Evils of The Sacred Burial Ground

Wed, 10/09/2013 - 14:00 -- Don Trahan

I've had people tell me the sacred burial ground sounds kind of scary. Well, that's the idea! You should be frightened any time you even think about letting your club swing into it. If you don't know what the sacred burial ground is with regards to the Peak Performance Golf Swing, today's video will shed some much needed light on the topic.

I received a comment from Charlie Davidson about how he found the PPGS and why it's allowed him to enjoy the game of golf again, while providing results he's never had before. I'm going to discuss why Charlie, and many others, have realized that rotational swings are inferior! The sacred burial ground is one of the best ways to understand the differences between rotational and vertical swings.

As a former rotational swinger, my frustration nearly led me to give up the the game! And then I discovered Don on The Golf Channel many many years ago, and what an awakening!! I could go on for hours about how this swing is THE ONLY SWING, but if I could go with one overriding thought it would be this---"Why on earth would you ever want to bring the club behind you (in the sacred burial ground), when you can just simply keep it in front of you?

Well done Charlie, I couldn't have said it better myself. 

Keep it vertical and out of the sacred burial ground!

The Surge

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Comments

baf298@gmail.com's picture

Submitted by baf298@gmail.com on

Don / Doc Griffin,
I have recently come across a "new" design in wedges, namely the Renegar Rx12 B Model, which incorporates a crescent sole design and claims to have "improved heel sole relief (negative 4 degrees bounce)" and "ace progression moved slightly to increase spin and enhance ball flight characteristics and dynamic club head alignment"
As a result of the two design changes, it is claimed the better C.G. location increases spin and MOI stability even further making them even more forgiving. The new head comes standard with a steel wedge specific shaft design optimized for short game play (not iron play) with a firmer tip, higher flex point, slightly lower gram weights, and very low torque for maximum control and consistency.
Grateful your views/thoughts on such a wedge design.
Regards
Bruce

Robert Meade's picture

Submitted by Robert Meade on

Bruce, not sure what Doc/Surge would say but the Renegar look good and have a strong review. If the wedge fits wear it. Let us know:)

Terry Medley's picture

Submitted by Terry Medley on

I also recently came across a nice looking wedge. Looks like it could be helpful, if we can keep Phil from interfering with it.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Foot-Wedge-Golf-Club-Prank-Gag-Toy-Improve-your-Game-Men-Women-NEW-HTF-/200972523447?pt=...

As for the Renegar, it looks as though they have quite a bit of favorable reviews. I agree with Robert, use any club, legal that is, which helps your game.

Robert Meade's picture

Submitted by Robert Meade on

Funny as H Terry! You mean the foot method for LIE improvement is wrong? Dang Philip! Lol:)
BTW Cindy used my new Alien wedges
several times today and wants her own now !
Too, loving my L2 at 33 inches.

Dale S.'s picture

Submitted by Dale S. on

The delayed bounce is not exactly a new concept. I have on old (30 years probably) Nomad X15 wedge that has no sole at all for about 3/8", then the ridge for bounce. I used to use it for real heavy rough within range of the green. I haven't carried it for years, but always liked it.

NeilofOZ's picture

Submitted by NeilofOZ on

Hurrah, Surge is coming down under and I'm hoping he's gonna be a cloaked Crusader, cause I'm in need of one as Iv'e hit a brick wall at the moment.
Its been 4 years now on PPGS and I Just can't get this vertical position he preaches, for me I have to push my right elbow as high as I can other wise the club lays off. This action creates a snowball of other actions which I find difficult to kick-off the FUS. Not gonna get too deep as I know Surge will have a simple solution, anyway looking forward to his visit. There's an old saying "Those that can, do - Those that can't, teach" but Surge can do both, and I'm counting on him to perform a miracle, LOL.

