I hope all my fellow Americans are having a wonderful 4th of July weekend and I hope the rest of you are enjoying some fantastic weather (and perhaps a little World Cup action). Maybe some of you were even lucky enough to sneak away for 18 holes!
Because you were kind enough to come and watch today's video, I'm going to give you a real treat. Ever since the movie "Happy Gilmore" was released, I always get asked if a swing like that could actually work. Not only am I going to answer that question today, but I'm also going to show you my best Happy Gilmore impression!
Afterwards, I bet you'll want to go to the range and try for yourself.
Keep it vertical and have a great weekend,
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
Health
Great to see you are having fun on the 4th. I realize you made this before your surgery..... Or not? Best wishes anyway!
Eye-hand coordination
Since Don mentioned eye-hand coordination in conjunction with the Happy Gilmore swing, I thought I would post a follow-up to a comment I posted several months about losing my depth perception (and thus eye-hand coordination) due to double vision. I went to a vision specialist who was able to correct my double vision and depth perception by about 80% in two of the three dimensions through the use of prisms. I still see double, but greatly reduced. My depth perception has been improved markedly. I wish I could say that my ball contact has similarly improved. The best I can say at this time is that it has been somewhat improved. I have to work to regain the swing I had when things were progressing fine. When I started making bad contact but didn't know it was due to loss of depth perception, I tried all kinds of fixes, which have probably complicated my swing. Have you had your depth perception checked lately? Mine was 1 on a scale from 1 to nine. It used to be around 6 or 7.
vision
Charlie,
Nice to hear from you. I recently had cataract surgery on my right eye and it has been a bit of a miracle for my eyes. Was so pleasant to play last week and once again be able to use my right eye as the dominant eye when lining up shots. No more blur. As far as depth perception I'm not sure what my is rated. 80% better sounds like a good improvement for you though it must still quite challenging as you say. Hope your swing comes around soon.
A fellow Surgite and good friend of mine in Florida sent me an inspiring story you and others may enjoy. It's good one for me when ever I lament an ache and pain or two or some other health issue.
Watch this'
http://www.wimp.com/inspirationalfarmer/
Okay that was a tear jerker. Here's a light hearted one to balance things.
http://www.wimp.com/inspirationalfarmer/
Golf on!
Robert Meade and vision
Glad to hear that your cataract surgery is progressing and the blurry vision in your dominant eye is no longer a problem. I will be needing cataract surgery in my good eye within a few years--I see a yellowing of anything this white, and I see the usual halos around bright lights. With only one good eye, my opthalmologist advised me to wait as long as I can before surgery because if something when wrong with my good eye, I have no good eyes.
One thing about regaining much of my depth perception, I have no more excuses if I don't get my game back.
By the way, my main area that I'm seeking improvement in is in making good contact. I dropped a note to the staff requesting some instruction on making good contact for someone with depth perception problems. Before my sight went bad, I could play a round with 3-5 bad contacts. It got up to 12-15 before I realized it was more of a vision problem than a swing problem. According to some research published in Gold Digest, each bad contact causes an increase of 1.4 strokes, statistically. It seems about right for my kind of play.
Thanks for posting the video, but it seems that you posted the same one twice. The
one you posted was uplifting.
Opps!
Rather than edit my goof on the video post double I'll leave it here. I am sure your contact with the ball will improve Charlie if from nothing else then simply from your love of the game and determination to improve.
Here's the second video that shows how crazy golf and golfers can be. A good laugh for sure,
http://safeshare.tv/w/lNQxKkFRoZ
distance with the driver
I believe I am doing everything correctly because I an hitting dead straight shots. But I can hit my drives only 225 tops. How can I hit longer drives?
distance with driver
Hank,
Distance with the driver has long been the hottest topic year after year. There is no magic answer to your question but there are a few things that solid ball strikers have in common. Getting a complete answer on this blog would be nice but not going to happen. One recommendation would be to get a lesson. A trained eye may be able to see where (and how) you personally might improve and hit it farther. If you can get a lesson from a PPGS instructor well that would be ideal if you are seeking to learn this body friendly swing. Looking at the top line headings above you will see a link to the teachers availability and where you may find one and arrange a lesson.
You can also get the 'Driver' video in Surges's Shop. Additionally you can watch many of the daily tips on the subject of the driver found in the archieves above right where you see the tiny magnified glass. Simply type in driver and dozens of videos and discussions of the matter will appear.
Here is an example:
https://www.swingsurgeon.com/daily-video-tips/get-more-distance-driver
Ultimately, more distance with any club comes down to club head speed and square, solid sweet spot contact. Learning how to bump and swing from the inside and the slot are all goal worthy and merit your research and practice as you try to "find it". Many, particularly aging golfers have found more distance from learning to draw the ball. Having the right driver with the right shaft does make a difference. Maybe some others will add some thoughts and observations.
