Today we are going to talk about finding your place in space. A while back, Steve Smith posted a really good tip in a discussion on the blog that concerned pre-shot routines. It is so good, I want to reprint it here for all those who didn't see it the first time.
"When Robert describes what Surge does pre-shot, it sounds like exactly what I do with one exception. Once I have set the club down and aligned my feet where I want them, I look to the rear along my toe line and pick a spot on the toe line behind me. Then I extend the shaft behind me to cover that point and lift it up.
That seems to give me a feeling of where I want to be in the back swing and when I return the club to address position and start my real back swing, I have a better idea of where I want to be. This is DJ's (and sometimes mine) routine of lifting the club parallel to the ground to sense the toe line for the lift up the tree.
My level of play picked up quite a bit when I started doing that simple thing."
Once again, Steve has some really good advice for every Surgite out there. His simple pre-shot routine component would be a nice addition to make as you take a practice swing or two. And in reality, the idea of "Feel the swing, then swing the feel" that we talk about so much is just another way of helping you find your own personal place in space.
The path of the Peak Performance Golf Swing is tightly defined by two points. Point A is that singular spot at the top of your backswing where your forward arm is over the toe line, the club is vertical (between 11 o'clock and 12 o'clock from a down-the-line perspective), and your hands are even with or slightly above your head. In the FUS, Point B is also a singular spot where your hands finish over your forward shoulder, close to your ear, and your body is square to the target in a perfect T-Finish. (If you own my 14 Drills To A Better Swing DVD, this is Drill #7, The Cactus Drill). Since your hands have to be opposite each other on the grip, there is only one correct spot where Point A and Point B can occur. Given differences in our physiological make up, everyone will have a slightly different "place in space". This is another area of the Surge Swing that has parameters that you need to explore to find what works best for you.
But if you practice The Cactus Drill and pay attention to the other placement clues I've given you, you can learn to lock those two spots in your mind. If you do that, your swing will be following a perfect path that is as predictable and solid as a roller coaster track. It will be a flowing and graceful arc that will give you a smooth, efficient and consistent golf swing.
Keep it vertical!
The Surge
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Comments
I don't think about the
I don't think about the catcher's mitt in the BUS or FUS . I just know that the clubhead will pass through that place in space if I start the BUS with a slow turn back with the back hip. Try the clubhead against the baseboard drill to verify this. You have to learn to coordinate this slow move back with the hip which flows into the lifting part of the BUS. The "up the tree" visualization is just a reminder for me of where the swing is going during both the BUS and FUS(i.e. high and vertical).
Not too long winded Dave
Not too long winded Dave.
Sometimes the things I write are so long, while trying to say something that can be misunderstood, that I realize I might as well just cancel the whole comment.
I had one that was almost a page long one time and took me quite a while to write and it felt a little weird when I hit the "cancel" button. ;-)
I guess I would have to show you what I mean with the Medicus. It may be one of those things that is too hard to explain with no visuals.
BTW if you take the club away slow enough to not hinge, even though the motion is against the hinge, it would work if you don't mind the very slow takeaway.
Make sure you don't cross the line and make the "low and slow" takeaway that so many teach and Surge warns against.
http://www.swingsurgeon.com/Ho...
Edit: Well we have company this weekend and they are still asleep so I might as well add a little to this and be long winded myself. Ha ha!
The hands are basically over the toe line for the entire swing, not exactly but close.
The palms stay perpendicular to the ground throughout the swing.
Any movement side to side with the palms perpendicular is against the hinges of a Medicus.
To get the entire club shaft to the toe line requires that side motion along with lift.
Most people (even those very good at this swing) don't in fact keep the palms perpendicular during this phase of the swing.
The closer we can come to keeping them perpendicular during this phase the better but the further we get from doing this, the less likely the Medicus is to hinge.
So basically the further we are from palms perpendicular the better the Medicus performs in this phase because the Medicus is designed to follow a path 90* to the palms (like a Karate chop). To get the club head to the toe line correctly the back of the right hand and the palm of the left hand must go against the grain to be correct, but will rotate in the direction of the tree (making them no longer perpendicular to the ground) when incorrect.
Most of us are incorrect in this phase as it is. The last thing we need is a training tool that promotes this incorrect action even more.
I haven't studied one single video where the golfer (even Surge) isn't slightly off of palms perpendicular on the way to the tree with the back of the left hand slightly up and the back of the right hand slightly down, but the good swings at least come very close and very quickly correct themselves once reaching the tree. The more incorrect ones have the palms off of perpendicular and never really correct themselves and continue on up the tree off of perpendicular and are therefore laid off at the top and likely in the SBG.
