A couple of weeks ago, I received an email from Robert R. with an interesting question of when to release your head in the Forward Upswing.
"Hello, Don
I want to thank you for breaking down the golf swing to help mainstream golfers like me. My question is this: If the golf club is only on the ball for a split second [.0005 seconds to be exact] is it OK to turn my head toward the target on the downswing? It seems to be working very well for me but that is only because of your technique of keeping the club up the tree and three quarters."
As with most aspects of the Peak Performance Golf Swing, we have set parameters within which we encourage students to find what works best for them. In Rob's case, he reports that he is hitting the ball well by turning his head toward the target instead of keeping it pointed at the ball until impact. If you can consistently hit the ball solidly and your shots are straight, then by all means, Rob, keep doing what you are doing. One of the best professional golfers of all-time, Annika Sorenstam, did the same thing. If you analyze her swing, you'll see that her eyes are actually looking about two yards forward of the ball at impact which enabled her to quickly swing up to a relatively vertical finish with her body pointed at the target. This kind of move helps release the right side sooner as you can see if you watch a down-the-line video of her swing.
If anyone wants to try this early head release, you should practice it on the range until you can be sure that it has improved your consistency as I am a big believer in "if it isn't broken, don't fix it".
Keep it vertical!
The Surge
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Comments
Neil,
Neil,
I still suffer this ailment from time to time, mainly on shots to the green, and especially short partial swings, like bump and runs, which results in blades across the green, or fat chunks left well short of the hole and sometimes even short of the green.
I know it is caused by a brain fart, wanting to see the result before the ball is even hit, and a lack of enough confidence to keep from needing to look.
PMG
Surge, enjoy your comments
Surge, enjoy your comments and videos. How about Bunker play? Or playing from faily deep rough? Thanks and have a great Holiday Season.
I do remember him Tom. I look
I do remember him Tom. I look forward to Santa delivery of this 'new' gift. Thanks for the offering and hope you're havin a pleasant holiday season.
PMG
Ruthy...good thots. ÃÂ My
Ruthy...good thots. ÃÂ My point with the TW comment was to simply bring attention to the quiet lower body: to wit, Tiger absolutely crushed it, but paid the price. He was awesome, and BTW, he is still a force to be reckoned with. But if his knees had held up, there is no telling what his win total might look like today.
I am simply suggesting that there is a longevity factor to be considered. Many athletes are so strong and explosive that
many of their injuries are self-inflicted.
Quiet+Athletic+Complete
Smith...lol...I knew you
Smith...lol...I knew you would show up.
Mr. Baseball lives....
Albert is a freakin' stud. SO... it looks to me like Al is eyes-on-the-ball on most of these pics, BUT on some images, it's hard to tell where his eyes are looking, head position notwithstanding. ÃÂ You're invited to join me 'n' Amos when we hoistan Arnold Palmer or whatever sounds good to ya.
Still not sure who's buying...
"Normal" is a loaded term in
"Normal" is a loaded term in a case like this. Clearly, the senior flex shaft's profile better fits YOUR swing than the regular flex that you've been using.
Have tried them all of late,
Have tried them all of late, but still find for all purposes the humble AD333Srixon, gives me the best all round performance.
Srixon Soft Feel, Noodle, Titleist NXT Tour, Titleist SoLo, Bridgestone,and many others.Always back to my favourite. Hit six to the green with SW from 60yds with a halfÃÂ swing. Green sloping from back to front. Pin right hand top quadrant. 6 balls in a tight group with sideways dispersion around 12-18" Only one ball was a few inches to the left of the other 5. When picking up the balls it was noted that the odd ball was a Noodle!
So for consistency AD333 for me every time. Noodle off the tee, not bad, short game, not as good.Lots of so called 'soft' balls are too darned hard for me. Can't figure itÃÂ out, but 333's don't HURT me
Good luck with whatever you try. Chip,pitch and putt 'em PMG and Succeed
For myself I find if I am
For myself I find if I am looking at the target before hitting through the ball, it means that something was moving before it should have and creates a domino effect, usually resulting in a mishit. When I concentrate on keeping my head still through impact my result is usually success.
