Gary Alverson recently wrote me that he has seen tremendous improvements in ball striking and consistency with the Peak Performance Golf Swing. The one exception involves an occasional problem that he has with his downswing. He is having trouble getting his hips to rotate properly in the FUS, and as a result, either mishits the ball or drives the clubhead into the ground.
Gary, from your description, the only thing I can read into the situation is that you are either overdoing the "wide knees" part of the stance or you are holding on to the "outward pressure" after you Ring The Bell and Bump. Either one of these will prevent your right side getting into the FUS and thus you'll mishit the ball or strike the ground as you've described.
Before I get into the details about either of those scenarios, let's review why we want to have our knees slightly bowed outward in the first place. As you well know, the distinguishing feature of the Surge Swing that it is a limited turn, 3/4 vertical backswing. The wide knee stance is critical to keeping our lower body quiet during the backswing and in limiting our turn to approximately 70 degrees. To properly set your knees you'll want them centered over your feet, creating the straight-up-and-down look I like to call The Building Effect. In a rotational swing, where your stance is much wider, your legs angle toward your hips in opposing directions, giving your stance the appearance of a Tower.
If your stance is too wide, your knees will not be centered over your feet and your lower body will be anything but quiet during your backswing. This will lead to a "Special K" reverse spine angle tilt and it will destroy your dynamic balance. So watch the video for the specifics on how wide your knees should be.
The other, and perhaps most likely, cause of your problem could be that you are trying to keep your knees wide in the FUS too. Absolutely not! We want to use the wide knee stance to keep the lower body still as we approach the top of our 3/4 vertical backswing. But as we reach this point and Ring The Bell to initiate The Bump, our entire right side becomes active as we rotate our hips and swing our arms and hands through the ball and then Stand UP AFAP with our hips stopping when they are facing square to the target.
I certain that one or the other of these issues is the culprit in your situation, Gary. Fortunately, these are easy fixes that once you incorporate them into your swing, you'll become an even more consistent ball striker and be well on your way to shooting lower scores.
Keep it vertical!
The Surge
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Comments
Shotlink is only tracking one
Shotlink is only tracking one of the two venues (golf courses) used by the Disney tourny in Fla.
so we can't follow DJ today on shot tracker shot by shot, dang!! he's even par after his first hole today. Come on Deej, go low! I'm off to work so I'll keep track on my phone.
Have a great day all.
Hey Phil,I'm not smart enough
Hey Phil,
I'm not smart enough to think about pushing or pulling. Ha ha!
It does feel like the FUS starts with a pull and a push pretty much takes over about half way to the ball.
I just think about skipping the heck out of that rock and I can't do that without a bump and pretty decent mechanics in the weight transfer.
I did have "problems" with the left leg in the BUS but since going to the extra flare with the front foot it's much better now. It hard for the left leg to go anywhere with the foot flared around 60*.
Don,
Don,
I have been using your swing for about a year and a half and am a true believer. ÃÂ This 5 minute daily lesson you did on the outward pressure on the knees probably covered more points about the 3/4 swing than anything I've seen from you. ÃÂ It was excellent! Keep them coming.
Thanks for the info.
Thanks for the info.
I lived in Cincinnati years
I lived in Cincinnati years ago. We started a round in October in balmy 80 degree weather carrying a towel to wipe away the sweat as we played. By the time we finished the round the temperature had dropped below 50 and we were cold as ----. It was the last warm weather until late spring.
Steve, just looked at your
Steve, just looked at your adjusted flare and swing on your site. Awesome. You really have quieted and stabilized that front foot. Right on.
DJ will definitely be playing
DJ will definitely be playing the weekend. There aren't enough players left on the courses to move the cut line past him. Tomorrow he needs to make a big move to improve his money, and to give us all something to cheer about.
That list is how they determine who gets to play in any given week, in order starting from #1 those players have the option of playing in a tournament, and then on down the list. The further down the list your level of exemption, the more you have to hope people above you opt not to play a given week. I'm not sure if that's the list for the 2012 season, though.
