Saturday at Bay Hill

Jim,

One thing Doc preaches regularly is that the best time to get fitted is before your "swing matures," which usually means finding compensations for club problems. If you have the funds, get yourself fit for proper clubs. Then you'll know you can't blame them. (Hmmm, wait, maybe that's a reason not to get properly fit clubs. ;-) ).

Also, without seeing the swing and the ball flight, it's hard to say what could be going on, or if the problem even is what you think it is. 9.5 degrees is probably too low a loft for you, but most likely you're not hitting it at that point on the face of the club that's actually 9.5*. Don't worry about embarrassment. Most of us have survived, and we're a lot less likely to laugh behind your back than the guys in your foursome.

Adding on: for example, you can click on both Steve's name and mine to get to YouTube videos of our swings.

T,

That is what I did with every bad shot I hit today - drop another ball and try it again, just because I knew I could hit the shot. If I counted only my good shots and not the bad ones, I would have shot an 84. I had 16 extra shots because of my bad ones. You are right that is is a good confidence builder. It was also good that yesterday and today, I pretty much had the course to myself. Now, I wonder why that might have been?

Kevin

As an aside, I think I know why I can't control my weight shift. It is the big gut of mine from all the great cooking of my wife and daughters. I am perpetually stuffed! ;-)

Robert,
Sorry I missed your first post - I lost interest in the blog for a while - too much rubbish

A mate of mine uses graphite - I use steel
He dislikes my irons - I hate his
He is a "finesse" style player - I'm more of a "hitter"
His handicap is 3 - Mine is 6
His swingspeed is slower than mine but he is a considerably better player than me

Our Conclusion -
The standard of a player is not the governing factor
The style of a player is the governing factor
I can't control the "whip" or torque in his shafts - it gets away from me
He uses them like a surgeon

Not very definitive but it's all I've got
I hope the hands are coming along nicely

Robert: Late here in SLC. (About 11:30pm) I just got home from doing some carpet cleaning and the new Hybrids were on my front porch. Here is what I have: The heads are Silver Diamond T-Series, model RM-5. The shafts are Alpha Platinum 50 g, 360*Frequency Calibrated, S-Carbon 500. The grips are Winn Golf Master Wraps, and appear to be Jumbo, with no or very little taper. The heads look like typical hybrids; they are solid, rounded, fairly low-profile and don't look like typical irons. I took them out in the yard (neighbors are all in bed, I hope) and swung them. They have a great, solid feel and the grips are awesome!!! I will take them to the range on Wednesday, if it's not snowing, and try them out. I'll let you know how they perform. I'll tell you Robert, I just don't know how Doc Griffin does it but he is simply AWESOME!! Really. More later. R2

I'm sorry, but what does the crap along the left border have to do with anything? Previously, the comments were relevant to the Daily Video and went back and forth, with people trying to help one another. This doesn't pertain to much, except some ego's trying to outdo others.

Great info Doc and Amos. This whole discussion is helping me alot!

Robert

I played steel shafts til about 3 years ago when I switched to graphite due to wrist issues. It helped as Doc says with shock issues. Although I still carry a SW that was made for me about 10 years ago. If you have any bone or joint related issues I would say it's a good move, just my opinion.

LynnF

Kevin

I have an old 7m that I use from about 125 to 150 yards. It is a piece of junk and does not match a single stick in my bag, but I love it. It flies the ball so high and straight that when it lands it probably does not roll more that 5'. I better land it where I want it to be.

When we are on, we are on. What was it Jerry Lee sang? When you are hot you are hot, and when you are not, you are not.

Dick

Yep, one of the best graphite shafts out. Ken T has them in his irons. Matt Kucher uses them. It was the only graphite that Nicklaus ever had in his irons. Excellent shaft.

Good news Charlie, hope you have a continued quicker recovery.

Hello DJ,
Congratulations for a great showing at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and thank you for sharing your thoughts during a championship rounds of golf. As Don would say, fairways, greens and a bit of patience you are closer to winning a PGA championship ! We are all rooting for you.
Regards,
Davis.

Okay, I think I've gained 5 pounds since we started all this food talk the last couple of days! LOL

Kevin

Thanks for the update on your game. At least you got out there, and on two days in a row. That is great. My long game is still a hard target to figure out. The other day it was great, yesterday so-so. Hopefully that part of your game will come around as you get the opportunity to get out there more.

