I receive a large volume of positive feedback from golfers who have switched to the Peak Performance Golf Swing. Most say they've never hit the ball better and with so much consistency. But, one of the questions I hear a lot is, "How much should I bump?"
The bump is a key part of the PPGS transition. However, before you can even begin to think about bumping correctly, you need to make sure your alignment is spot on. If you're aimed way out to the right or left, you won't be able to bump correctly. Also, if you bump too much, your whole body will begin to collapse before you've completed your swing.
Watch today's video and you'll see that your belt buckle should never move more than an inch during the bump. That's all it takes! Put your back to the sun and use your shadow as a training buddy.
Keep it vertical!
The Surge
Comments
How Much Bump?
Surge,
Thanks so much for this lesson ... this reminder to minimize the bump. I've been bumping like doc, way to much, causing me to lean to far right in the down swing.
After surgery recovery time
Surge,
I am about 6 months out from having a pacemaker and a brain fluid shunt inserted. Doing fairly well in general. Prior to those problems I would drive about 160 ish ( down from 200 ish). My pitching wedge was about 100 yds, my 7 iron about 125 yds. Hadn't swung a club for about 2 months prior to the surgeries. Went to the driving range about a week ago. I could not hit the PW more than about 75 yds. As a matter of fact I couldn't hit any club up through a 3 wood more than about 75 yds. I was hitting about 6 balls with each club. Most shots were pretty much where I aimed them. Due to different club lofts, I would think there should be some difference. Any ideas? My age is 77.
Recovering swing speed
With doctor's permission, after this kind of surgery, I would try to gradually resume all of the things that I do now, to keep fit enough to play golf at age 71. These include walking, swimming, light weight workouts, balance and flexibility exercises year round. I would also do a lot of swings at home with heavy and light clubs. My "Swingrite" would be my most important tool for swing rehearsal and gradually regaining swing speed. It is adjustable for swing speeds from 45 to 110 mph. The best of luck with your recovery.
http://swingrite.com/
http://membership.megsamethod.com/lessons/email-lessons/the-swoosh-drill/
Dave
The Early Swish
Dave, Just looked at the Mike Bender video and it had me very curious on how he advocates the "early release" rather than the "late release" and believe this could be one of my problems as I have been trying to hold the angle between the club and right forearm, as long as possible. Maybe I need to modify this a bit and see where it takes me, thanks for putting this video on the blog and will let you know how i get on with it.
Regards, Neil.
Early Release
Neil, Surge calls "late release"...." drag hold and block." Mike Malaska is another respected teacher who advocates an early release. Hinging and holding does work well with sand shots and short pitches where you don't need a lot of club head speed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8ACufeOZTk
Dave
Mike Malaska
Dave, just viewed the above video and was a little gobsmacked with its content, but it may be the solution i need to correct my "hitting left" issue, which has dogged me in 2015. Played in 3 comps while on vacation over Xmas and was hitting the ball well for most of he time, except for several occasions when i was pulling the ball way way left out "of the blue", thanks for the tip, Neil.
Love that word "gobsmacked."
Thanks for increasing my vocabulary ,Neil. He has some interesting videos and I've spent a lot of time watching them.
Dave
Mike Malaska
Dave, had some success in a Sunday comp yesterday after viewing the above video and it paid dividends. My last 5 competitions were all well above my handicap, even on Saturday where i came in at 11 over. I Had no chance of getting any practise for Sunday and just showed up thinking "well here goes" and came in with 38 Stableford Points, 2 better than my handicap, so I'm excited about the future as some of my shots were just "bullets".
One query I have now is with the grip pressure and as you know Surge recommends this to be around 3 from 5. Is yours similar or did you need to experiment with various grip pressure levels, would be interested to know as I feel a softer grip may allow the hands to come into the body a little easier, as I did drag a couple of tee shots during the game.
Grip pressure
Hi Neil,
Good stuff Neil ! Hitting bullets is fun!
I use a soft counter- clockwise rotary waggle to preset my grip pressure while stepping into the shot. I want a even grip pressure with both hands that allows me to feel and control the clubhead. This kind of waggle gives me sufficient grip pressure without overtightening the forearms. I suppose that would be about 3 on a scale of 5. I don't do any kind of a waggle after addressing the ball because I don't want to be thinking about hand action or lose my preset grip pressure. I try not to think about grip pressure or what my hands are doing during the swing and just trust that they will do their job.
I understand what Surge is saying about having firm grip pressure but haven't had much luck thinking about gripping it more firmly. I feel that I get better results erring on the low side of the grip pressure scale. If I had any tendency at all to overswing, felt like I was losing control of the clubhead or could feel the clubhead twisting in my hands at any time during the swing grip pressure would be something to look at.
A good test to see if you have sufficient grip pressure is to hit a few balls without reassuming your grip in between shots. Hogan used to do this as a grip test. Doing hand strengthening exercises like squeezing a wet towel also helps me.
Dave