Accordion Effect Controls Over-reaching

Are you getting to the toe line too soon and maybe sort of skipping getting the club in the mitt toe up which is inside the aiming line?

I have by no means got the swing down yet, but this is just a thought.

Surge, I stopped the video and used a straight edge on the screen and, if I'm right, the line runs from the top thumb to the base of your skull.  I was having trouble on the course this weekend trying to get my hand position to match your verbal description.  I was spraying the ball.  When I pulled my hands in to match your hand position in this video I was able to control my shots much better.  Could it be an optical illusion that our hands look farther out than they really are when we look down?  Just asking.

For the DJ watchers, he tees off at 8:48 Eastern time tomorrow from the 10th tee. The 16th at Muirfield is a "Live At" hole, so if you're watching online you should be able to see him come through there (they usually start the feed about 9 Eastern, well ahead of when DJ should get there).

The specific positions and angles of the thighs, shoulders, butt, etc. are going to vary a bit from body to body, but "in balance" means that you can lift your arms and turn without the weight shifting toward your toes or heels. You should always feel the weight in the middle of your feet (the arches between the front of the heel pad and the back of the ball pads). In the back swing, it should be primarily in the arch of the back foot and the transition begins by shifting the weight from the back foot to the front, rolling to the outside of that forward foot.

Keith has a point, and it may help you to slow down--just a little--taking the club back. I know I have a lot of trouble, particularly with the driver, when I start to get too fast with my takeaway. The club gets too much momentum going back and it pulls me into too much turn and too far back into the SBG.

Surge and DJ have minor variations, particularly in the takeaway, but then we all swing a little differently. DJ starts the club head moving first with more lift and arm rotation right off than Surge (not wrist cock as some people believe--the angle of DJ's wrists relative to the club shaft does not change).

Great advice Surge.
I did 10 holes today with my 8 year old son Spencer, boy is he coming on. He actually made par and beat me on one hole, the little bugger! It was a straight elevated 160 yds, he tee'd off, then pitched on the green with his sand wedge and one putted! He really has clicked with pitching, I came away with a mixed bag but happy as I made my first ever two shots for a birdie par 3, from the tee you have to hit over a meandering stream and the green is two tiered with two bunkers to the front and one to the side. I hit my best shot ever, solid, bullet straight and I thought it was going to drop for a ace but it landed 15 inch or so short, what a feeling!. I made a a couple more holes with some good iron play and putting was good enough. Had a few bad shots with the irons.

Just the driver that is really killing me and longer clubs off the tee box, a few weeks ago I thought I had cracked it with the driver as I had a spell where it was managable and most where making the fairway, now I cannot hit one good shot with the driver and am managing just with the 3 iron.
Today I hit 3 drives on the trot that just popped high up in the air, I gave up and pulled out the 3 iron that went slightly right but in the fairway fringe.
Then I can go and drive a bannana right in the rough and loose the ball or hit a bad pull hook or straight left.
I just don't know what shot will happen off the tee or how to crack my problem!

WOULD SURE LIKE A RESPONSE FROM SURGE ON WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU HAVE A PROBLEM LIKE THIS AND HAVE HIT THE WALL!

I am not shouting just making it noticable and hoping Surge picks it out and responds, long shot I know! 

Cheers Keith 

          

Just viewed yesterdays video and todays. I am having success not doing a practice swing (most of the time), and spending that time really focusing on Alignment, set-up, then do the swing like I practiced at home or on driving range. Once alignment and set-up are good, usually the shot will follow.

Cheers for the responses guys.
 
I think you could be right about the speed of the takeaway and thats why Im not getting it in the mitt correctly first. The only thing I will say is that if thats correct, wouldnt I be pulling alot more shots to the right as the club face would be shut before the tree. Even with this visual issue Im still hitting it fairly ok, probably 7 out of 10 shots are fine and Im not pulling it, maybe im correcting this in the tree ( still turnin my hands ) and thats why. Its more the fact I want to get this part right and mirror Dons swing, and maybe I just cant !