When I start topping my shots, I usually find that I am standing up and starting my "pop tart" too soon. When I take the flex out of my knees before I am under the ball and starting the FUS, I top it every time.

We both have to be careful about complaining about any part of our game. I would bet money that Dan, whose post is just above yours, would trade places with either of us right now.

Keep working on it.
Dick

Amos

You can always fall back on the old and true line, even a bad day of golf is better than my best day at work. That is not to say you had a bad day of golf. That is something you have to decide. Remember where your day stacks up against what most guys would be tickled to death to shoot. I always say I am not shooting against anyone I play with, I am always playing against myself. Even the big boys have off days and even "bad" days. It is just that their bad days would still be great for most of us. I think you ended with the most important part. You felt better about how your game ended. That always gives us something to be happy about, and to work on going into our next round. We used to say in the military, "The best two bases in the military are the last one I was stationed at and the one I am going to next." I always want to think the best round of golf in my life is my next game. It is one of the things that keeps me coming back. I want to see what is going to happen next time.

Thanks for sharing your round with us. I always enjoy your details.

Keep on keeping on
Dick

Thanks, Steve, for the thoughts.

Surge or Doc, I have a thought and a question that came to mind while looking at U-Tube.

Although Surge said that he thinks I really get the Surge Swing, I am not so sure. I may understand it, but doing it is something else. I think I have a different vision of the swing than most other Surgites. I can actually visualize a one-plane swing in it when I consider where my hands go as I execute the swing. When I am dead on and have perfect contact with the ball, my hands stay centered on my body and only go up and down. The turn of my body, combined with the motion of the club head, makes it appear that there are two planes, but that is not what I visualize. I could be totally off my rocker.

Do I have this thought right? I know that my best swings and hits occur when I do it this way, and I tend to be relaxed through the swing. When I get out of that feeling, I have no idea where the ball is going.

Roy

Thanks my friend. It is time to do a little spring cleaning on our blog.

I am just going to hit some balls at the range later.

Dick

Welcome, Dave,

The driver and fairway woods can be tricky for some. First, be sure they aren't actually too long for your swing. Maybe try choking up a bit and see if that helps. Also remember that you want to catch fairway woods and particularly your driver a little later in the swing and sweep them into the air. Hope that helps some.

Great news Charlie! Good news for you and all SurgeNationals ; - ) Stay well stay happy, and think lucky,be lucky. In our thoughts and prayers. Home cooking, nothing beats it.

Great work DJ and good luck in Houston!! I will be going to the Surge school starting March 31 and look forward to meeting Don and his staff.

Pat Gordon

Will demo for sure, thanks for the input Philip.

Doc, have you ever fit anyone with Aer0techs Steelfiber shafts and or heard good or bad about how they play?

Close Dick, it was Jerry Reed.

Charlie, About 20yrs or so ago, a new fellow hired in at the company i retired from. On his first day one of us asked him what he preferred to be called by, he replied just Dale, to this very day we all call him Jusdal !

If I could(and I'm working on it) one putt like you I'd be under 80 every time! Sounds like you had a good up and down round Amos:)

good

Robert, There are also products now, called shock/vibration absorbers, that are inserted into the butt end of the shaft before the grip goes on. I have never used one and know little about them. Perhaps Doc can comment on them.
I know GolfSmith carries them. I also believe that my fitter (i almost laughed when i typed that) (my fitter), anyway, i believe he carries them also, as i noticed them in his price list at $2.00ea. I may have them put in all of my new clubs. Unless i hear negative comments about them from Doc or John
http://deadsolidperfectgolfclu...

Lynn
Most of us play our best golf in the 19th Hole.

The older I get, the better I was.
Dick

Doc,

You must be hard to beat at Trivial Pursuit.

Kevin

Hi, Dick Lee. Finally got to ready your essay. Resonated with me real strong, particularly two parts. One part was about meeting relatives. I met four relatives recently who I hadn't seen for years, and it was like no time passed by. My nephew wanted to sleep in my hospital room to run errands for me.
The other part was about the parasites, which I equated metaphorically to the bugs in my back. Oh, the third part is about how keeping a pleasant frame of mine is helpful in healing (soar with the eagles, don't let the turkeys drag you down.) If you were in my ethics class and had submitted this as an essay on civility, I would have given you a grade of A and probably submitted it to the campus in a writing competition. Steve Smith and you sure know how to write.

