To become a great ball striker, you first have to have the right equipment. Every golfer's body is different, so the clubs that work great for your buddy will most likely not work for you. My son DJ is currently ranked 7th on the PGA TOUR in greens in regulation (see full list here), and there's a good reason behind it.
DJ's always been known as a great ball striker and it's because he's got the combination of the Peak Performance Golf Swing and clubs that were built specifically for him. Now, he could probably be a heck of a golfer with a random set of clubs, but he wouldn't be at his very best. That's the point I'm trying to make here. It's one thing to get the swing down and repeat shots, but you'll never be at your best if you have inferior equipment.
Jason De Gama is a scratch player who has a great short game. His only problem is his ball striking. He's looking for an explanation as to why he's losing distance and why his ball striking is suffering.
Hi Surge,
Am I correct to assume that what you teach is similar to that of using a swing glyde? This is a yellow tool you can connect to the shaft and grip of a golf club that teaches a golfer to hinge upwards. I've been struggling for the past 13 years with my ball striking but have managed to maintain a scratch handicap purely because of my sharp short game. My biggest headache is that I've lost way too much distance specifically with driver and my irons. I've been fitted to play with clubs that are 0.5 inches longer and 2 degrees upright. Where do you believe I should start searching to see if I can resolve my ball striking problem?
Regards,
Jason De Gama
Jason said he has been fit for his clubs. But, the first question I would ask him is, "who was the fitter?" Most of you know that I recommend shorter clubs for the majority of golfers. This is a generalization that doesn't necessarily apply to everyone, but it's safe to say that golf manufacturers are needlessly building longer clubs than they used to. Jason said his fitter added length to his clubs, so that tips me off that it may not have been a PPGS certified fitter.
Being tall doesn't mean you need longer clubs. DJ and I have the same length arms but he's much taller than me. Do yourself a favor and get to a certified fitter. You'll be surprised at the difference it makes!
Keep it vertical!
The Surge
If you can't view the YouTube video above try CLICKING HERE. You must allow popups from this site for the link to work.
Comments
Club Fitting
Re Surge's Daily Blog and Club Fitting, I can only confirm that it is well worth the money to buy a "made to measure" suit than an "off-the-peg" suit. Everyone is different &, for me, Doc Griffin prescribed longer shafts with 4degree flatter lie. My divots, which before turned in because the heel met the ground first, are now square and parallel. The contact is more true and the result is more "Greens and Fairways". Now, if only I could Putt but that's another issue.
Fitting fun
Getting ready to play 18 at muni with Cindy. We received our new Sun mountain Umbrellas last week for a little sun blocking protection as we attach them to and above our push carts (trollies). Worked well last week and they really do help in our super sunny super, heated days. The good news is that it is only suppose to be around 111*F today. Also this kind of heat scares away all but the most hard core of die hard golfers. We qualify:) The bad news is it is more realistically about 112-115. Never take the given temps near our pavement and always in the shade. never mind, lots of cold H2O and a cool wet neck wrap and off we go. All clubs are giving any where from 10-20 yards more in this heat so i am taking at least one less club for all but the shortest shots. The fun part is I can potentially reach nearly all four par 5's in two right now. There are one or two that I intentionally leave at least 100-110 yards to avoid the uncomfortable 50-80 yard lob over a trap.
On that note I did some tweeking of my mix of clubs today. I am having a hate/hate relationship with both my 60* and 56* clubs. I took my ol' reliable 53* Ben Hogan and bent it to 55* and my Cleveland 58* to 59.5 to go along with my 50* gap and 46* pw. I did a slight grind on the bounce shape of that Cleveland to make it a little friendlier with the Gary Pines chipping method I have had recent success with (thanks again Dave Everitt). I can always open the 59.5 if needed and it serves as a good sand wedge when in a green side bunker. I also put my 3 wood back in now with the Adila shaft that matches my 5 wood and the Jumbo Max grip. The cool thing is I did all this in 20 minutes in my garage just now.