That's my long winded "best shot" of explaining it.
Ha ha!
ÃÂ Around 1985/86 we had a
ÃÂ Around 1985/86 we had a third shift supervisor who would do the same thing, and all while standing still. One minute he would be talking about your assignment for the night, and all of a sudden, he'd be dead asleep, with his eyes still open, just standing there swaying back and forth. We used to play a lot of tricks on that poor fellow. He was rather young, fresh out of college and never worked the graveyard shift before. He didn't last too long, before they moved him on to something else.
With your club as an
With your club as an extension of your forward arm get into the address position behind the ball, now move your feet till the club just touches the ball with the face aiming at the target. This should get you into the ball park anyway. Unless your clubs have alot of offset the 7 iron should be in center of your stanceÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ Dan
"Keep it vertical" sounds
"Keep it vertical" sounds objective, of course, but when you get into the actual PPGS swing elements, ÃÂ "vertical" becomes a bit more subjective. ++++
It was actually Doc Griffin that first read between my lines and helped
me understand that there was some latitude in the "vertical" swing.
RAY:
RAY:
Sounds like your primary sound settings somehow have gotten switched to Mute. If you are using a windows system, you should have a small speaker icon in the lower right corner of your monitor. Click on it and a volume control box will open, then make sure the Mute is unselected there. Good luck
If the American guys
If the American guys struggled with putting on the Sydney greens wait until they play down south in the President's Cup on the sand belt greens near Melbourne. ÃÂ The Sydney greens in comparison would be like putting through some typical green side cabbage rough at a US Open! :-() - I'm not kidding they are slick with unfathomable break, but I guess Tiger has been there, done that and conquered so that counts for something. ÃÂ I'm hoping for a good contest and the Aussy Open was a great warmup for Freddie's team.
Another practical gem of a
Another practical gem of a tip from Steve or should I say "Hoss" {as in hits the ball like a :-() }.
A while back a seemingly simple straight forward and almost a Captain Obvious type of tip had a big impact on me. ÃÂ On the transition from the BUS to the FUS during the bump you allow your arms to drop into "the slot". ÃÂ Well for some reason "the slot" was somewhat vague for me and I was coming over the top, hitting from the top etc, until "Hoss" made a comment about dropping the arms back down to the "toe line" - BINGO! ÃÂ Man what a difference a simple notion can make. ÃÂ ÃÂ
Thanks Steve for you valuable contributions to the blog and I enjoy reading them and others when I have time. ÃÂ BTW I will respectfully drop the nickname "Hoss" and it wasn't coined by me either but by a certain club fitter :-()
I've been watching snippets of the world's #3 Open on TV, I wish I could get there personally and watch it live, and its good to see Tiger playing strong. ÃÂ I'm not sure if I'm seeing things but I get the impression that Tiger is making a mini bump on the transition to help reduce the snapping of his left knee.
Anyway my moneys on Bubba Watson as the non Aussy to win because I like the way he plays. ÃÂ ÃÂ Regards, Craig
Eric
Eric
If none of the ideas below
If none of the ideas below work try shutting down and restarting your computer
The weird thing was that they
The weird thing was that they really only struggled in the third round.
I guess the pins were just in trickier spots that day.
Sounds like us T.This guy
Sounds like us T.
This guy would also fall asleep standing up. Don't know why he didn't fall down.
At break he would be eating his lunch and would fall asleep and sit there with his mouth open. We would put whatever we had to eat in his mouth and watch to see if he would notice that it wasn't what he was eating.
He would wake up and finish chewing up whatever we had put in his mouth and never did notice that his sandwich somehow now tasted like apple pie.
;-)
Craig63 Watching it live
Craig63 Watching it live online and enjoying it. Augers well for the International team for next weeks President's Cup so far. Woods dropped three shots yesterday. Your friend Bubba[who I like too] was twitchier than a hoss with a blowfly up it's derierre with the putter. Woods is 6shots back with a wealth of talent in front of him. It makes for a great final day. May the best man win on the day on his play. Reason not commented until now, obvious, glued to the screen ; - ]
Steve Smith, Like the idea of the spot on the toe line to the rear, will give it a go. Advert breaks during the Open, out onto the range mat on the back deck [porch] for a few minutes swing practice.
