Today's daily stems from a recent email that David Hawthorne, of Fairfield, Iowa, sent me. It is a simple testimony to the value of perseverance, even in the face of initial disappointment and criticism from rotational swingers who think they know better.
"Dear Don and DJ,
Just a long overdue note of appreciation. As you may know from previous emails, I have been using your swing principles and videos for almost two years. And although there were times I was disappointed in my performance or the lack of distance, I committed myself to stay with the techniques and think I have finally put them all together. The last couple of points that really helped me get my distance back were:1. not breaking my wrists, and
2: the "Bump" to start my downswing.I am now playing the best golf of my life. I'm 65 years (for another three weeks) with a 7 handicap. Over the past year, I have had two holes-in-one at my country club, won the Senior Club championship, and recently shot a two-under par 70. The guys I play with out drive me by 20 or 30 yards, but often have trouble keeping the ball in play -- both off the tee and with their irons, (they won't listen to me when I sing your praises), so I am content to collect "skins" at the end of each round. Bottom line is that I can't thank you enough for bringing the joy back into my golf game. I feel like a kid again."
Congratulations David on your phenomenal accomplishments this past year and thanks for your observations on the true value of this swing. It won't be long now until you start shooting your age! You email proves that the Peak Performance Golf Swing is not just about about distance (though we give up nothing meaningful in this area to a rotational swing) but it is all about distance and accuracy. I know a guy who used to joke about the 300 yard drives he would consistently hit--250 yards off the tee and 50 yards out of bounds. He's now a committed Surge Swinger and hits the ball 240-250 straight at where he's aiming. Instead of hitting three off the tee, he's consistently hitting his second shot from the fairway into the green. As a result, he is scoring better and enjoying the game once again.
I've often said the #1 Domino in the golf swing is the forward wrist. If you hinge it or cock it at the top of the backswing, you risk initiating a series of cascading swing errors that result in a poorly struck shot. One of my most important Surgisms is "Golf is a game of angles-the fewer the better!" which means that we do not want any wrist action to enter the golf swing as we first swing back to a vertical position with our forward arm over and parallel to the toe line and then through the Forward Upswing through impact. Some of you out there I know will disagree with me on this--but I think that you may be confusing the need to rotate your hands and arms quickly as you release at impact with the rotational myth that you must snap your wrists to generate true power and distance. True power comes from the "snap" we get by quickly rotating the club head from a toe up position to square at impact and then toe up again as the FUS continues up to a perfect T-Finish. Because we only swing our arms in front of our body and because we can do this while keeping our lower body relatively quiet until impact the club head actually accelerates through impact creating a square & solid hit on the sweet spot.
Over the last few years, I've come to realize that another key angle to watch is the one created by your forward knee. Modern rotational golf theory teaches you to take a BIG shoulder turn past 90 degrees, followed by snapping your hips at the start of the downswing and then another BIG turn as you finish with your body facing way off to the side of your target.
Where is the logic in that?
As far as I know, no other sport teaches people to turn their back to the target and then finish facing away from it. Did God give golfers a dispensation from the basic laws of physics and human physiology? I don't think so! This is why keeping your forward leg still is so important. If it moves inward more than an inch during the backswing it will pull your whole left side down and likely lead to over-rotation and a reverse tilt. Likely result? A big slice!
So, if you want to maximize both distance and accuracy, do what David did and stay focused on learning how to make a perfect Peak Performance Golf Swing. There are hundreds of thousands of others out there who have and are now playing the best golf of their lives. That's because this is the only swing that doesn't contradict the physics behind hitting a golf ball square and solid nor does it require the human body to make repetitive motions it was never designed to do.
Keep it vertical!
The Surge
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Comments
I know Dragon Head said he
I know Dragon Head said he was going to do some traveling quite a while back. Haven't heard from Dick. Sent E-Mails but no response. Maybe he's just not ready.
I also hope they are OK and I miss what they brought to the blog.
Steve...It was late last
Steve...It was late last night....lol. correct, not from the stretch.
What great show business that motion brought.
Might be kinda boring if each athlete in each sport had a perfectly replicated, "textbook" motion. (I mean really, watching Charles Barkley trying to strike an innocent little golf ball is just a great therapy. We can get firmer abs in 1 hour from laughing so hard.)
Our quirks and adaptations come with sport, and are part of the fabric. These bring color and interest and variety.