I feel honored to return the
I feel honored to return the knowledge you have provided to the blogsters on what videos to watch to be instructed on the finer points of the SSGS. Do you have a data base for them?
Don,This was very helpful.ÃÂ
Don,
This was very helpful.ÃÂ I have always thought I had to keep outward pressure thoughout the swing.ÃÂ That creats a problem in and of itself.ÃÂ My knees would begin to hurt from keeping the pressure on through the down-swing...or, at least try to.ÃÂ I also found it restrictive and reduced club-head speed.ÃÂ Maybe, I pushed too hard on the knees.ÃÂ In order to keep my knees steady, I started messing with other muscle tensions to compensate.ÃÂ I REALLY appreicate these daily videos.ÃÂ They are a great suppliment to your DVD's.
Hey Robert,That plus going
Hey Robert,
That plus going "whole hog" and cutting my driver to 43" are starting to make a pretty big difference in accuracy and I can't tell that I've lost any distance, in fact since the weather is cooler and my drives are about the same distance I may have increased distance.
Thanks for the clarification.
Thanks for the clarification. I was also wondering if it might be the list for 2011 instead of 2012.
Yes, but nothing fancy. I
Yes, but nothing fancy. I just save the links on titled word doc's under various categories and store them in a folder or two.
PMG
Just now catching up with the
Just now catching up with the thread today. Looks like it's encouragement day. We all need a good reminder to hang in there and not give up on our golf game. I think what drives me is the constant desire to improve. Always been a positive "sun will come up tomorrow, bet your bottom dollor" kind a guy.
So Richard and any others struggling, eliminate the negetive andÃÂ accenuate the positive, and don't mess with Mr. in between!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
I grew up in Northern KY
I grew up in Northern KY (Cincinnati).ÃÂ This time of year one can get weather whiplash.
Friday DJ tees off at 11:50am
Friday DJ tees off at 11:50am on the Palm Golf course. It is playing about two stokes easier than the Magnolia he played today.ÃÂ 6 of the 7- 66's were achieved on the M. course today. Hopefully he'll go low and get back in position to not just make the cut but have another strong finish over the week end. Go get 'em Deej!
Looks like for 2011
Looks like for 2011 tournaments.
Interesting the top 3 players all tied for 1st - Kim, Leonard, and Stenson all passed DJ in the money list assuming they win first place money. Obviously only 1 can win. I think a second finish would get them past DJ, A third would NOT get Kim or Stenson into the top 125.
One of your best videos EVER
One of your best videos EVER
I am really struggling with
I am really struggling with my tee shots.ÃÂ Topping them and dribbling them 25-50 yards down the fairway.ÃÂ I am at a loss to explain why this old old problem has jumped back into my game after a few months, maybe even years of having tee shots be he best part of my game and approaches and especially chipping, the worst.ÃÂ Now IÃÂ have added terrible tee shots to my always poor chipping game.ÃÂ I think I am raising up on my downswing and thus topping the ball, at least that is what my playing partners tell me.ÃÂ I try to keep my eyes focused on the ground right behind the ball until impact but I don't seem to be able to do that all the time, or at least not enough of the time to avoid 2-5 really bad mis hits off the tee.ÃÂ Any suggestions?
Roger,Jsmith,&Jeff,
Roger,Jsmith,&Jeff,
ÃÂ I'm a little further north in Ohio, Akron/Canton area, and last year my Monday group played every Monday in Nov. I don't know if we'll be that lucky this year, but for now the next two Mondays left in Oct look pretty good, and I'm hoping for the next four in Nov as well.
Robert
Robert
Hopefully he plays well tomorrow and makes a move up the leader. I was looking at the PGA site they have live projectedÃÂ money list up dates if the tourney ended today he would be at 129
The ball is in DJ's court.
The ball is in DJ's court. This is the brutality of staying on the Tour that it boils down to how a player performs on a couple of days instead of the years work over a lot of tournaments. Here's hoping that Deej has a couple of good rounds.
