Flared Feet Reduces Stress and Strain

Hi Surge, Clair here from Newscastle England.

I have been a surge swinger now for 6 months with mixed results .I have the concept of all your teachings but still find my consistancy is not what it should be - bop it down the fairway bop it on the green :-) 

My biggest problem seems to be the pull hook, and as you have been talking about recently I feel it is not enough turn.

I have some questions from studying your swing.

First, I notice that you seem to tuck your chin down as you swing, which seems ( I may be wrong ) to get your forearm under your chin on the BUS ( mine does not do this as much as I try ). As you do not speak about doing this in the manual or your videos, is this something you advocate to get the correct position at the top???

Also, on watching your swing examples, I noticed you do a slight movement just before you swing ( its like a hip movement ) and its something you dont teach / talk about in your dvd series and its something I dont see in DJs set up on his example swings..Is this something we should do and can you explain the feeling or position you are trying to achieve.?
 
Im not sure this will help but anything is worth a try to attempt to get my swing more consistant.

Hope yo can help me !

Thanks

x 

Malcolm, Doc did a video on Drivers,launch angle & spin on 7/15/11. You may want to have a look at it. It's on the 3rd page of the daily index and he lists his ball recommendations also now with all the postings on about the 3rd reload comment section there. His recommendations are based on clubhead speed and spin rates.
Happy Golfing & here's that link. :)

http://www.swingsurgeon.com/Da...

Thanks, Bill. Most likely a head that size is really difficult for you to square up consistently. You might want to start by choking down an inch on the grip, though, to see if you get more consistent contact. While it's not an unreasonable length for your WTF, it's entirely possible that your physical ability would better control a slightly shorter club. If you're hitting it more consistently on the center, you'll get as long or longer drives, and more likely where you're aiming (then you have to worry about where you're aiming).

Hi Jack,

It's easier if you register with Disqus and add it to your profile, but when you fill in the information here to post comments, there's a line marked URL. Just copy the URL from your YouTube Channel (usually youtube.com/user/username...) and paste it into the URL line when posting. Click on the Save User Info or whatever button so you don't have to paste it every time.

What I like about today's blog video is the emphasis on assembling the fundamentals to the individual's physical makeup. I can't do what Surge does with his feet, but can rotate the lower fore arms 180 degrees with out turning the elbows. Makes for entertainment.

D,
I'll give this a go too. As Surge says we need to open our minds to what is going to mwork for us while staying withing te parameters of the Surge swing. I, like many have that happen too where my practice swing is ideal  and then I hit it thin or fat.
I did something along the same lines as you mentioned but it was more of where I put my eyes and not the club. I order to not have "hit the ball itus" I look just past the ball a couple inches. The spot I look at especially with the driver is on what would give me an inside out swing path past the ball. I keep my eyes on this spot and not on the ball through impact. This actually worked and I hit several clean shots that either were staight or even had a slight draw.

I knew when I yawned while typing you would get yours posted before me ;)
Better answer to boot,my mind is going to slush these days,lol

D : I was born here of British grandparents, so Spanish is my 2nd. language.  You´ll have to brush up on your Spanish to keep up with your family, especially if your passion is languages !! When my youngest son was at school (ca. 1996) we had an interchange of students and a young NZ boy came to stay with us.  He was a great lad who went crazy over the size and quality of our beef steaks !!

Back in NZ Jack in sunny Argentina 13degC. Dalian was 25degC today and here the temperature is around 5degC and after snow earlier in the day, there was heavy rain and now as I write, there has been heavy snow falling again : - ( Look forward to hearing how you go on Friday. How is your Spanish? My step-sister's son is married to a Spanish Airforce Colonel.He works in Shanghai. Used to be seconded to the Subaru Rally Team for six months of every year. His IQ is off the clock.Another step brother lives in Spain too.One of my sons lives in Germany........My other passion outside Golf, funnily enough is languages.
 What are the courses like there?
Good Luck on Friday

Jack, both Robert & Steve pretty much covered what I would have to say about your swing. I would just like to echo their statements about the quality of your swings.
For 1935er (my late Father was also from that great year.) a nice couple of swings,Sir!

That just sounds like it would hurt. ;-) I can't do what either of you can do, so I'll just have to settle for being normal.

