Last month, I published a daily titled, Correct Positioning of Head & Eyes in Setup. In my response, I talked about the negative impact that bifocals can have while playing golf. But, the main focus of the lesson was based on where the head and eyes should be during your setup.
After that video was published, I received an email saying I didn't go over a certain part of the original question in enough detail. So, today I want to elaborate more on spine angle, which is the key to getting yourself in the right setup consistently.
Here's the original question sent in by Doug Welsh:
Hi Surge,
I am wondering if you could give us a refresher on the position of my head during the swing. Sometimes, after I assume the accordion position, I find that I get in the habit of staring down at the ball, bending my neck forward and bringing my chin down. Then, I don't seem to get a full range of motion in my swing as the chin is in the way. How should the head line up with the spine angle when looking down the aiming line?
John Davis then replied:
Suppose Doug and the rest of us do not wear bifocals, what then is the answer to his question? The subject was "Learn how to use your eyes in the setup position."
Once you get in the accordion position, your neck should stay up and in line with your spine. What happens to a lot of folks is that they're told to keep their head down, so they over do it. But, your eyes are capable of moving around in your eye sockets, so instead of moving your entire head down when you look at the ball, you need to look down at the ball by moving your eyes. When you walk into the ball correctly and you maintain your spine angle, you have to let your eyes roll downward to see the ball, not your head.
Whatever your spine angle is and where your head is at when you stand normal is how they must remain when you bend over. You need to maintain your head position relative to your body in a balanced position standing up, as well as at address. When you do that, you'll be in a good position.
When I get a good lift, my chin will actually touch the back of my bicep. If my head is down, it'll usually hit me somewhere near the mouth, so I know I'm in the wrong position. The key is to maintain your spine angle. Roll your eyes downward to see the ball, not your head. Your natural posture is where you need to be. If you wear glasses, you'll see the ball out of the bottom of your lenses.
Keep it vertical,
The Surge
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Comments
Thanks Surge!!
Thanks Surge!!
I love golf! Golf Channel on weather delay, they sure have had allot to talk about this week.
Surge, You Beauty! As they say down under
Surge, You Beauty!
The last round I played was a sloooow starter with so-so golf. Acceptable, but not as good as the previous excellent round. I have spent the last two days concentrating on set up and swing tempo.Today's video has highlighted one of, if not the the reason why I was up and down early in the round like the proverbial fiddler's elbow!!! Thankyou for reminding me of the position of the eyes and head at address. Have had a swing session on the mat, and a round is scheduled for very early in the morning [to avoid the heat of the day ; - ] It doesn't bother me too much, but my golden retriever ball hound hates the sunshine with a vengeance. As do lots of Chinese.
18holes before breakfast the order of the day. There will be no delay here like at Torrey Pines.It will be much closer to the temperatures in Qatar, where the Masters [European Tour] was won by Chris Wood [not Woods] and Englishman, who eagled the last hole to avoid a playoff with Sergio Garcia and South African George Coetzee! Cracker of a finish! Good luck in California. May the best man [eventually] win.
Kiwi Michael Campbell had equal worst round of the day in Qatar. He bogied the first two holes and that is where he stayed finishing on +2 for the day finishing with a 74.After 3x rounds in the 60's!!! The problem is certainly between his ears methinks.
Hit them consistently longer and straighter, where ever you are. DH in disgustingly hot and sunny NZ ; - ] Naughty, naughty me heh heh heh!
Spine angle
Hi Don, loved the videos on eyes and head alignment. You talk about spine angle but how do you know when you are at correct angle ?
at the school I took with Dave he kept telling me I was not bent over enough. Is their some way I can determine when I am bent enough ?
Please keep up your great work and having the schools.
Correct Bend
When you are in the proper setup, with the 30* spine tilt, your arms when hanging completely relaxed and limp would be even with the chin/mouth. But, it's amazing how many people have trouble knowing how to get completely relaxed and have no tension in their arms and to just let them hang.
The eyes have it
Just went out and checked my setup and the eyes looked OK, but will have this in mind when I next play. Going back to Doc's video yesterday, I can't
stress too much on having proper shafts fitted. As Iv'e mentioned before, had
all my woods done while in the states last year and what a difference it has made to length and consistency, won our comp again yesterday, I think that's four on the trot, my nickname now is the "Bandit" LOL, but seriously
if you want to play better golf, dont get frustrated, get fitted.
You are making us proud
Neil
Sounds like you are having a blast. You are making the whole Surge Nation proud.
Keep up the great work pal,
Dick
A Blast
Cowboy,
Thanks for you thoughts. Have given up trying to spread the Surge word downunder in the west, seems that most poeple don't know what the
"promised Land" is, any way I'm a true believer now, lol. I'm not a low handicapper ( 19 ) but the Surge method definitely has bought consistency and I'm aiming for 16 by the end of the year which I have achieved on a number of occaisions over the past few months.
Consistency
Neil,
Making progress and being happy with your game. Believing and trusting our swing and getting repeating and reliable results.
Just re-watched the Ultimate Alignment video. Great stuff. Surge is at his teaching best when talking about a subject he is passionate about and has put a lot of thought and practice into. As our swing becomes better and more consistent, having excellent fundamentals including an alignment routine we can trust is imperative. If we want consistency, A+ alignment is paramount. Because Don has said and feels beyond a doubt that poor alignment is the cause of 90-95% of all faulty results when playing he can easily speak with his heart on the matter.