Robert Meade's picture

Submitted by Robert Meade on

Neil,
Excited for you lucky guys down under. Hope DH can make the jump from his island to yours for the wonderful week. In talking to Surge recently he told me that DJ had a simple revelation that may be the simple answer that you seek.
Don't even try to turn, just lift. Likely, like me and many other former rotational golfers you'll still turn close to 70* any way. Wide knees, outward pressure and lift to only 3/4's, fire from there, period. That's it.

JKPassage's picture

Submitted by JKPassage on

Robert, RIGHT ON my friend. RIGHT ON!

Just watch yourself in a mirror. If you stand parallel left to the target line and the you lift in the back swing to where your left arm is parallel to the target line and over your toe line, you can't help but have a nice 70* shoulder turn. If it's only 45* or 60*, so what? Surge says it's a "LIMITED TURN" swing, limited to your physical ability to swing to the catcher's mitt and up the tree.

Robert Meade's picture

Submitted by Robert Meade on

JK, that's right. I had (and sometimes still have) the same challenge Neil does. We will turn too much even if not intending to. Then it is nearly impossible to be vertical. Surge says, "A little bit of turn and a lot of lift."
However most of us still turn to much both before and after lift in the BUS. I am still very flexible at 56 and can easily turn too much which makes getting onto the SBG super easy to accomplish- lol!
Keeping wide stable knees is key and just lift. For me plenty of turn (60-70*)
will still happen.

Kevin McGarrahan's picture

Submitted by Kevin McGarrahan on

Robert, JK, et al,

I keep going back to Don's original Foundations Manual comment of swinging on the ferris wheel, even though it's almost impossible to be 100% vertical. I use the ferris wheel thought to keep out of the SBG. I concentrate on keeping my hands on the wheel above my toe line. The butt of the shaft starts over the toe line and I try to keep it there. When I get it right, my upper left arm is parallel to the toe line; my hands end up even with my trailing ear; the club shaft is almost perfectly vertical; my hands are perpendicular to the ground; the FUS is really great; and ball trajectory is as good as I can hit. I'm working on being more consistent.

I'm now taking full 3/4 swings with no pain in the left shoulder. Life is good again. I'm not playing yet because I now have a right knee injury. I can still make swings without pain, but walking more than 20 paces becomes excruciating. I find out what the prognosis is next Wednesday. I've had arthroscopic surgery on this knee twice in the last 5 years.

Robert Meade's picture

Submitted by Robert Meade on

Kevin, glad to hear your on the mend, sort of. Wow, rough but sounds like great attitude. I'll bever complain again.
Everyone should rent and watch PEACEFUL WARRIOR. Inspirational!

Kevin McGarrahan's picture

Submitted by Kevin McGarrahan on

Thanks, Robert, and thank you for recommending PEACEFUL WARRIOR. I watched it last night and it is indeed truly inspirational. I was told years ago, by a Gypsy in Germany, that I would live to be 150-years-old and suffer every minute of that time. So, I figured I might as well just deal with whatever comes my way; besides which, I'm a klutz :b

Dragonhead's picture

Submitted by Dragonhead on

Kevin,
Glad to hear you are swinging well, but feel for you over your knee
: - ( it sounds terrible. We Surgites will be in your corner next Wednesday, hoping for better news.
Like you [touch wood], my knackered shoulders have been behaving themselves of late. All due to the PPGSwing in my opinion. Perhaps the wet and windy weather here has been a boon not being able to play. Time to analyze the faults in my swing is paying off big time.
Get well soon and keep on keeping on. DH