Richard,
Richard,
Good morning.ÃÂ Mr Ming and Mr Po are two Chinese gentlemen/characters invented by Dragonhead who is a regular here. They represent two integral parts of the golf swing...timing and tempo... Mr. Ti-Ming and Mr. Tem-Po.ÃÂ
When I hit a golf ball I don
When I hit a golf ball I don't "focus" on anything, or even look at anything.
I just see the picture in front of me that includes the ball and everything around it.
Try just getting behind the ball and take a few practice swings just letting the club brush the grass until you get a good feel for a smooth weight transfer and a feel for where the ground is.
Then get into your address position and make the same swing up to the finish. It doesn't take much focus to know where the ball and ground are. It's possible that all of that focus is interfering with your mechanics, and focusing on the ground behind the ball when you know full well that's not what you are trying to hit could be making you pull up too early.
I suspect you have some weight transfer or reverse tilting problem but that's just a guess without seeing your swing.
shortgamewizardI agree DJ
shortgamewizard
I agree DJ needs to belly up and have 2 good rounds. I was looking at live projected money list if it ended today he would finish around 129. I hope he plays better the next 2 days and moves up the money list. GO DJ
Hey Richard,Don't feel bad.
Hey Richard,
Don't feel bad. My swing doesn't look very good either but by making videos fairly often I can see the mechanics that work for me and show up in the video on days when I am hitting the ball well and I can also see the things that I just can't get away with that show up on bad days.
My good days are not any better than they ever were but I have had many less of the really bad days this year than ever before.
Just having a system to go by has pretty much stopped those blow up rounds.
Richard, I think you may be
Richard, I think you may be concentrating on, or thinking too much about trying to bump. I finally started to think about starting my FUS by letting my arms drop by gravity down into the "slot" and the bump just seems to happen. That kind of goes along with todays video that at this point you no longer have outward pressure on your knees which would also would restrict the bump.ÃÂ If you drop your arms to start your swing, your hips will move out of the way before you think about it. Don't give up! I struggle with always wanting to add power to my swing starting at the top. After hearing Surge repeat so many times that gravity is free and that's how you start your FUS, It's finally sinking in.
Is any on else suffering from lack of practice and playing time due to bad weather? This entire year has been excessively wet (N Central Ohio). Our local course has been muddy the entire year with US Open length rough on many days that they couldn't mow., and there's another 3 inches in the rain gaugeÃÂ tonight after 2 straight days of rain with no let up.
58 SaturdayÃÂ 68 SundayÃÂ
58 SaturdayÃÂ 68 SundayÃÂ playing both days. Suppose to be low 50's by Thursday.
I generally play down to 40* as long as there is no wind.ÃÂ
Richard--Let me try to give
Richard--Let me try to give you a little confidence by relating some of my experience with this swing.
I started working on it a year and a half ago when I purchased a Masters Special Promotion. For background, I have played for over 60 years withÃÂ moderate success, (single digit hdcp at one time) but survived by "scraping" it around to counteract a lot of bad habits formed early in my life.
To get to the point, almost everyday when I look at surge's lesson, I learn something new. I am still learning, but something I remembered yesterday "clicked". I have always been an over the top/cut across swinger. Through Surge's lesson, I finally got the concept of squaring my hand to the grooves, and "skipping a rock".ÃÂ But something was missing.
Then I remembered there is a mitt on the FUS as well as on the BUS. Presto--I did a dozen half swings which were crisp and then went to the full swing and the ball will not leave the flag--I am covering it like a blanket.
My experience for what it is worth is that there are initially a lot of things to think about that are in opposition to a lot of things we learned previously. It is not possible to think about all of them all the time. I have to think about them one at a time.
Key things I have learned:
Preloanded heavy right. Check by lifting left foot
Parallel left.
Skipping a rock.
Bump
Back and forward mitt.
Balance over arch of foot (not heel or toe)
Finish facing the target in balance.
Rt palm and grooves aligned during grip
For a new swing, it took me sometime to "discover" ÃÂ each of these. I still regress.
But keep at it. When you get it going, it is a beautiful thing to know your ball is going to be snug.