Boogm,

Thanks for that. I've checked through the comments and found the recommendations.

Off topic re Support emails.

I've had some problems with LOGINS/LOGOUTS and also the functionality of certain pages of the SSGS website recently.

Email replies received from Support have been very hard to read as the main body text is very small - 6 point - probably half the size you are reading here.  Normal email HTML/Rich Text text size, in my experience,  and other third party emails I receive, averagely ranges from 10 -12 point.

I would like to find out if it is just a quirk on my pc, or if other Surgites are having a similar problem.  Perhaps you could let me know.

Thanks
PedroUK

Cheers mate. Spread the word

Many thanks Steve, shall work your advice re front foot.
The front foot slightly forward comes from my rotational swing days (1956) when I was hitting a draw / pull on almost every long distance shot and tried to compensate by facing to the right of the target.  Little did I know then that I was taking a perfect stance for a draw with my left foot slightly forward.
This was one of several things to correct, so my golf pro towards the end of 1956 said to me : "Jack, it´s either golf or tennis".  I remained a tennis player and returned to golf about 5 years ago after a 50 year layoff !!  My left foot is still slightly forward (an old custom) and will require a conscious effort on my part to bring it in-line and parallel to the target.
By the way what does BTW mean ? 
Also WTF which Dragonhead mentione earlier on (see below) ?

Hi Clair,

Welcome to the site. I think some of what you're seeing in Surge's swing is a simple variation between physiques. DJ is about 6 inches taller than his father. If you look at my swing (click my name and you'll see some samples), it'll look slightly different as well. I think mine is closer to Surge's in terms of the head/arm position, but I'm almost exactly his height (though his arms are close to 3 inches longer than mine).

As for any slight movement at the start of Surge's swing, I think it's
all just part of his getting ready. You can probably see from the way he
talks that he's not a guy who naturally becomes completely still. ;-)

If you don't have video of your swing, I recommend you get some. It is an eye opening experience to see what you actually look like swinging the club as opposed to what you think you're doing. Also, you may want to get in touch with Malcolm Rawle, the traveling European Surge Swing instructor (click on the Golf Instruction tab and follow the links).

Boog,
Thanks for boilerman technology! That's why I said 90*in my post. I knew he meant his front foot or each at 45-90. How's your classes going. You were doing some classes or teaching.g right? You all caught up and able to play some golf?

I was just trying for some late evening levity or is it jocularity?
Oh and not to have to add another post, Josh had his first day of real public school today.Been ages since I had to get up that early just walk a youngster down the hill to the school bus.His class consists of 7 other young lads with learning issues and those are either considered 1st or 2nd graders. Seems he is the only child in the school at the K5 level that needs special attention.He commented about it being an all boy class, "no girls,but the teachers". I'm trying to decide out how long it will be before he realizes that might not be a good thing during his school years.

Hey Pedro,

I've had some odd behavior from the site occasionally deciding I'm no longer logged in, most often if I've gone to the instructor pages or opened more than one occurrence of the site. However, I've never had a problem with support emails coming in micro type. Have you tried using Cmd-+ or Ctrl-+ to increase the font size in your mail reader? (That works for me in Apple Mail, but I don't know what you're using.)

Many thanks Boog.
As a water treatment specialist I had to deal quite a lot with boiler makers.  They´re a good bunch of guys, although very fussy checking the quality of the demineralised water from our treatment plants.  Ha, ha !!    Left all that behind now, took a job as a School Superintendent, then retired and now act as educational consultant.
Keep on blogging and thanks for your kind comments. 
Jack

Another helpful video. 
This is my first post so apologies if it is not clear.

 

I don't have any comments on the flared feet but have a query
for Doc Griffin on ball
selection.

I play off 15 and have been trying to use the PPGS for around 18 months. 
I'm usually reasonably straight but my bad shots are either a slice or a block
left.  My home course is a parkland layout but tends to be quite windy.

I recently changed from the Srixon AD333 to the Bridgestone e6 Straight
Distance as I had read good reviews of these and thought they would help with
my occasional slice and help keep straighter in windy conditions.  When I
tried these balls head to head on a local 9 hole course, with a 7 iron the
Bridgestone was generally about 5 yards longer and noticeably straighter than
the Srixon.  I’ve also found the
Bridgestone reasonably consistent on my home course.

