Well, it's been just about a year since my most recent open heart surgery. My strength is now to the point where I'm hitting my clubs about the same distance I was before my surgery, and very likely longer.
However, when a golfer is faced with a long layoff from serious surgery, it can take a long time to feel like yourself again. Having the ability to play more certainly helps, but finding the right feel can be quite challenging.
I was hitting a lot of shots very thin and shorter than intended, so I had to really take a hard look at all the aspects of my setup and takeaway.
Check out the video above to see what I found that enabled me to start flushing the ball with absolute consistency again...who knows, it may be just what you need to fix your swing!
Keep it vertical!
The Surge
Comments
Thank for you for the "relax the right shoulder" tip
Great tip to relax the right shoulder. I found myself with the same problem of the club head staying outside too much. A friend saw that my club shaft was tracing out a conical surface as it went back and forward. I overcame that by working on taking the club back more to the inside, but it was all mechanical. Now with this tip, I think I can get it done simply by relaxing the right shoulder and letting it be taken back by the turn. Thank you.
What turns first?
Setting up with the right shoulder not jutting forward and relaxed a little down at address would help to make it easier to get the club head back on the right path. I do think that some part of the right side of the upper body has to lead the band during the backward upswing so that a little torque is created during the turn. Focusing on turning back the right shoulder blade does the job for me without loosing lower body stability as a result of too much hip turn.
I had this same tendency to take the club outside the line and hit the shots that Surge describes, before I realized that my turn was simply too short because I was thinking too much about lift. The genius of the Surge swing is that the master setup position and stable lower body, automatically takes care of the upright part of the swing, so all we really have to think about is making a consistent turn. My swing got a lot better after I learned to relax and feel the "roundness " of the tuning back of the right shoulder blade. Having a simple thought like that means that it isn't necessary to think about the action of all of the supporting muscles of the right side, that make this movement possible.
The other key for me is making sure that I give myself sufficient time to make a full 70 degree shoulder turn. If I do a good job of keeping the knees stable they will do their job and prevent over turning.
The Shoulders
Dave, some months back when I was comparing my setup with Surge's I did notice that his sholulders were a lot closer to being level than I was and immediately changed mine, thinking that his was correct. To me, the right shoulder has to be lower than the left as the grip on the right side of the body is under the left hand and one must doing something detrimental with the spine, to keep the shoulders level. My biggest flaw is always pulling left and as previously mentioned many times on this blog, no matter what i change in posture, grip, bumping, or a myriad of other things, nothing has changed.
When I first saw this video i thought of some salvation, but not to be, LOL.
Curing the pull
Neil, it sounds like you have tried everything but the fun thing about golf is that there is always the chance that a cure is just around the corner. One of my golf buddies has been struggling with pulling his driver for the last couple of years. Two weeks ago he had a $95.00 dollar hi tech swing evaluation (with a video analysis) at a " Golf Tec " in Edmonton and they gave him a simple cure for his swing ailment. They said that the only thing he was doing wrong was overdoing the "low and slow with arm extension" and not setting his wrists early enough. This caused him to abbreviate his turn and often get to the top of the backswing without fully setting his wrists. An over the top pull was the frequent result of all of this. Talk about a quick fix! His driving is amazing now! He was very pleased that he only had to change one thing, to cure his problem. I see that "Golf Tech," is also in Australia, so who knows, it might also have the answer to your salvation.
Golf Tec
Dave, Yep, checked there web site and they have one on the east coast in Melbourne, I travel over that way a couple of times a year, so I might book a session with them. They also have an "online" clinic, so I might start there and see what unfolds, thanks for the tip.
Golf Tec
You do realize that golf tec doe's not teach PPGS right
Golf Tec
Mike, am aware that Golf Tec may not understand the PPGS system, don't think any teaching professional in Australia would either, but have recently had a new driver built by my local Pro and made him fully aware of the technique with excellent results, dropped my H/C another digit in the last two weeks due him looking at me and making me aware about the importance of "TEMPO".
I'm thinking now that I might be able to get others to look at different aspects of my game in tandem with my knowledge and Surges manual to direct them. I can always fall back on Surge when he makes his next trip down under as the last one was extremely beneficial, on POSTURE and ALIGNMENT.
Golftec
That is great as long as they will you. I know a few people that have went to golftec and are in the process of rebuilding their swings to what there philosophy is at Golftec. they started with golftec a few years ago and are still going every week.
I had some health issues myself 2013 - present short version I almost lost my left leg 6 inches below my left knee its pretty much healed up but I have limits with turning on my left leg in the finish. I have just managed to get back to shooting upper 70's we do not have a ppgs certified instructor here locally. I taught myself when I started from Jack Nicklaus golf may way so a vertical swing comes somewhat easy and pretty much understand Surge and the ppgs theory and follow it as much as I can with my limitations. I had a online lesson with Don a few years ago.
Hope you get it figured out stick with it and it will come
Right shoulder and recovery from heart surgery
Surge, it's great to see your video posts again and glad that you are finely feeling better. I had single-bypass surgery near the end of January and give partial credit to you from one of your videos last year about being honest about how you are feeling and telling your doctor what's going on. I had been feeling miserable for several years and then had a bad atrial fibrillation episode Christmas night while visiting relatives in Denver. Of course I didn't know what it was at the time and it finally passed the next morning. That got me to really think about how badly I'd felt for all that time and about three weeks later I went to my local doctor. They sent me on to a cardiologist the next day and the day after that I had a heart cath which showed almost total blockage in two places in the right side artery! They couldn't get a stent in to either blockage area because that artery was curly cued so they had to take care of it with a bypass the following Monday. After some more issues with afib starting two days after the surgery they finally got the meds right and I was able to start walking. And I have walked and walked and walked off 45 pounds so far and my golf swing feels like it did when I was in college!
Which brings me to the golf part of this comment - I coached high school golf for many years and in so many cases the kids that were bad slicers had a rigid right shoulder that would be almost level with the left one at address. Once I could get them to feel that right shoulder relaxing most of their slice went away. When they did that it naturally dropped down more so their entire setup was improved, which as you always point out means there is a much better chance of making a good swing and solid hit.
Super great tip - I need to find your one about the left knee because that has become my most important, if not only swing thought these days!
Golf Tec
See above.