The sun has just set here in South Carolina, but as the weekend comes to a close, I can't help but think of a topic that's been bothering me lately. So, I figured I'd give you a "Late Night Lesson" (or early morning lesson depending on where you live!).
The Master Setup Position is a staple of the Peak Performance Golf Swing. It's very easy to spot Surgites on a driving range or golf course because of their setup position. But, I think there's one aspect of the setup that gets overlooked. Check out the video and all will be revealed!
Keep it vertical and have a great week!
The Surge
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Comments
I make this error
At the recent one-day school in Lingfield, UK, Don identified this as one of my (many!) faults. Good to see it demonstrated again in detail. Off the the range now to practise it. Thanks Don!
Master Setup Arm Position
Just checked my setup and I am making this mistake, not playing until tomorrow but I will make this my swing thought for the day. Thanks Don.
key to easy lift
Great reminder. Many of us might have our shoulders open at address even if our feet are correctly parallel left. The MSP goes far to help square up the upper body. When I set up I think and feel, " down, back and under" when getting the back arm and shoulder down, back and then the forearm under and closer to the back hip. BTW this makes the lift into a more vertical back swing much easier.
MSP
Okay so Cindy and I just played 18 at Silverstone this morning. Tough track. Really made sure I was again using the Master Set Up Position. It made a measurable improvement in my ball striking today, especially off the tee. Hit 8 of 9 fairways on the first nine on the way to an acceptable 41 that included a double bogie and a three putt along with 5 pars on #1,6,7,8 and 9. On # 6 after a solid drive was left in ideal position I had 92 yards left. Hit a beautiful high SW that hit the stick. Unfortunately I got a Sergio bounce and had 25 feet from the edge of the green- 2 putt par. Missed a few fairways on the back and a 4 foot putt for birdie on the way to a 42. Four pars on the back. Never proud of 83's but I did hit a lot of really good drives and several really satisfying short irons and putts.
Close to breaking 80 again but need to eliminating all doubles. I'm close:)
We are staying at Primm Valley for a couple nights and will play their two 18 hole layouts on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. Yes I'm on vacation. Playing almost every day. Going to be 106-108*F the next few days! Mamma!
Toasty!
Robert:
Enjoy the golf and the warm weather both of you :). Keep up the good playing 70's on the way. Playing OK here. Shot +2 38 on the back nine at Maple for my best nine ever. Made a putter change back to a mallet and have really improved. Played Sat at Glacier Club shot horrible - poor ball striking, plus extremly tough greens - hard and fast. Did birdie a par 3 hit it to 8ft. Played Sun eve at Plumbrook - usually the fastest greens we play but late in the day they were slow and bumpy. Had a bunch of pars shot 41-42=83, with only one double. Using K. Knox chipping method lately - chipped in once and had 8 one putts. Ball striking impoving - working on getting the toe up, when I do not I get really steep with a lot of fat hits.
Keep up the good responses Rob - talk again soon.
Surge - great dailies lately, the takeaway and the forward catchers mitt videos were a real help. Also the short game video with Kenny - its nice to refer to a video again, I caught you saying you were leaving chips short because of dropping your right shoulder instead of turning. I have worked on this and have made a big improvement.
DJ: Keep on fighting and working. Good close in the 2nd round, just one short (dang).
Surgites: Keep it vertical friends.
Jerry - Warren, MI
Good play
Warren,
38?!! Way to go! Sounds like you're having some nice days there now too.
Fun, isn't it?
Yes it is friend :)
Robert:
Yes it is fun, yes finally decent weather. Courses in our area are getting better. A lot of places greens got damaged because it was so cold the greens got iced and would not get any melt from the snow.
Played twilight at Maple Lane today me and my pal played 18 walking in just over 3 hrs. Shot 41-41 for +12 (par 70). Had two birdies, almost had hole in one - a ball and a half short :(. The putting is really improved - two three putts but made 6-7 par putts of 8-12 feet. Still need to ball strike more consistently, but overall it is getting there.
Thanks for the reply Rob and both you and Cindy keep playing well.
Jerry.
highs and........
Jerry (from Warren!)
Nice for you to be playing steady. Two birds! An almost hole in one?! Cool:)
Cindy and I are out at Primm Valley.
It's on the Nevada/California State line. My nephew gave me a two night stay including dinners and massages for Cindy a and I at their spa.
They have two 18 hole golf courses. We played the Desert course today and tomorrow morning the Lakes course. Played the Lakes once with my brother 5 years ago. Today was the first time at the Desert. Hilly, greens were down in valleys or high up. Lots of deep bunkers and visually stunning.Lots of dangerous 'native' areas lining and even cutting through some of the fairways. For some unknown reason I play my best golf in this setting. Started out 4,4,3,3,3! That's par, par, birdie, par, birdie..... and then as my Dad would say 'I woke up'. -2 at that point I then finished the nine bogie, par, double, and bogie for a net 38.
Coulda woulda shoulda broke 80 but a double on the last hole gave me a 42 for an 80. Had a stretch of 4 pars from 13-16 but sandwiched by two doubles and two bogies. UGH!! Oh well I am really playing some good golf if I can just avoid some of those "others". My good stuff has been so satisfying lately. What a game if highs and lows! More fun in the morning:)
Topping
I'm having a difficult time reconciling popping up to the finish without topping the ball. Am I standing up too soon?
Topping the ball
Hard to say what's happening without seeing your swing.Maybe don't think about popping up during the swing. Try to keep your head perfectly still until you've hit the ball, & then pop tart. Putting the ball a tiny bit back in your stance, might help. Type in "topping" in the search box at the top right of this page , & see what comes up.