Slooowing down is my big bugbear. Sports wise fast hands boxing, running, ski-ing, badminton, tennis all played at speed. Now need 80% and I know it! It is coming slowly.Decades of speed,speed,speed. Now I need Tem po and Ti Ming +++
Yesterday visited a small Highland gathering in Upper Hutt, NZÃÂ Weather not so good. It was the first time my wife had seen Highland dancing live and Irish dancing, together with piping competitions. Children from 6yrs of age upwards. The skirl of the pipes had me with goosebumps the whole time we were there. The number of Scots/Irish there was amazing. The comment my wife made summed it up for me, while she watched the Highland dancing and the sword dancing competition, "Now I know why the Scots are everywhere in the world. They have light feet!" hahaha
Greetings from Wellington,New Zealand to all Surgites. Will find my place in space NOW.
I found this move easier to
I found this move easier to do when i finally internalized pre-loaded heavy right.
I have aÃÂ question about
I have aÃÂ question about ball placement when chipping uphill. Where should the ball be placed? Back , middle or forward of the stance? Does it depend on the club you are using?ÃÂ Thanks for you help.
They are all falling apart on
They are all falling apart on the greens today Craig. Looks like Senden or Day.
There was only one "Hoss" and he was the "Bonanza Bloke". Ha ha!
Maybe he meant "Hoss's 'ss.
Bubba has missed fairly easy birdie putts on 7 holes on the back nine. Tee to green he is playing very well but can't buy a putt.
Tiger not playing as well but also can't buy a putt.
Thanks Steve. Your
Thanks Steve. Your description of the feeling of weight distribution, at address, when preloaded sounds like what I have been looking for. It should be easy to repeat. I agree, that preloading heavy right doesn't physically limit the backswing turn, I think that it does encourage me to slow down the takeaway because a fast takeaway would put me off balance in this preloaded position. A slower,smoother takeaway should make it easier to avoid going into the SBG by overturning.
As a side note: I was interested in one of your previous statements that the Medicus training club doesn't work well with the first part of this swing. I practice with one of the older model Medicus 5 irons and haven't noticed any problem.
I meant this comment to apply
I meant this comment to apply to Dave Everitts reply to Mitch. Sorry.
I'm still looking for an
I'm still looking for an idiot proof way, to internalize preloaded heavy right. ÃÂ I'd be very interested in any ideas that you or others, might have to get to that position in a consistent way and what it feels like. I know that the preloading can be overdone. How can we get it just right? ÃÂ During the few months, that I have been reading the blogs someone said that, he preloaded by lifting the heel of his front foot a couple of inches after addressing the ball in a balanced 50/50 position . This gave him a preloaded heavy right if he held this weight to the right while setting the front heel back down. Has anyone else tried this? ÃÂ If I understand it correctly, one of the reasons for this preloading is to act as a governor for the BUS because it puts you in an unbalanced position which limits your turn but how can we get the right weight distribution every time?
Although I'll never go back
Although I'll never go back to my former rotational swing, balance and swaying were never an issue. ÃÂ I never made a deliberate weight shift to the back foot. ÃÂ What weight shift I had ,was just a result of the movement of the club around my body. Preloading heavy right, seems to me, to be a way of ensuring that people are not inadvertently preloading heavy left, and or, overdoing a weight shift to the back foot. I know that it's a vital part of the Surge swing, but I'm looking for a good way to do it consistently and ÃÂ not overdo it.
Rich My sentiment exactly.
Rich
My sentiment exactly. But I just can't see what you are saying.
Steve and Don have reminded me of this and is a drill that a instructor that taught the Jack Nicklaus method that I would take lessons from back in the day. He had me lay a club on my toe line and then take another and lay it on the extended line and had me swing back to that line with the hands about waist high and the club parallel to the ground and then take it up from there. This was to keep me from over turning going back and getting the club stuck behind me on the way down. This is a great drill for this swing and am going to start implementing it in my practice,
I don't know how most others
I don't know how most others do it but I just feel like the weight of my body isÃÂ on my right leg and the weight of my left leg is all that is resting on my left foot.
This would allow me to lift my left heel off of the ground in the fashion you mentioned without shifting any weight if I wanted to do that, so I would say that lifting it as a "check" would be good (although I don't lift it).
The main reason that I personally wouldn't lift it as a check is that lifting the heel in the back swing is something that I am trying to eliminate so I want to feel like the heel on my front foot is supporting as much of the weight of my left leg as my toes are supporting. That wouldn't be as much of an issue for most people to consider as it is for me.
Since I went to the extra foot flare that "problem" is pretty much solved anyway.
Just opinion here: I don't think that pre-loading heavy right has anything to do with limiting the turn. In fact I can easily turn further by pre-loading heavy right. The extra foot flare of the front foot and the subsequent effect of keeping my left heel down during the BUS along with wide knees does limit the turn and at least keep me in the ball park.