The section in the UA video called 'New alignment concepts' and especially his explanation of why the foot line is key is very enlightening. My wife and I used the '4 finger salute' technique last time out and started consistently landing our shots where intended. I might refer you all (that haven't bought it yet) to a daily that covers it but there are none.
After we get more comfortable with our fundamentals and mechanics, it's the mental game right?
http://golfstateofmind.com/why-most-golf-practice-is-a-complete-waste-of-time/
consistency
Robert,
Thanks for the tip, I might just get the video and check it out as I still have
some slight doubt in my mind that Alignment can be so much of a problem.
Since being vertical, my best shots are slightly left, so Iv'e always aimed slightly to the right of target to compensate. I had put this down to a very strong top hand which was instigated by a local pro many years ago, which I worked hard on. Just recently Iv'e been working hard on getting both hands hitting the ball and things are starting to straighten up, ie ball going where
my alignment was and this has been a major factor in my consistency. I'm at a point now where I believe I can get to any green in regulation with distance, so the next step-up for me is definitely a little more accuracy.
You have to get the UAV
Neil
Like a lot of folks, I have wasted a bunch of money on golf videos, equipment, and lessons in my life. I will say I don't feel I have ever wasted a penny of my money when I got stuff from Surge's store. Every piece of equipment has far exceeded my expectations. I think I have all of Surge's videos. I make a habit of watching them all on a regular basis.
If I had to chose one to keep, if I lost all the rest, it would be the Ultimate Alignment Video. It is 77 minutes of pure gold for me. As Brady said when I first got it, I wore that thing out. I have now watched it at least 10 times. I get a better understanding of something every time I watch it. I think I was the first Surgite to get the video downloaded. I watched it all twice the first night, till around 4 am. Brady asked me to let him know what I thought of the video. Well, now you all know!
It is less than $ 20, and you get to download it right to your computer. You don't have to spend money on shipping and don't have to wait a week to get it.
Never underestimate the importance of alignment. As Surge says all the time, it does us no good to hit a good (or even a great) shot to the wrong place.
And I am not even on commission.
Dick
"Keep Your Head Down." Really?
We hear it all the time. 'Tis a terrible piece of advice, unless you are praying.
(Hmmm... I think I now know why so many golfers insist on keeping their heads down.)
Don's head position is anything but down. Very athletic posture on this daily :
better breathing, vision, and functionality. One PPGS tweak for me: my nose is actually above ball. No worries, though. For me, it's still a similar orientation as NAB, with the chin and eyes also up just a touch.
Thanks for the good posture reminders. Can't hear it enough.
The way we do it in our church
SG
I don't know if you have ever heard this little story, but it has always been one of my favorites.
Seems this young Baptist minister and a Catholic priest were playing a round of golf. After their T shots on the par 4 14th hole, they were pretty close to each other in the fairway. They are talking about how they are going to hit their shots. The mister, who is away, says he is going to lean on an 8 iron just a bit and try to go just past the pin, which will leave him a short uphill putt for birdie. He hits the shot just as he called it. They walk up to the priest's ball. The priest says he is going to hit an easy 7 iron, and pray for it. The priest takes his swing, and comes completely up out of his swing. He thins it and sends it screaming into the trees on the right of the green. As they are walking up to find the run away ball, the Baptist minister says, "I don't know how you folks do it in your church, but in our church when we are praying, we keep our heads down."
I am off to the practice green, and to do a lesson for one of my high school students.
I pray the Golf God will smile on each of you that are blessed to be able to swing a club today.
Dick
Good Stuff
Thanks, Dick.
Yes, we are blessed beyond words.
A culture of gratitude and humor also seems to exist on this site,
and I (for one) find it quite refreshing. : )
We are the Surge Nation
SG
That is one of the most important parts of this blog for me. From the top dog down, the folks who do this all for us are top shelf. Surge has put together an unparalleled team.
And the blog has, like any family, quite a cast of characters. I have always felt at home here. People notice when someone has not been on for a while. And, I can tell you from personal experience, when the proverbial fecal matter strikes the ventilation system these folks will be right there for any of us.
I love that we talk about anything in our lives and it all fits in. From our love of food, hobbies, and yes even the occasional golf topic, we cover it all.
The other cool thing I love about this site is that each person adds their own little twist, and together we all make up the Surge Nation. I think you hit it right on the head with your comment about a culture of gratitude and humor. In fact, I don't know that I have ever heard the Surge Nation described any better. We are grateful for all Surge and his team does for us, grateful for each other, and sometime it is impossible not to laugh at ourselves. Yes, it is quite refreshing.
For better, or for worse, we are family. You can just think of me as that weird uncle, every family has to have one, who lives out in the sticks here in Oklahoma.
Uncle Dick
Amen my friend
:)
Is longer really longer?
You all may enjoy this article and study involving longer verses shorter Drivers.
Most will guess the results before reading it.
http://www.mygolfspy.com/mgs-labs-is-longer-really-longer/
Is longer really longer?
So, now someone else puts it out there. 3 years ago, we put up an article on the blog called "Is Longer Really Longer" and is "Bigger Really Better". We also did a 3 year study and part of it was conducted at the first Surge tournament in Hilton Head where we found only a few people could swing a longer driver with equal club head speed but no one could swing it under control as well as the shorter driver.
I recall
You were paying attention, lol.
That's why I posted it. Funny how the rest of the world is slowly catching up to you and Tom Wishon. Yes I was there at Old South as you know.
Dick Higgins won the DJ Trahan signed Driver! I'm still jealous :) Thanks for the comment Doc. Hope I make it out there this year to see you and Surge.