We are going to tee off around 4pm which is actually the hottest time but makes for less sun on the back nine.
About ball striking I agree 100% with surge that properly fit clubs are vital. Before I learned how fit my own sticks (and I still have miles to go on that learning journey) I had a PPGS certified fitting and I highly recommend it. If that is not likely in your future than doing the bare minimum (and might I add it's not expensive) you all should make sure your lofts and lies are correct.
Golf ball first, Earth ball second!
Hit 'em long and straight:)
Club Fitting
"If that is not likely in your future than doing the bare minimum (and might I add it's not expensive) you all should make sure your lofts and lies are correct."
Make sure the club lengths are correct as well! Just as important as lie and loft. And always have the specs on a new set checked - especially if they were not built by an expert fitter (and even more so if they are "off the rack").
"Golf ball first, Earth ball second!"
I hate it when I get these two mixed up! :-)
Legth too
Bob,
Yes length too is basic. Hoping golfers get all that correct with a new set but after that the lofts and lies need to be re-checked every couple of years as they can get off with normal use without us knowing. Consider it a bi yearly check up. I check mine several times per year as I play 2-5 times a week.
Fitting fun
Robert,
Fitting fun? fits of laughter is the same n'est pas? hahaha. Good Luck on the sun scorched course with your new 'tweaked' clubs. In Libya in 1965 we played tennis when it was 46degC [114.8Fahrenheit]~! What is it they used to sing? 'Mad dogs and englishmen go out in the midday sun' hahaha!
The only club in the bag I am unhappy with at the moment is the Driver. It has been benched for the time being. The 3W is doing a good job, so why be distracted. I had shied away from my 5 and 4 irons for a long time. Then on our only outing in weeks following incredibly slow 4 balls, I used the time hitting a couple of extra balls, with stunning results. I hit both those clubs dead straight and long! So on the next Par 5 I hit a 17deg 'driving iron straight down the middle. Same again, and then hit a high 5iron nailing the pin : - ) Maybe two clubs I 'was' unhappy with to start with. The other was the putter. On the practice green my wife and I had one of our usual warm up or cooling down challenges,ie, best of 5holes. My Ping G2 My Day against my wife, who uses the club she fossicks for balls with on the course as we go around, an old Brosnan 4iron. Scissors,paper, and rock, she won. On her first putt she sank a 35foot putt!!! It took me several holes on the course to settle down again. Post round, back to my old favourite : - ( hahaha. Now set on honing in my better PPGS Swing and to heck with persevering with my so-so driver. Can't fault any of my other woods. So when the wet stuff desists again, out with my Sun Mountain trundler [Kiwi for trolley] with my modified [by me] large Nike brolly. It seems ages since we used it for the sun hahaha. When we played on Monday the wind was 30mph and gusting to well over that. Fun and games in itself, hence my decision to use the driving iron to keep the ball down into the wind. As far as I usually got with the driver [not into the wind] and dead straight. So a well worth foray. No run at all due to wet ground conditions, but happy with the results. The number of huge trees which had been snapped or uprooted, quite noticeable in places, where they had been sawn up and removed. All in all we were surprised at the good condition of the course in the circumstances.
Well must away and have a swing. Robert, my short irons were deadly, chipping was great, chipped in twice even in the wind. Used my range finder and my calculations on which club were spot on. Only hit one iffy LW and that was practicing on the flat from the rough while waiting on those ahead to move on. We were not really in a hurry,but 4 1/2 hours in the wind as opposed to our usual 2 1/2hours was debillitating. I was tired by the time we finished. Not like me at all ; - )
Keep on hitting them long and straight consistently in Las Vegas.
PS found lots of balls during the round two balls had logo's on them. One was Ria Bintan[Bali, Indonesia, memories for you ; - ] and the other from Cabo del Sol in Mexico! Golfers sure as heck get around hahaha. DH
Mad Dogs
DH, speaking of the above, I can recall just a couple of years back, I played 45 holes in one day when it was 40*C, on a long hilly course. One fairway was called "cardiac hill" due to several deaths from past players. I played the comp in the morning and was so mad at my score, i just kept going until I sorted something out, which I didn't. I don't think our American cousins understand how us colonial lads play cricket for 6-8hours in similar heat, lol.