Oops. Wrong comment in the wrong place. Sorry.

I know that Dragonhead used a technique where he dangled a bob from a popsicle stick that he held between his lips and let it bump the knuckle of his thumb. That worked for him, but each of us is a little different in our proportions so maybe you're better with your hands just slightly further in. The idea is not to let them get so close that your arms crush your chest, and not so far out that they're dragging you onto your toes.

Thanks for the heads-up, Robert, I'll have it tuned in , in the background, of course.

I have had a problem for years in that I just can't seem to catch the ball cleanly.  More times than not, I hit behind the ball with my irons, which results in a fat shot or a shot that doesn't go as far as it should.  What can I do to correct this?

Robert F:

  Where and How do you watch online? I have Shot Tracker of course, but no live video feed -- except some of the featured video clips.

   Amos

It's a kid's club that he uses for demonstration purposes on the porch
so he doesn't go whacking the rails and furniture. :)

Once again, the Surgeon is in my brain LOL!

Yesterday, I played at the course where my next tournament will be in two weeks. I was having lots of trouble with this very subject. Surge, you are amazing.

I shot an 88 and made my first two birdies of the year (Turned 62; got 2 birdies). I was either getting pulled in too much (sitting on my haunches) or leaning over too much. It took until #12 to get it right - par 3, 153 yards - and I made a picture perfect Surge Swing (sorry, no video), landing the ball pin-high, 10 feet right of the cup. I sank the putt for my first birdie. The second one was on the downhill par-4 16th, 278 yards. The end of the fairway is at 98 yards, so I hit 5-metal off the tee, leaving 114 yards to the pin. From there, I did everything exactly as Surge teaches and the ball hit 10 feet left of the pin, spun to the right, and stopped 4 inches from the cup. I also had 4 drives of over 230 yards, each of which was less than 5 feet off the center of the fairway.

Unfortunately, I had 4 holes on which my mind wandered off somewhere and I couldn't find it LOL.
Those resulted in an 8 on #4 (OB), a double on #6 (air-mailed the green with 5-metal from 180 yards), triple on #8 (par-3 - ball came 45 yards back down cart path into water), and a double on #17 (tried to go over a tree that I think even Phil Mickelson would think twice about - I'm not Phil ;-P). The rest was 4 pars and 8 bogeys. I hit 6 fairways and missed 5 others by less than 2 feet (no rough to speak of). I only manage to hit 4 greens. I had 26 putts, 9 of them one-putts.

Overall, I'm feeling pretty good about my game. If I can get away from the mental error, I should be able to get down around 80 very easily, maybe even break 80.

Kevin

Amos, here's the link ( I hope) for the live feed.
http://www.pgatour.com/live-vi...

Boog

To clarify, actually Amos both of those are issues with weight transfer (timing or not doing). There are setup issues (improper alignment where the shoulders and hips are crossed can get you hitting fat or thin, stretching for the ball can pull you onto your toes as you swing and you hit fat, etc) as well as performance issues to look at. The best way to solve the problem, though, is to work through the program step by step. One of Surge's great secrets: Who cares why you hit the last shot badly. Do it right the next time. :)

Hi Surge:

Thanks for your hints, recommendations, and suggestions via email.  They are quite helpful and would like for you to keep me on your address list.

I have a question:  What is your recommended setup to hit a draw off the tee?

Thanks,

Jack Sellers
Tulsa, OK

Thanks for everything but I have just given up golf!!
Have encountered wet type macular degeneration in right eye; the ball is just a black blur when I look at it with right eye only.  With only one eye functioning depth perception is lost.  I really can't tell where the club is vertically relative to the ball.  This is new to me but logically there must be many one-eyed golfers
playing out there, probably some playing well.
Do you or some of your experts/associates have some good advice for me?
Surge Fan,
Hank Sherrard

sorry, I had to edit, I accidently chopped off the last part of the string, but it is functioning now. Also, don't be worried when you see in the header it says "the players", that was just the tourney from when I saved the url. :)

Keith,

Great news on the birdies--and watch out for your son. The kid sounds like he's a shark in the making.