Deb, I like the description
Deb, I like the description of your sequence for addressing the ball. ÃÂ I tend to get a little lazy, and just leave the club head laying on the ground while assuming the preload position. Your method does seem to make it easier to find a balance point.
Ha ha! Richard really did say
Ha ha! Richard really did say it all, didn't he.
To the point and very concise with none of the usual "fluff".
Ismael:
Ismael:
ÃÂ One of the main things on hillside lies is to make sure your shoulders are level with the slope. Another thing to consider is the already built in loft of the hillside, that will effect the loft of which club you use. If you hit a 55* club off of a 30* slopped hill, you are effectively hitting an 85* lofted shot. As to the ball position, you should experiment with different positions to see the results, further back will produce less loft and further forward more loft. I suggest you try a center location and adjust the position as needed based on your solid contact. Here's a couple lessons from Surge on hillside lies. Good luck and PMG.
DOWN HILL POSTURE 19-Apr-2011
http://swingsurgeon.com/DailyV...
UP HILL AND DOWN HILL LIES 4 MAY
2011-05-29
http://swingsurgeon.com/DailyV...
To my friends who suggested a
To my friends who suggested a solution to my "mute" problem:ÃÂ ÃÂ BINGO!ÃÂ The sound control somehow got accidentally got set to the mute setting.ÃÂ I guess this is why people keep asking me what the color of sky is in my world.ÃÂ Many thanks, Surgites.
Replayed the course of two days ago and in 20-30 winds and temps in the upper 40's and low 50's I had my best round of the year, a 74 (2 over each side).which included two tap-in birdies.ÃÂ I credit this to using several of the Surge's back-yarders and suggestions from you folks.ÃÂ Again, many thanks to y'all (for my Southern bloggers) for your friendship and help.ÃÂ This is really a great site.
Need some help here----the
Need some help here----the sound on the video is set to "mute".ÃÂ When I click unmute the volume is set for no sound.ÃÂ When I try to increase the volume the setting switches back to mute.ÃÂ I had this happen before but cannot remember the solution.ÃÂ Any help out there?
The Medicus should hinge in
The Medicus should hinge in the takeaway if the takeaway is right because to get the club to the tree toe up, while keeping the palms perpendicular to the ground, is going against the hinge. After it reaches the tree it can go up the tree just fine.
When I was trying to make this swing (wrongly) and basically taking the swing up in one plane, and laid off at the top, it worked just fine. As soon as I started making a more correct swing path it was useless and in fact would be a detriment to correctly perform the swing. It is training the wrong takeaway.
I was playing pretty decent golf with that wrong takeaway but as soon as I quit doing that (like from the very first correct swing) the distance I was hitting the ball exploded off the charts.
Sometimes less is more.......
Sometimes less is more.............., are you there Richard?
Steve, thanks for your more
Steve, thanks for your more detailed explanation regarding the Medicus. Very few people would make that kind of extra effort. While I agree with most of your points, I can still manage to get to Surge's point A and B without a breaking of the hinge,even with it adjusted to its loosest position.
To use Surges' words I feel the BUS as a " sweeping upward arc." This arc can be achieved with a coordinated pulling back of the right side and lifting of the arms from the shoulders.The conventional left side pushing takeaway of the rotational swing with the clubhead low won't work with the Surge swing. There should be no thought of keeping the clubhead low in the takeaway. As Surge says the swing is "all about up."
I think that the key point is that the clubhead reaches point A and B with palms vertical to the ground. Having the clubhead and hands vertical to the ground in the mitt position would require a quick fanning open of the clubface and possibly over rotation before reaching point A.
Maybe the reason that the Medicus seems to work for me,is because I have been using it so long, for working on tempo. I'm not trying to promote the Medicus, but it's design does tend to encourage a smoother swing, because any quick moves break the hinge.
The point of preloading heavy
The point of preloading heavy right is to eliminate sway and put you in the proper position from which to get maximum power. If your weight was evenly distributed at setup, you'd have to shift it to the right in the BUS, which would either lead to a sway off the ball, or a reverse tilt if you try too hard to stop the sway.
I like this idea of the swing
I like this idea of the swing best. I've been working on the PPGS for a year and a half, and I haven't had much success with the catcher's mitt and tree ideas. I feel like the toeline and catcher's mitt ideas are contradictory in my mind. I know they aren't really contradictory, but I get lost somewhere between the "catcher's mitt" and "toeline" in the BUS. I've had much more success just turning to the toeline and keeping my right wrist flat (lefty). It's strange, however, that the catcher's mitt idea is very effective in the FUS when getting to my finish. Thanks for these videos, Don. I have all of your instructional material, and I'm working hard on breaking 80 next season!