Mad Dogs
NeilofOz,
Played a round in Darwin in August 1980 en-route to New Zealand. Our C-130 Hercules had an engine problem and we spent a couple of days extra there. It was FLAMING hot that was for sure and the ground was like concrete. I skulled on shot on a long par three and watched it bouncing like it was on an aircraft runway, nearly going in for a hole in one! hahaha. Down to the pub at Humptydoo for a memorable trip too. In the Bay of Islands NZ on the ferry from Paihia to Russell only a 15minute trip. In that time I was badly sunburnt and spent part of that day dodging between trees hardly bigger than twigs in search of shade
: - ( December the 4th 1974 on my first visit to NZ. Reason for the burns? In NZ the sun strikes the earth at a different angle evidently which burns many of the unwary who think that it isn't that hot!!! Me included hahaha. Played golf up there a few times since at Waitangi, Keri-Keri and other lovely courses en-route going and coming. No doubt about it, New Zealand is a paradise for golfers. Most golf courses per capital population than anywhere else in the world. Sun burn at the moment is a fair way off. Have noticed my feet are beginning to look like flippers though hahaha. Stay cool between the ears Neil, you will play better, I guarantee it. I am only allowed to say the word 'B*GGER!' and move on, or else I earn the attention of a painful tweak ; - ) from 'er who is to be obeyed! DH
great balls
Finding not only lots of good golf balls but perfectly good pegs (tees) at our muni keeps my shag bag full of fresh balls and never needing to buy tees. Often find new like balls that I'd never pay for new, like pro v 1's and the Hex Black (Phils ball). So I get to try out the latest for free:). Interesting that it seems the hackers and lower income that often play muni for less$$ don't have the pride and value for expensive balls and tees that they leave freely about. When I play better more costly golf courses I rarely find anything. Hmmmnnn.... Just saying.
No wonder the poorer stay poorer. The mentality shows up on the golf course.
Okay by me as I am a benifactor:)
great balls
Robert,
Couldn't agree more on balls and tees. I will never, ever have to buy a ball or a tee, even if I live to be 100years old hahaha. I try various balls too. and have favourite tees. On Par 3's where a short tee is needed, I prefer wooden ones to plastic. So to all the oiks who break long wooden ones and just leave them lying on the hallowed turf, thankyou. Cost to me, is picking them up, snapping off the broken bottom part and putting it in the rubbish bins provided and take them home. There a few seconds with one of my pencil sharpners and voila! Perfect wooden short tees : - ) Always remember a LtCol Dentist here in NZ 30years ago saying, "That is 19cents I have saved"! As you say, "No wonder....etc"
Sun out here now, but battening down the hatches as Gale force winds on the way, AGAIN! 75mph + expected. Now for some more practice playing in the wind eh?hahaha. DH
Any shade trees on your golf course?
I played yesterday on a record hot day for Edmonton of 93*F with a 104*F humidex. We played on power carts and parked in the shade as often as possible. I couldn't wait to finish and get back to air conditioning. Today's more normal temperature of 77*F was like heaven.
I know that umbrellas work well as a portable shade, but WOW, playing in the kind of heat, that you're talking about, is really extreme golf.
I'm also having good luck with the Gary Pinns pitching technique. It saves a lot of strokes around the green and works well with all my clubs up to a 5 hybrid. We do have lots of trees on our golf course and being able to hit low straight and long shots, under and through them is something that I have never been that good at until now.