Are there any other balls you would recommend I try?

Thanks            Malcolm 

This was another timely video on the flared feet, loved it. Snowbound I will swing in the corridor/hallway shortly to keep the "feel" of the swing going. I will also experiment with what is best for me, with regards to the front foot flare position.
Surge:Perhaps one of the greatest faults we golf fanatics have, is hitting at the ball. I use the eyes closed method to slow down the swing,  so my other senses can 'feel' the swing.This helps me personally. Another tip I used to use was: Took my set up, Grip/Ball position/Stance/ALIGNMENT/Posture/Swing etc.Then move the club above the ball to around a foot in front of the ball and commence my [what is now my BUS]backswing  from there. It is amazing that it eradicated the hitting at the ball immediately. Used it on  the course to good effect.
What method or tips do you have, if any to eliminate "Hitting At the Ball"?
Most of us need that help.
DragoNZhead  snowbound boohoo, boohooo ; - )
PS Robert F will check out the video on WTF I have been trying to hammer it through the skull of my golf mate,ie, he can make any club work for him,he says. In his dreams.

Robert, I did one last week and have this week off before going back next week for welder testing. I was going to play this morning but the wife had some errands to run and I thought I would give her the opportunity to ride along with me.So I'll try again tomorrow to convince her to tag along or go by myself. I have chipped around the yard this morning with Honey but had to stop until later.The Utility company has some right of way clearing going on and I don't want Honey getting to close to them until they are farther along the road.Really trying to lock down my rhythm and it seems to be working.

I can't find the Surge loafers in Surge's Shop!!!.....

Intentional or not, "By the way, what does BTW mean?" is very funny. BTW means by the way.

WTF in golf speak is Wrist-to-floor, the measure of the distance from your wrist bone to the floor when standing normally. In the rest of the internet, it's "what the f--k".

Boog, I like a pretty foot angle - I'd call it a cute angle if I was being obtuse

Jack

Good observation SGW, Surge gives us the parameters and we are encouraged to use our minds and physical inclinations and potential abilities to achieve the best swing possible.

Surge, thanks for today's daily. Nice swings there at Old South. Pleasure hearing the both stories concerning your feet again. Nice reminder about working within the parameters of the swing to find that what fits us as individual players.
 Now a note to all those that love to critique what Surge says to what he does, he mentions (and you may have caught this and understand what he means and if so I apologize before hand) He mentions being able to turn his feet 180 and still hit the ball.
That is what we,boilermakers & other riggers, call an included angle. Meaning that the degrees from rear foot to front foot are at 180 degrees which is where they where when he said it.Both being 90 degrees to square.
 Once again,Surge, great video and nice smooth swings,in balance and sweet results.
 Goodnight all, that little yellow bus comes earlier than I remember. :)

Hi Robert and Surgites,
Thanks for your help Robert in helping me get my video on to the blog via Disqus. You´ll notice that the day is quite cloudy (last Wednesday) and the fairway is scorched from the winter frost.  However, we are lucky in Buenos Aires to be able to play all year round.
The more I look at the video the more faults I find : no wide knees, no flared feet, my stance doesn´t seem to be aligned, club at 11o´clock (seen from behind), etc.  I would much appreciate your opinion on my two strokes and in particular do you think that I commence my downstroke correctly with my hips (bump) ahead of my arms movement ?  I´m a 1935´er (you work out my age !! ) : do you think that I should be hitting the ball harder ?  Many thanks.  Jack

Robert, ha, ha, ha, ha, can´t stop laughing, LOL !!
BTW, you guys seem to be all day at your computers keeping a check on all the messages.
BTW, just in case I think I´ll keep away from WTF.

Jack,

Once again, we appreciate hearing your slant on things.

Well, you can make any club work. All you have to do is change your swing for every club. Personally, I find it more logical to have one swing and fit the clubs to it. ;-)

:) I meant it sounded like it would hurt if I tried to do that. I do also struggle with over-rotation of the forearms, though. Not to that extent but enough to get my club head stuck in the SBG when I'm not paying attention to keeping my palms perpendicular to the ground.