Topping the ball
As Russty rightly said, there are any number of things that can cause topping and chunking for that matter. Some of the things Surge mentions include the simple fact that our distance from the ball can change during the swing either swaying or raising up during the swing (before striking the ball). Aside from video taping your swing our shadow is another great way to see if we are moving too much. Helping us stay put longer is our wide knees and outward pressure. You may be standing up during the back swing and then not returning to the same level getting back o the ball. Stability is key to solid contact. Surge talks about maintaining a firm little arch in the lower back to aid posture stability too. People talk about head movement but our head sits on top of our body and it is our body angles that change and the head simply follows along for the ride.
Another possibility is our arms are not staying long. Remember the left arm needs to be long (somewhat straight going back) and then they are both long again (returned stretched out) through impact. Yours may be shorter at impact (leading to chicken winging) and swinging left and off the ball (therefor topped). A video of your swing will show the changes and whether you are coming out of posture too soon.
One more thing that has helped me not top it and hit it solid is to always finish with my weight on the front foot. If your weight is back chunks and thins abound too:)
As Russty said, the archived dailies are a wonderful source on this and related subjects. Take advantage of that free tool. Let us know what you discover and what helps.
Inbee Park Swing
I could watch this swing all day. I can relate to the tempo of her swing better than Surge's. The word that comes to my mind when watching her upright swing is "efficient." No wasted motion anywhere in her swing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdxziXkorhw&list=TLdIwjbrxSPhWjqU6l772Iouy8c6s5NR-u
We could use a little of that Las Vegas heat in Edmonton these days.
We've been playing with a lot of cold, wind and rain lately so it has been harder to keep the ball in play. I struck the ball very consistently today while thinking about slowing the transition and weight shift to the front foot slightly. I was surprised to see that this more leisurely and almost lazy feeling, prelude to the forward upswing, didn't cost me distance and resulted in more greens in regulation.
Inbee Park
Dave I'm right between Inbee and Surge for tempo. I have attempted to slow down as much as Inbee and it doesn't work out well. As fast as Surge too fast for me. Right in the middle just right. I often remember Freddy Couples and though I'm sure I swing a faster tempo than he just thinking about his pace makes me slow down and not rush. As my wife calls him, "butter". By the way, Cindy's swing is very much like Inbee Park's as for tempo and 3/4's and vertical. She's not as long as Inbee (lol !:) but gets the ball out there nicely.
We get a lot of folks from Alberta in LV. The flights are reasonable for you to come here and our hotels are often offering cheap rooms. I work at the Treasure Island and we get many Canadians, especially from Alberta. Nice people who seem to know how to enjoy life:)
Golf on!
Inbee Tempo
Robert,
I often play with an older gentleman who hits the ball very long and straight. He has a back swing pace similar to Inbee's and a very extended pause at the top. If his club shaft was a clothesline you would have time to hang a shirt on it. Although that long a pause would throw my timing off, it works for him. He is all business though when it comes to the forward upswing.
The important part for me is taking whatever time is required to make a complete back swing. Before adopting the Surge swing, one of my biggest problems was failing to consistently make a complete back swing before starting the transition. I probably had many different back swings due to varying amounts of hip and shoulder turn. I had no idea what a repeatable back swing was until going to the 3/4 limited turn.
I read an interesting golf blog article a while ago that stated that the 3/4 turn should be looked at as a full swing and the conventional rotational swing to parallel was really a 5/4 swing. That would make a lot of sense to those of us who have been students of the Surge swing.
My last trip to Vegas was over 20 years ago. I know that a lot has changed in that amount of time. We spent a week there and really enjoyed the food and the shows but passed on the gambling. As you say, travel packages are quite reasonable and Vegas is a very popular destination for Albertans.
Arm position
Every now and again one of your daily videos is like a bolt of lightning, Don. I looked at your late night video just before I went out to play today and all the problems I've been having recently: drop-kick, topping, chopping, slicing... miraculously disappeared when I held my right arm as you demonstrate at address. Thanks.
Ian
somebody speak up!
"Everyone has been short from the right side of the green on #6 par 3". Thousands of people are following Phil willing him to win and not one soul has the courage to whisper out loud to Phil, " Phil, everyone's been short from there!" Call me brash but I don't get it. Now if I was playing in the afternoon I would have my caddy or some other confidante glued to the TV coverage and taking notes of what all putts are doing TODAY.
Later if the afternoon wave of players still misses putts the same way as those from the early groups did, someone's getting fired!
Caddy's are important! Most
Caddy's are important! Most often overlooked...
Agreed
A good diligent caddy is extremely important for sure. Again my point is it blows me away how several hours into a tournament you will here commenators say again and again how players are missing certain putts short or long or left or right in the same way from the same spot again and again. Why are they (the TV commentators) and us the viewers seemingly the only ones getting the message? Especially the first two days when players are teeing off on both nines and there is a lot of TV coverage if all 18 holes.
And then there is the local galleries. Some times the same people will camp out on the same hole and also see the same mistakes over and over, ie., "another player left that putt short right." If I'm there and one of my favorite players is putting from that spot I think a kindly "everyone's leaving that one short" would be a lot more helpful than the worthless ignorant things people scream out after a player hits his drive.
Just saying.......
And then as I said above, if my caddy or a friend has watched and taken note all morning before my afternoon tee time I should have a huge advantage as far as pin placements that day and how putts are rolling from wherever.
Make sense?