I've started to notice a trend on the PGA TOUR, and I think it's hurting some players from playing their best golf. The finish position is critical to repeatedly hitting straight shots. But, what I'm seeing is a large number of both professional and amateur golfers finishing too far left after impact (or right for lefties).
If you tend to hit a hook, it may be caused by your finish after impact. Remember that you need to swing up the tree and finish with your right hand close to your ear. If you get too wide, you're going to lose the ball to the left. A nice, solid T-finish position is the key to consistency!
Keep it vertical!
The Surge
Comments
Good for All Handicap Levels
Thanks for this Don. I usually shoot in the 70s, but occasionally have bouts of pull hooking and my score balloons. This lesson hits the nail on the head. It is interesting how a seemingly minor error can have such a major effect on where the ball ends up.
Swinging to steeply with the driver.
Just had a personal breakthrough with the Driver and Fairway woods. My interpretation of the Surge swing has worked well with the shorter clubs but not consistently day to day with the clubs requiring more of a sweeping swing.
Surge describes the takeaway as a pulling back of the right side. This has always been a little to general for me. I need to think of something specific to turn. The right chest and the right shoulder blade have worked in the past but did not help to make the swing more sweeping through the ball.
Yesterday I started keying on turning the right armpit around to start the backswing. It worked very well with the shorter clubs but still produced to steep a swing with the long clubs. I still had to may popups and pulls with the driver when doing a deliberate bump. I think that these bad shots are often caused by the head getting a little ahead of the ball before impact.
Just by accident, I discovered that while standing erect and doing a baseball swing with the driver and not even thinking about doing a bump, I could get a very even opening and closing of the clubface, throughout the swing, if I did one very simple thing.
All that I had to do was follow the tuning around of the right armpit with a turning around of the left armpit when in the golf posture. My tempo thought is PIT AROUND...PIT AROUND. This tends to produce a more rhythmical swing without the feeling of having to "gun it", in the downswing. It is easier to stay behind the ball and not chop down on it because of not having to think about the bump and just letting the weight shift happen with the force of the swing. I'm still doing my version of a deliberate bump, with clubs that require a steeper swing.
I think that this swing thought also helps with alignment because it is easy for me to feel the position of the armpits when squaring up to the target line. An added benefit, for me, is higher arms in the backswing and the follow through. Having more air under the armpits is one of the things that Surge teaches.
Golf instructor legend Jon Jacobs described the golf swing very simply as, "two turns and a swish". That is the feeling that this swing change is giving me with the driver and fairway woods.
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Took this swing thought back to the golf course today and it worked very well with every club in the bag without doing a deliberate bump. It also worked well with pitching and knockdown shots. Hit a lot of very straight and pure shots, in spite of a very cold and windy day. It has the feel of a very centered swing without the mishits that can happen if the bump is overdone. It was nice to see that the swing change could be taken from the driving range to the golf course.