129 for the last two rounds
129 for the last two rounds will do it. Come think it might be enough to win and get a two year exemption.
First frost of the year this
First frost of the year this morning around here.
I'm not ready for the cold yet but I guess I might as well be.;-)
Record cut at Disney is -6
Record cut at Disney is -6
Richard, I believed that I
Richard, I believed that I among all others was the only one who has no talent, coordination and all other flaws making it impossible to be any good at the game I love. I'd love to tell you that I was once a single digit handicap-but it isn't so. I was ok when I played a lot but only because I had some feel from lots of play. I have had the surge swing package for about a year and to be frank its not automatic, it takes work. What I have found is that when you do it reasonably well you get outstanding accuracy. I still don't have the distance I'd like but I have no fear it will come. One thing you MUST do is be honest with yourself when practicing. I HIGHLY recommend getting the V1 freeware, take video of your swing and compare it on the V1 software. Only after I did this was I able to find my then obvious flaws. If you don't use this technology then I think it's most likely you will have old rotational swing remnants in your swing making the surge swing impossible to do. I know, I had fooled myself into thinking I was doing the S swing correctly but once I had it recorded it was laughable!
Don't give up, you're probably better than you think just use all the tools you can get and really learn this swing. Don't take all of the swing medicine at once, be patient, be studious and enjoy the great shots you WILL hit.
If I can do it anyone can. My eyesight sucks, bad back, coordination -nonexistant but this swing still works!
Hope this helps,
Don B
shortgamewizard
shortgamewizard
IfÃÂ the tourney ended today he would finish at 129 on the money list. It would great to see him shoot 8 under each of the next two days and finish at -20.
Richard,
Richard,
The swing is not hard to learn. The hard part is forgetting all the different things we have learned contrary to the PPGS. It took me quite a while to learn to forget, so that I wouldn't forget to learn. I'm 62 with 40+ years of bad golfing habits. I've manage to forget about 90% of that, but that 10% keeps creeping back in and messing up my otherwise perfect PPGS. I believe that the only people who can't learn this PPGS are people who can't or won't believe that it really is that simple. Try some more optimism and only think pure PPGS thoughts. You can learn it and succeed at it.
If I look at the ground
If I look at the ground behind the ball I'll tend to ÃÂ chunk it or top it every time. Today was a very cold day on the course I play and I probably got a little careless with my driver set up a few times because I hit several drives very fat. ÃÂ Drop kicks like this usually don't hurt the score much because they go straight and roll forever but they look and feel terrible. ÃÂ Looking back at it the mistake in setup was likely a simple case of not having my nose pointed at the ball at address. ÃÂ If I consciously point my nose at the ball I know my eyes will be where they should be for a steady head and clean contact with the ball.
Jsmith,
Jsmith,
Glad to hear you are finding some success. Your post is great advice to all of us still struggling with various aspects of the system. My own story and success is very close to your own.
Good luck and best wishes with your game.
PMG
True, he's going to need to
True, he's going to need to play well . Let's get past the cut tomorrow. I'm guessing 2 under will get it so hopefully he'll get something in the 60's. He should be in the TV coverage time (if you get Golf Channel), otherwise let's follow him on:
http://www.pgatour.com/shottra...
I would like to see him have
I would like to see him have a couple of great rounds also.
It seems like every time I look at the leader board each week DJ is making enough birdies to compete each week but there are always too many bogies thrown in.
It's hard to know from the leader board if there is a pattern for what is causing most of the bogies or if it's different things randomly coming up at different times.
My son always says that the reason it's hard to catch somebody ahead of you in any sport is that they are ahead of you because they are performing better than you are.