Colin,

Are you focused on swinging up to the T-Finish? Most people experience much higher ball flight when switching to the Swing Surgeon Swing. What kinds of divots are you taking (if any)? Also, as Kevin McG has said in a few comments, a lot of times the problem with loss of distance is that switching from a rotational swing, we're not used to actually using our arms much. So much of rotational swing thought is around the arms being essentially passive transferers of the power of coiling the spine. I don't know about your spine and arms, but I know my arms are much faster and more powerful in this kind of motion than my back. :) It just took me a little while to get used to the change in feeling, and particularly to change the way I used my legs. Being sure that both knees stay flexed through the whole swing is extremely important.

Anyway, if you can get some video of your swing and post it to YouTube or such, it will give us much more ability to help you uncover why your ball flight appears to be so low.

Thanks Robert,
Right now fitted clubs are a matter of funding, I spend all I can afford on greens fees. It would be ashame to have I nice set of fitted clubs from the Doc and just look at them sitting in the corner. I guess I'll have to find someting else to blame.. too funny!!

I will have to get some video on my swing soon so you guys and see what I'm doing.

The guys in my foursome aren't laughing so much as shaking their heads as I had them chasing me on more then my share of rounds last year. They kept saying "who is this guy and what did you do with Jim?" Kicking their butts I would just say, "fairways and greens gotta lov em'."

Steve

Yep, you were just wasting your time, and might have ended up taking a round from a neighbor if something had gone down. I used to live in a small neighborhood of like 25 homes. Out of those 25 homes, I bet 15 of use were cops. We were scattered across all different shift and departments. Every one of us had a marked take home car. It looked like a donut shop had opened up on our street. The city came by my house one day and said they were going from neighborhood to neighborhood to speak with the residents about forming crime watch groups. I told the guy to step outside with me for a minute. I pointed down the street and asked him if it looked like we needed a crime watch. He just laughed and headed for his car.

Sorry it took me a few extra minutes to reply to your post. Right in the middle of my reply I had to make an emergency head call. Before you ask, every thing came out ok, and I got the paper work done.

Dick

Dick,
My wife must be a Chinese red-neck,her favourite word in english? "Na"!

Yes an excellent outcome for DJ and us Surge fans. It's kind of crazy how DJ was tied for 21 when he finished Sunday and moved up to 12 at the end of the day without having to take another stroke. Not sure if the conditions were that tough or what but it usually hours the other way when waiting for the groups with later tee times to finish.

Good job DJ. I'm happy the Tour gods are starting to favor you.

I'm thinking it will be a good move to. I keep reading on line how much graphite has improved over the last couple of years.
Thanks Lynn

Evening all

I hate to start off with this note, but, I am going to. Came home from a cold afternoon on the course to find a steaming hot pile of fajitas with chips and salsa. When I finished all that and was sitting down to catch up on the blog, my loving wife comes out with a big piece of pound cake covered in freshly cut strawberries and whipped cream. Top that Lynn, if you can. haha

Well, I did not have quite the game today as I did yesterday. Today I hosted the first weekly Dick Lee 1 man, 2 ball, best ball tournament. The tourney was won by yours truly. It helped that I was the only one playing. There were so few people out this afternoon that I did not have to worry about holding anyone else up. I let one single player go through. Other than him, I had it all to myself. I ended up shooting 4 under par, 68 for the course. I hit two balls for every shot then used the best ball to sit up for the next two shots. I had a lot of fun. It was almost like being at the range with changing scenery. I also tried shots from different places just to take a different approach to the greens. I know that what I was doing is not "pure" golf, but I used it to learn, and the price was right. I think I am going to try to do this once a week if I can find a day when the course is not crowed. Dad and I are playing in "The friends of Library" tournament in May. It is a best ball deal, so I am just trying to get used to that type of play.