Dragonhead's picture

Submitted by Dragonhead on

Robert,
I too am excited for the guys across the ditch and green with envy. Unfortunately out of the question for us at the moment, boohoo! Now if he comes to NZ, who knows.
On the subject 'just lift' in your message to Neil, totally agree with your summation on just lifting and likely to turn to 70* or thereabouts. Still plagued here with lots of wet stuff and high winds, but managing to get swing practices in on the front 'driving range' mat : - ) This very morning had a shorter session than intended interrupted by rain. Hope springs eternal that another session later will be possible.
My swing has benefitted from the lack of golf on the course. Back to basics, watching Surge's daily videos, reading and analyzing my faults has paid IMO, Big dividends. Saw a tip to cure 'casting from the top' and during one session, gave it a try. I was very surprised at the result. Having had an on again off again time with my previous soft rotational grip and holding the club sufficiently firmly with the last three fingers of my rear or right hand. The tip for casting is ensuring that my previously mischievous right forefinger and thumb no longer interfere with my swing at all. They are now very passive, but the real bonus is now I am unconsciously gripping more firmly with the last three fingers on my right hand and the grip feels much more compact and effective. As for the Sleeping Swing comments the other day, they sure as heck mirrored what I had been doing a lot on the course. Now set up is good and promoting a good weight shift and increasing club head speed [IMO] considerably : - ]
The swing sessions are paying off big time. It seems I am just lifting in the BUS until the left upper arm touches my chin, bump and go. And does it go!!!
The only downside of late was overdoing the butt out during the PLHR sequence in my set up. It resulted in a sore lower back, not good at all.
Still able to swing pain free and waiting very patiently for a change in the weather.
Still surprised but Happy that the 'casting tip' gave me a bonus. Keep on hitting them consistently longer and straighter in Vegas.
Surge visiting Australia will be a raging success and then.....New Zealand will be calling him.He,Doc and the rest of the team don't know what they are missing, believe me ; - )DH

JKPassage's picture

Submitted by JKPassage on

To paraphrase the old country song, I was looking for a golf swing in all the wrong places - until I found PPGS. Here is a video of me from June 2012 (my last golf lesson) where my teacher wanted me to get my hands way behind me. On my YouTube channel, you can watch all 5 snippets (Sam1 thru Sam5). As the Surge says, "What goes around comes around. What goes up must come down." Stay out of the SBG or you're dead as a golfer!! Thanks, JKP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGlFF7IX8Do

NeilofOZ's picture

Submitted by NeilofOZ on

Thanks fellas for all your comments, all of which I have followed studiously, but end result is always the same, ie got back to my original H/C ( 17 ) prior to PPGS, but no further. Just had my right knee cartlidge cleaned up so I'm in
rehab for a couple more weeks, then nice and fresh for when Surge arrives.
Definetly hitting longer, have fitted clubs, got a good short game, but too many errant shots, I'm sure the Surge can help.

Dave Everitt's picture

Submitted by Dave Everitt on

Thinking about lifting the right elbow while lifting doesn't work for me, because it is hard to do a consistent amount and doesn't involve the correct lifter muscles. I'm now doing something that works a lot better for me. After going into the MSP, I spot focus on the right shoulder blade lifting the right trigger finger to the top of the BUS. The right elbow/arm unit just goes a long for the ride and I find it easy to get a repeatable, maximum lift without chicken winging the right elbow.
Thinking about keeping the two elbows the same distance apart in the upswing as they are in the MSP also helps me.

Todd N's picture

Submitted by Todd N on

Interesting, the right shoulder blade / right trigger finger sounds like a similar concept as the right hip / right shoulder I (and I know other Surgites) use to get the one piece takeaway, but doing it the way you say sounds like you are addressing the lift at the same time as well. Think I'll give that a try, thanks.

NeilofOZ's picture

Submitted by NeilofOZ on

Been using a firm right hand trigger finger for a while also, I did this only to overcome the dominance of my left hand which kept dictating the angle of the club face at impact and pulling left, this action also increases lag for me as it stops the club coming around too quickly and allows me to be more aggressive with my hands during the FUS, I have increased power/speed with this action. Still believe my main issue is getting into the slot starting at the top and how I can get more consistency there. This is where I hope Surge can help me.