I'm assuming that your driver was not fitted for you, correct? A lot of the inconsistency really could be the club, especially if it's really ill-fit. Have you measured your WTF and checked it against the recommended driver length chart? (I'll include it again below--note these are all in inches, not cm like you crazy Europeans do things.)

WTF.......Driver length
29-32.......42.5
32-34.......43
34-36.......43.5
36-37.......44
37-38.......44.25
38-39.......44.5
39-40.......44.75

Once you have the starting length, measure your driver shaft (sole the club and measure along the back of the shaft from the ground) and place a string or rubberband around the grip at the length noted. Try hitting with that as your imaginary butt of the club and see if it helps. Also, make note as best as possible about where on the club face you're hitting the ball.

Mike,

You are right in that. I have had 5 rounds of 75 or less in the last 7 years. In each of those rounds, I have basically played without thinking of anything except not causing pain. 4 of those 5 followed pretty severe injuries (including a broken ankle), which should have kept me from playing at all. All I did was concentrate on not making it hurt worse. I've played on broken ankles twice and a torn MCL once. The MCL got torn during a round when I slipped on wet grass on a 40* slope making a swing. Unfortunately, I was walking and on the 5th hole; had to finish the front 9 in order to get a cart. Played all 18 (shot 78), went to the ER, and found out it was torn. That was 6 years ago. I didn't get to play for 10 months afterward. When I started back, I found the Surge.

For my best stretch of golf yesterday, my left ankle was bothering me and I was thinking so much about that, that I didn't think about any of the mechanics - just swing in balance. It worked real well. I need to figure out a way to do that all the time. I shot 48 on the front and 40 on the back. So, yeah, I know there are lower scores out there that I am quite capable of shooting if I can keep my mind on what I am doing.

Kevin

Hank, before you give up, I would like to encourage you to give it a try and see if you are one of those who are able to develop skills with limited vision.  I have very limited depth perception due to retina damage in my left eye, yet I play regional tournament tennis and local tournament golf, with some success in each.  In addition to one-eyed golfers, there is a cadre of blind golfers, where a handler assists the golfer in setting up, and the golfer takes it from there.  There are blind pianists who have developed spacial feel for knowing where the keys are, and there are blind chess players who can not only put their hands on the piece they want to move but can memorize the board and the locations of all of the pieces on it.  Michael Jordan shot free throws with his eyes closed in runaway games, and John McEnroe demonstrated that he could hit reasonable serves with his eyes closed because of his perfect toss.  I'm sure that I use the usual trick that people with limited depth perception utilize--they use  the surroundings to help them locate an object in 3D space.  In the case of golf, that would be the ground.  This explains why I can't tee the ball up as high as I want to--I have to barely sweep the grass on my drives, or else I  am likely to hit way off center.  I hope you'll give it a try.  Who knows, you might have some gifts that you didn't know about. 

Also, if you have Shot Tracker open, scroll over to the 16th Hole in the bar at the top and click on the Video symbol.

Hi Hank,
Don't give up golf just yet.  I lost my left eye around thirty four years ago, just at the time I was getting deeply involved in tournament Target Archery.  I continued on in this sport for another thirty one years before retiring.  During that time I had developed considerable success in competition, administration and coaching on Club, State and National levels.  Last year I took up golf (I am now 74 years of age but quite fit) and discovered Surge in November.  His techniques have helped me overcome the lack of depth perception and allowed me to thoroughly enjoy the game..Work at it mate.  You may have to change to left handed which is not all that difficult.

John Thompson
Western Australia.