Heck, the PPGS appears to be a bit quirky, but is pretty darn creative, adaptive and functional.
Communication would be so
Communication would be so utterly boring if you took away the colloquialisms and hyperbole and all the other wonderful tools of expression. ;-)
Click on this link and then
Click on this link and then on any or all of the dailies on the bump.
http://swingsurgeon.com/DailyV...
I am playing my R9 driver but
I am playing my R9 driver but it is setup neutral I do not mess with changing the settings. I picked my new wedges up Tuesday never really thought about what shaft they came with just ordered them standard length and stiff.
I was surprised to see that they had DG S300's which I am glad hit them at the range Tuesday and picked up 10 yards and hit them as straight as a arrow.
When I had my mizunos fitted and rebuilt along with my vokey wedges but was not given the option of DG shafts the choices were project x and kbs both good shafts but what I am finding out is the KBS are a little weak in the tip causing a little hook that I do not get with the DG S300 that are in the wedges I have 47 pw , 52 gw , 56 sw and 60 lw. I think I am going to pull the KBS'S out of my irons and go back to DG S 300 in them and see what happens. At standard length 5 iron starting at 37.75 and a half inch shorter for each club down to 9 iron.
Congrats to David for the
Congrats to David for the great playing.
Surge,
I thought one of the best dailies, detailing what can and does most often go wrong with the golf swing.
You even got it right that Hank Aaron (or anybody else) wasn't snapping his wrists at impact in baseball. He had palm up/palm down at impact just like every other Major League hitter.
You did strike out again on demonstrating where the arms are at impact in baseball.
Golf instructors always do. Just can't get their mind around the fact that the arms are not extended with the palms perpendicular to the ground in baseball like they must be in golf. The only time a hitter has the right arm extended at impact is if he has been severely fooled by the pitch and is just trying to reach out and get a piece of it in hopes of fouling it off.
http://www.chrisoleary.com/pro...
The 13th and 14th pictures down are the textbook position of where every hitter would like to be on every pitch. Read the pitch well enough to get in that position and it's a "no-doubter" from the moment it leaves the bat. From there all you have to do is trot around the bases.
"Batters"??? Ha ha! None I
"Batters"??? Ha ha! None I ever pitched to. That would be dangerous.
I'll give you a couple of pitchers but I doubt if even they would teach what they did.
Here's you one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
P.S. I don't think anyone, including Surge, would say that a person can't learn to hit a golf ball very well with different styles. He just happens to believe that his style is the best, and the best for the long term health of the player.
(He wouldn't be much of a coach if he didn't believe in what he teaches).
I commented on another daily
I commented on another daily about receiving my copy of Don's "How to Make a Peak Performance Golf Swing" book about some apparent discrepancies. Before for anyone takes my comment completely wrong, I think the book is very good and will always be in my golf bag. I would recommend everyone purchase it.
....Isn't it funny how we
....Isn't it funny how we compensate for our perceived shortcomings. Our best moments come, of course, when we are just in that groove or rhythm, and it's going well because....it just is.
Thanks for your response here, Steve.
My gosh, you have a way of making pictures with words.
I've got something to ponder today, as well.
Thanks for the comments from
Thanks for the comments from both you and Robert . On reflection , I think I understand now but unsure that I will ever stop my wrists hinging without making my whole swing movement too wooden. I suspect in a truly vertical swing, any overactive hinging won't cause a slice but it could cause a lower trajectory at impact. Flexing the wrist might of course be a completely different kettle of fish and I know how disastrous that can be from personal experience. Anyhow , thanks for the comments.
Marilyn,
Marilyn,
You can also order by phone if you are having a problem on line. 888.847.9464
As to a new driver I recommend the Doc long distance fitting also. Other than that buy from a place which will allow you to try the club before purchasing it. Most of the Golf Stores have hitting areas where you can test out different drivers and even get some store assistance as to your needed specs. Good luck
Marilyn, I just built my wife
Marilyn, I just built my wife the Lady Tech by Maltby. It's designed with ladies and slower swing speeds in mind. It has 15* of loft and the L shaft (L tech also). She will be trying it out this afternoon for the first time so I'll let you know how it feels and plays for her. We also got the 21* fairway wood for her too. These are both sold by Golfworks either in seperate components( for club fitters/assemblers) or as a complete club built by them (golfworks) according to your specs. Of course it would be better to have a swingsurgeon certified fitter builld it for you or communicate with Doc for a long distance driver fitting but this club is an option for you. I will let all know how these play for her asap. You can take a look at it at www.golfworks.com
Just one comment: mechanical
Just one comment: mechanical analyses of a golf swing show clearly that gravity forces do play only a minor role in the total force balance: about 5%.