Todd N's picture

Submitted by Todd N on

I got out yesterday to a local 9-hole par 3 course (Thunderbird in Ottawa) with my son (who's 4 years old and hitting the ball well!), daughter, and brother and gave the shoulder blade / trigger finger swing thought a try on the short irons. Wow, did that ever work well! It was as simple as dneveritt said, I just drew the club straight back and fired straight through on the FUS, it produced a tremendous amount of zip and went straight as a die. The swing thought gave me a pretty good sense of keeping my arms on the toe-line as I went up the tree and not going into the SBG. Can't wait to give it a try with the longer clubs.

ToddN

Dave Everitt's picture

Submitted by Dave Everitt on

Hi Todd, it's good to hear from another Canadian. I moved from Ontario to Alberta 27 years ago.

I've been using Surge's " ring the bell with the trigger finger" image for quite a while now. It gives a very good feel for when the BUS is finished and the transition can start. As you say it also gives a good sense of where the arms are in space.

I still had a problem with getting enough lift. It's hard to get rid of the rotational habit of keeping the right elbow close to the side, while doing the BUS. I find that focusing on the right shoulder blade moving up and back while doing the BUS gets all the correct right side muscles involved in the lift and the 70 degree turn just happens.

I hope that the longer clubs work for you to.

Dave

Todd N's picture

Submitted by Todd N on

Thanks Dave, I hope to get out this coming weekend either to play a full 18 or hit the driving range, I'll let you know how it goes (eh?) ;)

cheers
Todd

Steve Smith's picture

Submitted by Steve Smith on

For a while I've been working on getting the shaft and right forearm in line halfway to the ball (like all good players do).

Problem is that for the first time the lie angles on my clubs are not right for my swing anymore. Heel is definitely hitting first.

The divots were always slightly toe down in the past although lie board tests and a vertical mark on the ball always showed the lie angles to be correct. All three of those factors would indicate the lie angle was either correct (from the lie angle tests) or slightly too flat (from the toe down divots).

JKPassage's picture

Submitted by JKPassage on

Steve, as I always like to say, "He leads me beside the still waters, because that's usually where my golf balls end up."

citation@gci.net's picture

Submitted by citation@gci.net on

I have been watching for a considerable amount of time and have heard Don speak many times about the importance of the verticle swing and his examples seem to always be associated with Irons and the problems when you swing into the sacred burial ground.

Unless I have missed it I have never heard or have I seen anything about Drivers and Fairway woods. Are there differences or do you apply the same verticle swing plane precepts with woods as you do with irons?

Thanks,

Ron

JKPassage's picture

Submitted by JKPassage on

Ron, as far as I've seen and heard, the concepts are the same for Irons vs. Driver & Fairway Woods. It's still a vertical swing concept as it pertains to the hands and arms. Due to the length of club, it may appear that you're swinging in the SBG, but check where your hands and arms are in the back swing and the forward up swing. Everything should still occur in front of your body. Anyone else want to chime in here?

Jeff P.

Russty Kiwi's picture

Submitted by Russty Kiwi on

Surge would say" the ball dosent know what club you are holding" so apart from changes in ball position, to suit the length of club you are using, everything else remains the same

Robert Fleck's picture

Submitted by Robert Fleck on

The Surgism is that the ball doesn't know what club you're holding and the club doesn't know who's holding it. The basics of the swing are the same for every club. Surge says this over and over. He just demonstrates most of the time with a 7 iron because it's the easiest club in the limited space he has in his yard. But watch the driver swing in the "Swing Surgeon Productions" bit at the beginning of each video and you'll see that it's exactly the same aside from ball position as the 7 iron swing he makes with each daily.

It's important to note that many people have trouble with this because they have fairway woods and drivers that are significantly too long for them. It is simply not possible to use a proper vertical swing with a club that's too long without whacking the ground or casting the club outside the target line. If you've been experiencing a lot of out-to-in swings with big slices with your driver and fairway clubs, try choking a couple inches down the grips.