Boogm: 
 
    Thanks Pal

     Amos

Hank

I play every week with dad.  He has a group of fellow he has been playing with for 35 years.  Just as I moved up here to Oklahoma, the 4th person in their usual group decided he could not play as much as the rest of the fellows.  Now, we try to get him out there  with us at least once a month when one of the guys can't make it.  He is in his mid 80's and is legally blind.  He can't drive, so one of us always picks him up and brings him home afterwards.  He only has limited peripheral vision.  We help him get lined up down the fairway.  On short shots we get him lined up and tell him how far it is to the hole.  I have seen him hit the green from 150 yards with his 3 wood more than once.  We get more excited about his shots sometimes than he does.  He can putt his tail off with no help, because he can turn his head to the side to see the ball at his feet.

While he might not shoot what he used to, he is out there having a blast.  The rest of us get a lot out of having him with us occasionally.  I wish he could come play more.

Don't give it up unless you absolutely have to.

Where there is a will, there is a way.

You are in my prayers,
Dick

Thanks for that RF, My driver is 44.5 and I did it back to front at first! and couldn't work out why I got 38-39 wtf and could only get 32 max!
But my WTF is approx 32" so driver length should be 43", I need to grip down a couple of inch, I have done this before and have now put a band at this point so I will practice drives at the range.
I have a swing flaw that is for sure and just haven't got it yet, what has also crept in to my game due to the grip change I think is sometimes I feel stuck just before impact so think the face is too closed.   

Sorry to hear about the eye problems, Hank, but I'm sure there are solutions. One thing of note is that, as long as you can align the club head and the ball with your left eye, and maintain your posture in the swing, you should be able to hit the ball without looking at all. Keep your focus in the swing on moving your arms around the nape of your neck, and try to keep your palms perpendicular to the ground, and the contact really takes care of itself.

As a fellow Liverpudlian, glad to have you on board. I've been a disciple pf Surge for 12 months now & my ball striking has definitley improved. Only wish I had found you 20 years ago! One thing that comes to mind from my own experience is that you must remember thatthe shoulders turn BUT they are on a plane which is determined by your address position. It follows therefore that your left shoulder must go slightly down & not out. If you can figure this out it should help but Surge's system works.

Frank, about 16 months ago, I quit mid-round out of frustration because I hit the ground behind the ball on several, no, on many swings in succession, not including drives.  My problem, it turned out, was two-fold.  After getting some ideas from various golf blogs, I got a pro to watch me swing, and he confirmed the two-fold problem.  First, I was not executing the bump properly, and I was behind the ball too long.  This was compounded by the fact that I was releasing the lag way too soon because I had no knowledge about holding the lag to get more club head speed.  Thus, the radius from my shoulders to the club head was lengthened too much before impact, and coupled with being stuck behind the ball, the extra length to the club head make it hit the ground  behind the ball.  I'm sure that there are other causes that make me hit fat still, but I seldom hit the ground behind the ball anymore.

It was so bad that day that I stopped playing out of frustration that I can still picture the hole and location of my last swing. 

I think Surge shortened his shaft so he wouldn't hit that damn branch that had been hanging down. It looks more like a jockey's crop than a golf club. It seems to me that it is distracting when veiwing the videos. I'm glad you brought it up. Now that the weather has changed, (it's summer-time Surge), it would be nice to see a video on some grass! I'm beginning to think maybe Surge is wearing an electronic ankle bracelet. Just pulling your chain Surge!

Hi Walburghian, thanks for taking the time to reply there..... Can you go into any more detail on this theory please as I dont quite follow what you mean...???? Cheers

Hank Sherrad:

    I don't have macular degeneration or glacouma -- but  I do have cataracts in both eyes. So far it mainly affects depth perseption on the longer shots - without my "seeing eye dog" (GPS rangefinder) I would be totally lost on anything more than about 110 yards.
    Also, the ball tends to "disappeat suddenly" at about the 150 - 160 yard mark -- specially after contact with the ground.  It always amazes me how "a white golf ball can disappear in a green fairway" at least 3 times a round.