I am really liking my new driver. I seem to be able to hit it more consistently than the old one. That proved to be a problem today. Being able to play the best ball only works if the shots are different. Today, on all but a couple of holes, both my drives were usually withing 10' of each other. This idea of hitting the second shot from the short grass on the fairway is taking some getting used to. I am doing the best I can with it. I got to use my old slice on purpose today. I was 185 yards from the green on the left side of the fairway. Imagine that if you can, me lying on the left side of a fairway. I did not even know what was on the left side of any fairway. I was used to slicing and ending up off the right side. Right in front of the green is a kidney shaped sand bunker. The bunker is about 40' wide and 30' from front to back. The pin was cut right at the front of the green about 10' from the bunker. I knew I could not get anything to carry that distance, land on that 10' of green, and stop. So, I just went back to my old slice. I hit it right down the left side of the fairway with a big slice. The ball landed just to the left of the green and rolled hard right. It ran right up on the green and stopped about 15' from the pin. Left the putt 8" short. I am glad I don't hit a slice on most of my shots anymore. But, it is great to have that trick in my bag when I need it.

Supposed to rain here most of tomorrow. I have an inspection in the morning. If it stops raining in the afternoon, I am going to try to sneak in 9 holes. Dad and I are going to play Thursday or Friday. I will let you know how that goes.

Did any of you guys out there in the Surge Nation get to play a round today? If you did, how did it go?

Keeping it vertical, in Oklahoma
Dick

Phil

Glad you got some great weather. I have started keeping my sticks in my truck all the time. When I go to the back and open the hatch there are my sticks. I have had a couple of customers walk out to my truck when I go to get my tools for an inspection. They get a chuckle out of it when they see my bag. It is on top of my tools. I just tell them the clubs are on top because I have my priorities straight.

Sounds like you had a great game. It is cool when we break our personal best score on a course. I know what you mean about that little swagger in your step when it goes right. The other day when I had that great round, I came up on a group of 4 young folks in their 20s at a par 3. It was 2 young men and 2 young women. They had already all hit. You could see their balls scattered all around the fairway short of the green. The guys were apparently trying to teach the gals how to play. I think it was just a way to get to put their arms around the gals to show them how to hold the clubs. Hey Surge and Doc, that is not how you give lessons is it? I hope to get to take a lesson from you guys some day. Just don't want you to put your arms around me to show me the grip. Cause, I ain't like that. So the kids asked me to go ahead and play through. There is always that fear in the back of my mind when someone lets me play through. I don't want to mess up the shot in front of them. I set up, took an extra deep breath, and let it go. The ball stopped about 20' from the pin. We all drove down to the green. They let me put out and move on before they chipped up. I drilled it from 20' for the birdie, smiled, picked up my ball, tipped my cap to the ladies, and strolled over to my cart. After thanking them, I drove over to the next tee. As I was leaving I heard one of the gals tell the guys that they should go play the rest of the course with me. I kept my laugh to myself. They did not need to know that my knees were shaking when I hit my tee shot and when I was putting. It felt pretty good as an older guy to not fold under the pressure of being a kid again and trying to impress the young ladies. It is always good to hit that perfect shot. Sometimes it is more "important" than others.

Thanks for the tip. I will keep it in mind.
Dick

Hey R,
Over these last 3 years I have found Don's business end to be 100% honest. If it's been nearly one month something was batched in communication, mistakes can happen. I would not hesitate to called them again right now. they will fix it I'm sure.

Hi, Dick, you came home to salsa, fajitas, and cake. I came home from the hospital to home cooking, friends and family looking in on me, and fresh air and flowering plants. You shot under 70 in your way, I got a shot of great news from my doc (they might cut my treatment down from eight weeks to six weeks.) Looks like we both had a great day.

That's ok Doc, we all see it. Close enough to be brothers.

Roy

Now that is what I call a home coming. Congrats pal. That is almost as good as becoming a new grandpa. I can hear the excitement in your post. Look forward to your after action report.

Dick

Steve

My nickname all through high school was Cowboy. I think most of my teachers and people around the area would have had no idea who you were talking about if you asked if they had seen Dick Lee.

Dick
AKA Cowboy

Savoured every word! Sleep well mate, you have more than earned it.

Couldn't agree more, DonW. We're hoping that ignoring the ego will get it to go somewhere else where it finds the food it wants.

Prolaunch Platinum? Cool, I'll put them on my short list of shafts to consider.
Appreciate your input Bob.