Good video of Louis Tiant,
Good video of Louis Tiant, but deceiving on the turn of the back. If you watch closely, you'll notice that he returns to a relatively normal pitching position, looking straight at the plate prior to making the pitch.
Surge, I have been utilizing
Surge, I have been utilizing the PPGS for almost two years now, and am completely committed to it. I enjoy the daily video blogs. However, what I want to congratulate you on today is the fact that you are one of the very few people who actually use the "pudding" colloquialism correctly. It is not "the proof is in the pudding," as most people say, but rather "the proof of the pudding is in the tasting/eating," as you correctly stated in today's video blog. I don't know why the widespread misstatement of that saying drives me crazy, but it has for a long time. Glad that you grasp the concept of functionalityinherent to the statement. Pudding that looks good and smells good but doesn't taste good isn't good pudding. Similarly golf swings that may look good and be praised by famous professionals, but don't work effectively, aren't good golf swings. The proof of the golf swing is in the striking, and I agree with you the PPGS is the most efficient and effective golf swing.
Hated to face El Tiante when
Hated to face El Tiante when he was with the Red Sox. Of course that all changed when the Yankees signed him. ;0)
Keep in mind, as Robert
Keep in mind, as Robert mentioned, that we are talking about intentional wrist hinge.
Everybody will have the angle between the forearms and the shaft increase with the start of the forward swing (lag). The only way around that would be to cast the club head out from the top (which we definitely don't want). As long as the left wrist is,and remains, flat during this flex it is not a problem and in fact the release of the lag through the impact zone is where the club head speed comes from.
As long as your forward swing begins with the arms falling toward the toe line with the club butt end first you shouldn't have the "wooden" swing you are afraid of.
How well it looks just depends on how well you execute it.
Surge and DJ look pretty good to me doing it, and pretty fluid.
It's pretty well documented that my swings don't look good at all but I have enough of the important mechanics down that I hit the ball well.
(Maybe beauty will come with more age for me). Ha ha!
Thanks for the number, I will
Thanks for the number, I will call. Yes, a new driver, my end has come off three times, I had it fixed, but it is just done. I will for sure check out Doc fitting. IM 5'4" and small built, so, want one that fits for sure.
Thanks for your help,
marilyn
ok, thanks so much, just
ok, thanks so much, just trying to find the best for me.
thanks again,
marilyn
What gravity does (in
What gravity does (in conjunction with the rubber band effect of stretched muscles) is allow us to exert no conscious effort in the forward swing until the right elbow nears the side, and puts us in a position to swing up to the finish.
When done properly (and we don't get over-anxious) the hands are down to, or near, their lowest point before we kick in the power.
As the hands approach the top and the hips bump forward while the hands continue to rise the tension created along with gravity are all the power needed to get a "running start" for the explosion up.
The best part is that plenty of stretch is provided without any appreciable torque on the spine because the stretch is back and not around.
Absolutely right. He was also
Absolutely right. He was also able to keep his balance under control very well when he returned to a "normal" position. Not something that many people would recommend.
Edit: Yes he was. Ha ha!
I miss 'em too. Hope they
I miss 'em too. Hope they are okay. And Steve; keep the comments coming; they are very much appreciated! R2
Here's one of my all time
Here's one of my all time favorites from JB. Excellent demo of the power of 3/4's, no purposeful wrist cock and the bump is demoed too. Proper kenimatic sequencing of the swing. BTW, as you know he is fairly vertical too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
Here'e another. Notice how his wrists do not change and release until after he hits the ball. "Very little wrist set".
While not a PPGS swing it is awesome and has some characteristics of the PPGS to some extent.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
Here is a conversation I
Here is a conversation I heard on the line one day between two more hillbillies than I am.
What taim is it?
Four adder.
Adder?
Adder.
Thanks, I will rememeber the
Thanks, I will rememeber the 16 degree, im sure they all have good drivers, I will just try them all. I have Adams clubs now...
thanks so much,
marilyn
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