Dragonhead, you mean that since your backswing started 1 foot ahead of the ball which was lying on the fairway, you brought your club back over the ball, then to the mitt, up the tree, vertical position, bump and then the downswing to smack the back of the ball.  In other words your backswing was on one plane to miss touching the static ball and your downswing was on another plane closer to the ground so as to hit the ball.
Am I right ??

That's not a bad swing at all, Jack!

You could maybe practice getting into your setup position more with the accordion than with bending over. Your weight gets a bit far onto your toes I think, but otherwise that's a perfectly respectable swing. If you go to my videos and look at the 52 degree wedge video you'll see
what I mean by accordion into the setup rather than stepping in bent
over. I think with that you'll see more wide knees and have a firmer
foundation.

You did a very nice job on the tee shot getting your weight shifted to the forward foot with the bump. The fairway shot it looks like you intended to hit that little draw. Your feet were set up aimed across your target line.

Keep up the great work!

Mike:  Delightful!!  Just wonderful!!  Thanks for sharing your "discovery" with us.  Loved your "cheap date" comment, too.  LOL,LOL Its great to have you back on the blog with us!  Keep hittin 'em straight!  R2

Bill
My wtf is 35in.  Play a Ping G5 10.5 loft. Regular grahite shaft (Grafaloy Blue) Asked my Pro to cut the shaft down to 44in. He said it would make it 'stiffer' but I can hit it straight down the middle about 230/240 yds. I'm 71 years young with 11 hcp.

Cheers to all 'Surgites' out there.

Bobcat

No pain, just once the forearm rotation starts it goes way beyond what works for long accurate shots.

Boog, this actually in reference to your post a out Josh and school. I have only a small idea of how tough it must be for you having raised three kids with normal abilities( whatever normal is right?) But know you have your hands full and that being a good Dad is the most important thing you'll ever accomplish.
Hang in there buddy. I know it's your overwelming love that will get you through.

That was during my rotational swing days Jack. Wondered if it would still work with the SSGS set up,ie, some players hover the club etc, I can't try it myself at the moment due to snow on the ground here etc. It certainly worked wonders when I last tried it. I use the eyes closed swing mainly when I find myself swinging too fast and trying to 'hit'at the ball. Give the other method a try and see how you go.Let me know if it does work for using the vertical 3/4 swing. Hope that others can come up with a method that stops us trying to beat the ball into a pulp.
Steve and Robert F hahahaha I heartily agree with you. He reckoned his WTF was the same as mine. I am 5' 5" with reasonable length arms [orange spot with Pings]. He is 5' 9" with short arms. He wonders why he pulls and hooks shots and has a sore knee to boot. There are none so blind who will not see, springs to mind.
Stop Press, just started raining hard : - ) the snow has receded a little already. As long as it doesn't freeze. May be swinging sooner than I thought.

Many thanks Robert.  Yes, it´s incredible how important it is to film one´s shots to see "if we are doing what we think we are doing !!".  I saw your accordion setup in your 52 deg. wedge shot : excellent video, must remember to do this.  I also wish I could hit the ball as hard as you are doing into the net in your back yard !!  Again thanks and I´ll try to post some further videos when the warmer weather comes.

Hi Robert,
Thx for reverting.  My mail reader is Outlook 2007 and I do have a Zoom function which I can use but it just puzzles me that Support emails arrive in 6pt Helvetica especially as I discovered, the emails leave them in 12pt.  They are the only email source that give this problem.  Also I developed major problems on the SSGS site, couldn't view my videos or place orders.  My Browser is IE9 but at Support's suggestion, I d/loaded Chrome which works fine with the SSGS site.
Computers..................!
Regards
Pedro

Surge, I love that demonstration. Amazing. My golf teacher when I was a teen must have followed some of your principles, as he taught to have the forward foot flared out (though he still wanted the back foot square). I find that for me the 30 degree flare seems to be most comfortable, but I may have fun playing around with it sometime.

Dragon, re Hitting At The Ball

One solution is to picture & feel a target other than the ball
An ideal target is the T Finish

Hitting at the ball can cause deceleration
Trying to hit the T finish with force will encourage acceleration & a better arc

I suggest you don't hammer your Kiwi golf mates skull
Your abuse of hammers has been noted

Jack Hammer