gold tees. I drove the green and 2-putted for a birdie. The drive was another one on which I managed to totally relax and just "Swing the Feel."

The fourth was my tee shot on the 150-yard, par-3 10th hole. I hit my 5-metal to 10 feet from the hole.

The fifth was my 4th shot on the par-5, 11th hole (I had a penalty stroke for an unplayable lie). I hit a picture perfect 4-metal to pin high, 5 feet off the left edge of the green. I had to play there to avoid hitting a tree 20 yards in front of me.

The 6th was my drive on the dogleg right par-5 14th that split the fairway at 201 yards.

The last of my Surge Swings was my tee shot on the par-3 16th with my 5-metal from 150 yards - high and straight, finishing 14 feet right of the pin.

If only I could hit them all that way - but I let myself get distracted from what I am supposed to be doing; don't get comfortable; and lose control. Oh well, I gives me something to work toward. If I could do it every time now, I'd have to try for the Champions Tour ;-D

Kevin

"If it weren't fer bad luck, I'd have no luck at all." The sole of my right shoe came apart on the 11th hole, so I had to play the remaining 7 holes with a "flapper" :-0

Kevin:

Bring It ON!! Paradise Valley is a "little rich for my blood" -- but Iam sure something can be arranged to "meet in the middle"

Keep hitting them STRAIGHT and LONG

Amos

Dick
I see a problem with being a great debater
If there's a group of them, would they be mass debaters

Jack

I think you are putting the emphasis on the wrong word there. I think she meant she was the clerk in a court where they tried criminals. But, I could be wrong. Maybe she meant that she was a criminal in court of clerks. This over thinking things gives me a head ache.
Dick

I was a rotational swinger for many years. I always had consistency problems which got worse as i aged. After listening to the science regarding the verticle swing, which made sense, i am more consistent with less effort and finally broke 80 for the first time a few mos. ago. now i consistently shoot 78-85. Hit most drives in the fairway and more gir than ever before. I'm now spending more time practicing my short game, which as most of you know, is where the scoring comes from. nothing like a one putt to offset an errant shot elsewhere. thanks surge. I'm a believer.

Dick, Me too. We have a 10:30 Tee time. I just hope I can still break 100, after the rough winter, all the aches and pains, and the 60+ weight loss. One thing is sure, I'm going to enjoy it. It's 40* now, but should be 44 when we tee off, and top out around 54*. We didn't get to play on Monday, due to rain again. Good luck to you.

odz:

Look at the swings of the guys at the golf school and compare that to DJ's swing and Surge's swing. Whatever the reason these guys have lousy swings.

Let me give you 2 analogies to think about.

If you were bowling, would you rather swing the ball back around your body or swing your arm straight back and down? If you swung it back around your body, wouldn't it require very precise timing to release it at exactly the right point to send it down the alley? A bit too early or late and you're in the gutter. Also, think of how heavy the ball would feel. Wouldn't you have a much easier time sending it down the alley by taking it straight back and straight down, and wouldn't the ball feel lighter?

Here's another one: Think of how much more difficult it would be to land a plane when approaching the runway from the side rather than straight on. It can be done, but requires precise timing.

The whole idea of the vertical swing plane is to reduce the need for a precise timing of the release. For ideal distance, you still need to release it properly with any swing, but for direction, the vertical swing is superior.

Robert

You are one smart fellow. You would make a great debater. I started to say you would make a great lawyer, just did not want to offend you.

Dick

Kevin

Good post pal. You been learning Amos' records keeping?

At least, you know it is in there. You just have to let yourself relax and do it each and every time. Sounds like you had some exciting shots today.

I don't know how many times I have to tell you folks. A golf bag, any golf bag, is not complete without some duct tape. I have tried to explain how important it is to have some with you at all times. Maybe you will listen to me now. It would have been a simple repair. Just slap some duct tape around the shoe. Problem solved.

I am sorry it took this kind of tragedy to drive my point home to you all.

Are you happy now?

I rest my case,
Dick

you need a lot more than a magic shaft.

Harry, Phil has given you 2 good links (below)
Also some of the guys have put their swings on You tube
While none of us are Don or DJ, it may be of interest to see how mere mortals do it
You can access their videos by clicking on their gravatars
One of my favourites is RobertF
Phil NZ has a good swing as well & his site is well worth a look