Would have never known
Would have never known without looking it up. ;-)
I used to work with a guy on
I used to work with a guy on third shift that used to fall asleep in the middle of his own sentences.
Well good luck then.;-)Gave
Well good luck then.;-)
Gave it a shot anyway.
Steve:
Steve:
ÃÂ Here's a good Bonanza trivia question. The character Hoss also had an actual first name. It was only mentioned in one early episode as Ben introduced him to a lady, saying, this is my other son ????, but we just call him Hoss.ÃÂ If you give up, it's easily found through Google.
Surg,
Surg,
Surge,ÃÂ ÃÂ I'm hitting
Surge,ÃÂ ÃÂ I'm hitting the ball pretty straight, but the ball flight seems too high. I only average a 10 yard distance between my 8 iron & 6 iron.ÃÂ What distance should I see between them?ÃÂ
ÃÂ ÃÂ I' veÃÂ tried to get the projectory lower by moving the ball further back in my set up but I still have a high ball flight. How can IÃÂ get better distance between clubs. Could it just be the club angle?
This one was really timely
This one was really timely for me. When Steve and I had this discussion I must have missed the impact of his answer. Spot on Steve. And Surges follow up and framing it with "our place in space" on both sides was super. I am going to start practicing this imediately. I especially like how Surge pointedly states that he knows presicely where he wants his hands at the top on both sides. Great stuff Don. I needed this.
Thank you very much.
Thank you very much.
Must be something at your end
Must be something at your end RayÃÂ ÃÂ The video came up with full sound when I opened it.ÃÂ The only thing I can think of is to check your sound settings through the control panel.
Bill
I'm still not clear on the
I'm still not clear on the Medicus issue. I think that my palms are staying vertical and the face of the club is at a the same angle as my spine at the tree position. If it was perfectly toe up, with the face perpendicular to the ground the face would be over rotated because it wouldn't match my 30 degree spine angle. This seems to agree with the position described in Surge's swing manual. The only way I can break the hinge, is to not rotate the forearms and start the vertical lift too soon with a closed clubface. Looking back 25 years ago when I first started playing golf, this closing of the clubface during the takeaway was a bad swing flaw that took me months to unlearn . The solution turned out to be taking the hands out of the takeaway. ÃÂ The takeaway for the Surge swing is ideal for keeping the hands neutral, because it is the result of a small backward turn of the back hip/ shoulder unit with the hands along for the ride. Perhaps this works for me because my key swing thought, for the start of the takeaway is slow. Maybe too slow,because I sure could use some of those extra yards that you found. I might try loosening the hinge a bit tomorrow to see if I can make it break with my present takeaway. ÃÂ Sorry that I was so long winded Steve, but these blogs do seem to be therapeutic.
I've been getting a little
I've been getting a little sloppy in my pre-shot routine myself.
When I made the comment I was doing a good job of having the same routine, that included what was said in this daily.
Lately since our competitive games have ended for the year sometimes I do and sometimes I don't. Hmmm. Maybe that's why my game has been sometimes it's good and sometimes it's not.
Plus at that time I was doing my laser drillÃÂ fairly often which also let me stay more consistent with "my place in space".
I need to get back to that. When the top of the back swing is "right" I can feel it in the transition and I know I am going to hit a great shot before I even start down. When it's not "right" it's hope for the best.
Surge has said that the FUS is more important than the BUS because that's where impact happens, but for me if I am good at the top the rest is easy.
Seems like that part of the swing should be so simple and yet that's the part I am most likely to really mess up.
Joe:
Joe:
The normal standard between irons is 10yds. I recommend that you have the lofts checked on your irons. A standard deviation between club lofts is 4*. An 8 iron is approx 40* and a 6 iron 32*. However, if your 6 is a little weak say closer to 34* and your 8 is a little strong, say closer to 38*, that would only be the gap of ONE CLUB which is approx 10yds.
In addition, with the vertical swing of PPGS, to get a lower ball flight, work on less of a reverse spine tilt at contact. We should have some reverse tilt take place with the bump, but yours may be too much. Good luck.
Thank you for the pre-shop
Thank you for the pre-shop thoughts, Don. Great stuff.
This one is simple to remember:ÃÂ and if your shot is off and your swing gets busted,simply "put your hands up." ÃÂ Sir...step away from the tee.This thought helps to remind meÃÂ of 2 non-negotiable anchor points. ÃÂ To me, the catcher's mitt, theÃÂ tree, and even "keep it vertical"ÃÂ are more subjective and I tend lack flow with those thoughts.(Not to defile the holy grail, but I prefer "upright" instead of "vertical."I am one of those that processes and applies literally.)