Greg C
Event organizer and Tournament director for www.bcgolfpages.com/meetup
being playing for 2years now
being playing for 2years now had your vidios played today151 cant get any lower?my mates started same timeall going sub 90s.i wish i could get below 100
RM: Interesting comment.ÃÂ
RM: Interesting comment.ÃÂ When Doc Griffin worked with me on my swing, he noted that I was "pop-tarting up before the pop-tart was done".ÃÂ He had me keep my nose at the ball a little longer.ÃÂ This helped me to feel the proper release and stay down thru the shot, and resulted in much better, crisper and longer shots.ÃÂ ÃÂ One other thing that I learned from T. Medley was to "not make the ball the target; just let the ball get in the way as you swing thru to the target and the "t" finish".ÃÂ This is all good stuff - guess we just need to see what works best with our particular swing.ÃÂ Hit 'em straight!ÃÂ R2ÃÂ ÃÂ
Yeah that swing pretty much
Yeah that swing pretty much makes me mad because I can't get to that impact position. (Tried it today, can't do it).
That fast but still under pretty good control is impressive.
His weak point is short approach shots.
Makes no sense to me either,
Makes no sense to me either, so why the heck do I seem to do it so often. Wanting to see where it is going too soon, due to my lack of self confidence, and elderly brain farts. Especially when hitting to the green.
PMG
Greg MacDonnell did a couple
Greg MacDonnell did a couple of great videos last December about this, but they're among the "lost" videos from the site changeover, as were Surge's dailies on the Box drill and Volcano drill (two great ways to practice in the sand). If you want the best help right away, you should really get Surge's two Situational Shots video series. One handles shots around the green (bunkers and rough of all descriptions), one handles the rest of the course (including what to do with really deep rough or worse off the fairways).
I think he could make a true
I think he could make a true Surge swing in about 10 minutes if he wanted to do it.
Very funny reading different people criticizing his swing on a lot of the blogs (and especially the things they criticize). Not the professional instructors (they don't criticize good players very often) but normal people.
I saw these "bad things" written. Ha ha!
Starts the forward swing with his lower body (one even said moving his hips toward the target) before his back swing is complete.
Holds his hips too still in the back swing and doesn't turn them enough.
Starts taking his arms vertical when he gets to the toe line and has to re-route on the way down.
Brings his arms straight down at the start of the downswing.
The funniest of all to me are the ones that think they should try to create that amount of lag.
They think that the reason he can swing so fast is because he creates a lot of lag. It never occurs to them that he creates that much lag because he can swing so fast, and one of the reasons he can swing so fast is that both the left arm and the right arm are never out of a position of power through the ball.
One said his swing was "a very ugly swing" because he didn't pause at the top.
People are funny!
P.S. Oh I remembered one more. He has the toe pointed up halfway to the finish and isn't letting his hands roll over. LOL
Marylin, I suffered your
Marylin, I suffered your problem for years, my way ofÃÂ getting the feel of staying
down was to execute the whole FUS with my head down even through the release
process, you wont be able to fully complete the FUS as it's impossible toÃÂ achieve, but you certainly start to understand where your head should be at impact/release.
After several practise swings, you can then start implementing the"Pop Tart"action
at the end of the FUS, your head will"PopTart"automatically. Do this on a mat outside and don't worry about hitting a ball, this is all about the feel only, good luck.
ÃÂ ÃÂ
Uh oh....."tracking it for as
Uh oh....."tracking it for as long as possible"
may be true enough, but when I look an my entire post....me thinks Amos is gonnaenjoy one on my dime. ÃÂ LOL.
Thanks robert I will test it
Thanks robert I will test it
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