That said 225 down the middle is not that bad. Many reading this may be thinking that they would love to be 225 and in the short grass. But we all want more distance. That's why it is such a popular question. Good luck in your pursuit. Keep us posted.
rare eagle
Cindy and son Kory played at muni today and really nothing special until the 5th hole. I hit a push off the tee with the drive. Not directly behind a tree and was left with 124 yards according to my laser range finder. Took the pitching wedge and it felt good but I lost track of the ball in the air. Just looked toward the green and the pin and it landed by the stick and disappeared.
When we got to the green as I approached the pin I saw my ball mark about 4 feet in front of the hole and the ball in the hole. Fun stuff and rare indeed. A fleeting moment in an otherwise normal round of golf. Cool:)
Hope you all are playing some golf. Would love to hear your experiences and comments.
Surge and doc are doing another live google hang out on air tomorrow at 3pm EDT. It'll be nice to hear from Don and see how he's doing.
rare eagle
Great shot Robert.
Here is a funny story for you. I have been playing every weekend for the last 3 or 4 weeks. I broke a 100 2 times out of 10 rounds and had my first birdie of the year.. My handicap has went up in my tournament league from single digit to 32. I started playing again in the tournaments 3 weeks ago and they let me start my handicap from scratch because of all the health issues I have had the last year and half. All the profits go to a kids charity from all these events. My biggest problem is distance right now. The surgery that I had in March they took a big piece of muscle from my left shoulder and back and transferred it to my left leg to get the front of my leg to heal up from the infection I had last year and blockage in my left leg and silent heart attack.
I am just happy to have my leg and be a live I was according to the doctors a week away from dieing when I went to the hospital last year.
The golf game will come back I just have some new challenges to deal with for awhile.
So I know how Don feels. hope your feeling better Don.
Oh yeah I was able to finally get a full gym shoe on my left for the first time in over a year. I have been wearing a cut up gym show or a surgical boot/ shoe.
recovery
Mike,
Good to know your recovery is progressing.
As you've said, good to have your leg and now be able to play again. I'm sure you will see steady improvenent. We always find that someone has it worse than us. Puts life in perspective. Hope you saw the videos I posted above for Charlie. Take care and keep us posted. Not enough folks comment layely.
Good to hear from you. Keep healing:)
recovery
Robert
Yes I have and will see improvement. Every round there are a few more really good shots that pop up knock a flag stick down so to speak. What I can now really see is the difference between swing hard and just swinging the club. Just swinging the club gets way better distance and more accurate than swinging hard. I asked Doc about getting refitted which he suggested and talked to my fitter builder about it and we decided to wait until I heal more and get into better shape then get refitted for knew clubs.
I got lucky this time. I would suggest to anybody out there if you do not feel good go to the doctor or emergency room and get checked out you never know.
Google+ program
Hope all of you tuned in or have watched the replay of the program presented by Surge,Doc and Brady. Interesting stuff and new golf clubs becoming available.
https://plus.google.com/events/cf3irqdvpb90jage1lkpmmaurq8?utm_source=delivra&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Google+Hango...
First it was great to hear that Surge continues to recover and still has his sense of humor along with super golf related advice:)
I enjoyed a couple of the observations and answers to two of the questions.
One was about coming into out drives from the inside and how the club face is pointing right just before contact and release.
The other was how it can be okay to set up with our club heads having the ball either set up off the heel (like Don sometimes does) or off the toe end as Doc does. I too often set up with the ball off the toe half of the face which gives me a centered strike. Nice to know that is okay and that I'm not the only one who does this.
Of course a highlight was the announcement with sneak preview pics of the new signature irons and woods coming out in the next few days. My hope is that Surge and Doc give us all the fine details and specs including where and by whom they are made. All the normal specs we would look at if we were by anyone else, head weights, lofts (or loft options) shafts (or shaft options) details of costs (I know Doc hates that one because it all depends on which shafts,heads grips and the fitting). But the public equally hates not knowing the potential costs too. I would even like to know by whom they are made and where. I think that if as much open up front knowledge and detail as possible is given you will have many more buyers. Additionally, most of us out here in the Surge Nation are old guys with several sets of clubs and need really motivating reasons to invest in more clubs, especially an entire set. So it should be presented in set form and also per each club (say if someone wants only the driver and or one or two fairway woods and maybe a limited set of irons, ie., mid irons only, or mid to short or only wedges. We are mostly a really savvy bunch so presentation matters.
I'm sure they are awesome and I look forward to considering both the 'players' and the 'game improvement' versions along with the wood options.
Personally, the more up front details and specs that are given even before the online fill out fitting process the more likely I would consider buying something. They do look great though Doc and I am excited to see the offerings.
Glad to know Surge is recovering well. Great news:)
Google Hangouts On Air (HOA)
Google Hangouts On Air (HOA) are now going to on the daily video page. I will build another page soon that will show only the HOA's.
https://www.swingsurgeon.com/daily-video-tips/google-hangout-air-doc