     I say all of that to say this -- HANG IN THERE! Where there is will, there is a way!

    Keep hitting them STRAIGHT and LONG

    Amos

Frank:

   Most  fat or "chunky" shots have one of two causes:

   1) hitting from the top -- leading with the arms and shoulders
  
   2) improper weight transfer - staying on the rear leg

    The best solution is to start with bump, follow with arms and shoulders. It really is a balance issue.  If you are in proper balance, then the bump and the FUS are pretty easy to accomplish. If you are "out of balance" it is very difficult ot do the bump and the FUS anywhere near correctly

   Keep hitting them STRAIGHT and LONG

   Amos

Surge, I enjoy all of your comments that i get from you. I'm just a weekend golfer, and I really enjoy the game. In your videos you have stated that the driver is the hardest club to hit, how true that is. I struggled with my driver and kept slicing the ball to the right. I tried everything I could to fix it, so I went back through all of your first videos and found my problem. It turned out to be my grip. What i thought was a netrual grip turned out to be a strong grip. I have since ajusted my grip and am hitting the driver straighter and farther.  Thanx for the videos they have helped tremendously. 

Surge, thanks for a most informative video on how to properly accordion into the set up position. I, like you,  followed the original question concerning this and the replies. I took Robert F's  routine to be quite insightful and am slowly working it into my set-up. Glad to see you reinforcing it here today. I really like the give and take that this blog allows, as new Surgites draw from the experience and overall knowledge of the older ones.
Boog

Hi Surge, Ben from Liverpool England here.
Ive been an avid student of your swing for 6 months now and it has defiantly improved my ball striking and lowered my scoring.
I feel like I have the concept of the swing down to a tee ( excuse the pun ! ) but Im struggling with one aspect of it which I hope you can help with.
Ive been studying my swing on video and comparing it to yours, and the issue I have is Im still slightly in the SBG at the top of my backswing. When I do a practise take away before my swing ( like you do ) the club comes to my toe line and is parallel like yours, but when I take my proper swing, the takeaway seems different as much as it doesn’t get to parallel before you go up the tree and is more “inside”, and when I reach the top of my back swing my hands are not by my head like yours, but more round in the SBG, & with the action / reaction theory, my hands at finish are not by my left ear as yours are but more about 6 or 7 inches away.
Initially I thought I was turning to much in the 1 piece takeaway ( dog wagging the tail ) before I lifted, but on checking my video I don’t think I am as the wide knees are stopping this and also, when I try and not turn so much I feel like Im not turning at all . Another image for this problem is that at the top, my left bicep isn’t hitting my chin, its more my shoulder because my arms are more around the back.
Do you know how I can fix this, or can you advise the feeling you should be getting from start of the takeaway to get it parallel before you go up the tree to the top.
One final thought, Im 6 foot 3 and I have checked DJs swing out and his seems slightly different to yours Don, could the height be the issue???
Hope you can help Surge.
Keep it vertical Y’all !
Ben

Like many of you wanna-be low handicappers out there, I'm always looking for an excuse for my bad play rather than the real reason, (lack of talent). But I did make a discovery recently. Have you ever noticed that you play better with a particular pair of shoes. I have several pairs as I'm sure most people do. Other than the color, (to co-ordinate with the outfit), I have shoes I wear when I walk rather than when I ride. I have one particular pair I have worn out. I always seem to play better when I wear them. I decided to make an assessment of this phenomenon. They seem to have a slightly higher heel, a strong sole, light and very comfortable. I haven't been able to match these shoes with anything I've found at the local golf stores. I've resorted to purchasing my shoes at regular (not conventional golf ) shoe stores. I buy Sketchers, (and the like),  with small knobby soles, very stylish and comfortable. I've seen an improvement in my game. If golf is 50% between your ears, 10% of my game is in my feet.