Richard, I sympathise with
Richard, I sympathise with you and half agree. Like all things that need/take
co-ordination, you either have it or don't, In my school years I was hopeless at
everything. It wasn't till late in life I became sports oriented and found golf very
difficult to achieve, even after paying thousands in coaching fees and literally hitting
thousands of balls per week on the range. I do believe I have improved since following
the Surge, but I'll neverÃÂ have a low H/C. My I only advise is to work hard on the short
game, ie putting & chipping, this is where I clean-up when playing with my mates as
this is aÃÂ "feel" thing and can be drilled with practise. The thing I like aboutÃÂ golfÃÂ is it's
a walk/talk/fresh air/laugh with your mates/listen to the birds/watch the trees/thing,
even though I'm still a very competetive person, good luck.
The news stations are
The news stations are flashing frost warnings here in Cincy through 9:00 am tomorrow.
Will see how long the occupiers will stay out in the cold here.
We go from one extreme here to the other 90 - 100 to 50 - 60.
Wish it would stay low 80's to 70 all year round here.
And only rain at night.
We're supposed to be 56, and
We're supposed to be 56, and 62. I'll be playing Sunday afternoon and again on Monday afternoons supposedly 66*. I'm about the same as you, low 40's are fine, with no or very little wind.
I truly enjoy posts themed
I truly enjoy posts themed here about not having natural skill/talent to pull off great ball striking (despite tons of practice and switching here to PPGS!) and the issue of ruining great outdoors days with the attempt to play golf (I love the birds,trees, ponds, etc. more, too!).
Anyways, with the current topic on stance/legs, here's my recent twist on PPGS. No more swing thoughts for me waist down. Didn't work. Forget about bump (me). No upper body swing thoughts - my arms always go back to the same place, end at my left ear at the fwd upswing. ÃÂ I just concentrate my eyes staying just at the back of to behind the ball. ÃÂ My natural miss is a spin out thin, or overcompensate fat. ÃÂ I move too much/not enough.
My latest adjustment would probably not be endorsed by Surge or below him, but I have found a beauty in ball striking improvement just this past few weeks. ÃÂ Due to how my unique double-jointed and quite athletic body works with my ÃÂ two sets of clubs (not fitted, but I am So Average in all scales ever printed); I have simply moved the ball forward almost 2 in. on Driver, 3W from tee 1.5 in. on hybrids in the fairway, and maybe 1 in. from standard PPGS -most irons. ÃÂ What a difference! ÃÂ I am finally getting pro-like trajectory on irons, and my D/3W actually have carry time higher than 5-10 feet! ÃÂ It is as if I was getting into the ball with arms shortening - no release or power yet. ÃÂ It works for my own PPGS, my clubs, and my much better days outside in the beauty.
Steve
Steve
I have looked at DJ's Stats its hard to put a finger on it. His
proximity average to the hole is like 30' 6" on the year are something
like that. I would think that would put a lot of pressure on your
putting and his par 3 scoring. His scoring average is 70.6 are there
about. It is hard to say for sure I am no expert just a arm chair
golfer.Probably a combination of things.
you lack discipline and self
you lack discipline and self confidence. ÃÂ no one soon realizes they don't have what it takes to play the piano...you soon realize you don't have the drive to work hard enough...don't give me these piss poor excuses about why you can't do something because anything worth doing requires hard work, PERIOD.
Sadly, no shot tracker
Sadly, no shot tracker coverage on the Palm course.:0(
These are all very good
These are all very good points. ÃÂ I agree that one side has to be dominant at the start of the FUS and since the left side starts the bump making to ÃÂ early a move with the right sideÃÂ adds needless complication. I do however use the right side a lot in the FUS after the bump , but it just seems to happen, as you say, "as a natural result of the left pull."
FYI:
FYI:
DJ Just finished at -3. Hopefully the cut will stay at -2 or -3 and he'll have a great weekend.
Also, can someone more fully explain to me, what this link is saying in box #19 about DJ. Does that mean he is exempt or something else I'm not understanding.
http://www.pgatour.com/r/playe...
PMG
That will be the 2011 money
That will be the 2011 money list and there is a reshuffle at least twice a year where a player can improve his standing. Say DJ finished out of the top 125 and got an invitation on previous performance, (Hope winner say) and finished in the top 4, that means the reshuffle might move him up to 89th and into most all the events he wanted to play in the rest of the year.