Today's daily stems from a question raised by Darryl Patenaude of San Diego. It's a great question and one I hear quite frequently from my students.
"What things shown on the Golf Channel instructional programs (The Golf Fix, School of Golf, Playing Lessons from the Pros, etc.) can be used by PPGS followers?"
Well, Darryl, if the Golf Channel analysts (and I would add in those that cover the professional tours on the other networks as well) are speaking about the golf swing, then the way to tell if it is of value to us is to use this litmus test: Does what you are being told conform to the laws of physics and physiology? If the answer is yes, then listen up. If not, turn the channel since what they will be talking about is a rotational swing theory. Chances are you'll be watching something else.
You see, ever since the X-Factor first swept through the golf world in the early 90s, just about the only swing taught to PGA teaching professionals has been a rotational one. So is it any wonder that this is the predominant swing of our time? But it wasn't always that way. Prior to the X-Factor's introduction, most of the teaching pros and touring pros favored a more traditional, vertical swing. Just look at today's Champions Tour and you will find plenty of guys that learned the game before the world went mad for rotational swing theory.
And as a student of the Peak Performance Golf Swing, you have probably come to know that a limited turn, 3/4 vertical swing delivers the same distance as a rotational swing but with far greater accuracy and with NONE of the back pain and joint damage associated with an X-Factor type swing. God didn't make the human body to withstand the extreme torsional forces required by that kind of swing.
Now, if the analysts are talking about putting or about course management then you may find things that will help you improve your game. But if you hear them extoll the benefits of bigger driver heads and longer shafts don't even bother to store that info in your mental file cabinet. It's worthless, in my opinion.
So help me spread the word about the benefits of PPGS. Go find a couple of friends, introduce them to this blog. If everyone of you out there found just two people who stay and find value in what we do here, we will triple the size of the Surge Nation overnight. Think of all those bad backs we can save!
And now for a little "Lucky Strike Extra" as they used to say back in the day. I was rumbling around in my office the other day and found a copy of my original instructional video Straight Golf. It was the video I filmed in 1994 to accompany my book, Golf Plain and Simple. I gave it to my marketing director as background material and he has convinced me that we should air a few minutes of it as it directly talks about X-Factor and provides a great rebuttal to the claim that a rotational swing is the only way to achieve maximum club head velocity.
So sit back and enjoy watching a much younger (and chubbier) young golf professional with really big eye glasses demonstrate why a vertical swing is a superior way to play. It is as true today as it was 17 years ago. And by the way, that good-looking guy in the sweater is Dr. Ned Armstrong, my student, my friend and my mentor on all things of an orthopedic nature.
Keep it vertical!
The Surge
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