I'm now using a visualization that helps me keep the club shaft on plane when pitching from a wide variety of lies. When pitching it is important that the angle of the shaft at address be preserved while doing the backswing and follow through. It's easy to lose that shaft angle if the club gets behind the body too much and risk hitting it fat from a tight lie. This might sound a little to mechanical for a better player, but what I do, is imagine that a 2 feet high X 4 foot long piece of plywood is just inside and parallel to the target line and leaning towards me on whatever angle the club shaft happens to be at address. While pitching my objective is to swing along that plane without breaking it.
Mad Dog's we are!!
DH, Neil and David,
I always enjoy your stories. So play we did. Had mixed results as usual. Started nicely with a par but then had a double bogie and so my first nine went. Highlight was the short par 3 0f 100 yards. It varies from 90-120 depending on the tee placement of the day. I had 95 and hit a beaut of a gap wedge high and just left and above the hole about 5 feet when it struck the earth and then started to roll back to the hole. Gently rolling and ended up 5 inches from a hole in one. In 40+ years of golf I have had holed out some 10 birdies and eagles from 75-100 yards but NEVER a hole in one off the tee yet.
That was another close call as I tapped in for a bird. Only parred both par 5's on the first nine as I had one more double and several pars for for a so so 43.
Determined to save my round i started with 2 pars on the back nine and hit some great shots while only making a couple of putts for 6 pars and 3 bogies and a 39. 43/39-82 for 18. Respectable and left the hard, dry hot grounds determined to boil a heated sub 80 round again soon.
Extreme golf and mad dogs we are!!
Play on crazy we shall.
Melting but evaporated before the sweat hit the nose in Las Vegas:)
Mad Dogs we are
Hi robert,
Nearly, 5", like one of my recent ones. You will get a hole in one, one day : - ) I have had only one on a practice round on the 16th hole at Whenuapai! It was witnessed by lots of folk on the 17th tee and others playing. Cheers and claps were enough for me. Hahaha. Here's to the next time, [raising coffee cup]. Sweat on probiscus? We have been warned the temperatures here will plummet this week and lots more wet stuff arriving. Off for a swing while I can ; - )The more I grip with the modified neutral grip the more it will become natural.DH
DJ @ Greenbrier
DJ is playing at the Greenbrier this week. He tees off at 12:30 (Eastern standard) and is grouped with David Lingmerth (2 seconds and several missed cuts as a rookie this year- good player) and Shawn Stepfani -also a rookie and the first ever to get a hole in one at the 213 yard #17 at Merion this year at the US Open.(http://www.golfchannel.com/news/golftalkcentral/us-open-2013-stefani-first-ever-ace-us-open-merion/
That should be a cool group and they will be in the TV window on Thursday so who knows we may see DJ once or (well once if we're lucky).
DJ@Greenbrier
We will be keeping our eyes peeled for DJ that is a given. David Lingmerth and Shawn Stefani are great up and comers. Can't get over Shawn's wife toting that huge bag around. She is one tough lady. Both players to keep an eye on in future. All we need now is for DJ to show us that his consistency is continuing. Goooooo! DJ
the SUN JUST CAME OUT!!!!!! Byeeeeee DH
Golf Swing
I attended the John Deere Classic last Friday with the sole purpose of watching DJ's swing. He brings the club in the mitt and up the tree great; however, the club seems to be a little more inside the toe line on the backswing. Immediately upon striking the ball on the downswing, he appears to take the club INSIDE AND UP AND OVER his shoulder. When I strike the ball, I go down the line or swing out and up over my shoulder. Is there a correct one?
Mitt and tree on both sides
Just as you take the club into the mitt and up the tree in the BUS, it should go into the mitt and up the tree in the FUS after impact. Unless you're intentionally hitting a push-draw, the club head should never get outside the line after impact any more than it does when you start the takeaway. ON-ON-ON is through the impact area, about one foot total from slightly before impact with the ball to slightly after. Then the club moves back toward the toe-line into the forward mitt an up the forward tree over the shoulder. This is more pronounced with longer clubs, especially the driver, because the ball is already forward in the stance, so the movement of the club head inside to the forward mitt and up is much closer to impact.
Moved comment
Comment deleted and moved to the post I was replying to.