Special K - No Way!

Surge Nation

Well, it looks like we might just have a few days of calm weather.  The official count was logged at 70 twisters in a 24 hour period for the whole region.  That is 70 too many for my comfort.

Keep these folks in your prayers,
Dick

I like Dropbox if you're asking about sites to upload files larger than your email limit and share them with specific people.

Hi Surge,
CY from Australia here. Enjoyed your video tips very much and I have been using your PPG swing for a few months now with definitely less pain to complain about. In your book, you commented that a light club is a fast club but you were referring to the vertical position of the club.  I am thinking of buying a new driver and 3 wood and I would like to hear your view on the weight of the club and shaft with reference to the PPG swing.  I am playing an R7 with a 65 gram regular shaft. Would I get the same or better distance and more importantly less elbow pain using a light weight shaft like the new 39 grams Cleveland Black driver?

Opps, it's posted now, sorry for the goof:)

Edit; didn't mean to leave ya'll guessing if I had lost my mind or what.

Dick

All you need do is ask.  How's the rib?

HI Surge,
Time and time again, as my golf game goes pear shaped - I think - Left knee! Then I steady it with outward pressure and sure enough and that is usually enough to steady my game again. I had some problem for awhile of being too steady; your post a month or two ago helped considerably. The outward pressure is only for the Backswing, to keep the turn to 70 degrees - then comes the bump. I have found the bump difficult to time, but I think I am getting the hang of it now. I do a practice swing and deliberately move my hips as I start the downswing. But in the actual stroke, I don't even think about it - and the hips seem to do the job by themselves.

Dick:  Man I'm glad you made it thru OK!  Pretty rough stretch of bad weather over your way.   Hope you can get everything cleaned up and get that rib pain down a few notches.  Good weather here in UT today so I actually got to play the local course - nice to get out and enjoy the sun and warmth!  Take care and we have you in our prayers.  R2

I find it works best if you use a shared folder and share that link to the person you want to have it. That way you can keep files back and forth in it.

 I wouldn't know how to play pain free, haven't been in that condition for several yrs. With the arthritis there are usually several body parts sore, stiff and achy at the same time. Thank the lord for Aleve.

My Tue eve 9-hole league starts tonight and I am unprepared. To date, my lowest 9 this spring has been a 44 yesterday, with a few double chips and 3-putts. I think that once the short game feel returns I will be back to threatening that 40 boarder.

The hand/thumb is still soar during play, but I can play without the support strap now. I hope to get some range time in today before play, but that will depend on the plumbing job I am about to head out on.

My Thur morn 9 hole league also starts this week as well, and the Mon eve league starts in two weeks.

And I haven't even had time for any practice or to play with my new toys, this just isn't right. I had more free time while working full time. It must be the age time connection thing. The older we get, the faster time goes by. Takes twice as long to get half as much done, or so it seems.

But Ain't Life Grand! I am told that the other side is even better, Much Better.

Surge, always enjoy your reminders concerning the knees, especially that front knee. it is really key for success with this swing. It's what keeps us stable and able to return to the ball and square to the aiming line. It's the key to a limited 3/4 backswing and avoiding the SBG. I constantly remind myself to keep the front foot flared and the front knee flexed and quiet. This along with good alignment not only the feet, knees and hips but the shoulders square and not open. Otherwise I fight coming across the ball and tugging it left or the slice/fade. When I keep the lower body quiet I can swing at it with some speed and hit it solid more often. As Surge says, hold the lower body more and swing the arms faster.

 Lynn

I am feeling great.  I am being a good boy, but it is really hard not to go hit some balls.  I can start putting tomorrow, and light chipping on Friday.  Nothing more than a half swing till May 10.  Darn it, that is still almost a month away.  The next PAT is in mid June.  That will give me a month to work my way back to where I need to be.

Don't worry guys, I am going to let it heal right.  I don't want to do this again.  I don't think I am going to lay it on as heavy this time as I did last time.  I think I will limit myself to about 3 hours of practice a day this time, even when I am cleared to go full blast.  I will just work smarter and not so hard this time.

Keeping it vertical, if only in my mind, in Oklahoma,
Dick

Dick

Like my mother always said, "patience is a virtue". I don't expect you to be a saint, but slow and easy for sure.

Heading out to the long course in a bit, so I'll hit a few down the middle for ya. Smarter is always better. Why is we get too soon old and too late smart? ;0)

I think it would all depend on you, and not a "general rule." There is a limit to how fast your arms can swing, which will vary from person to person, regardless of how little the club weighs, so going below that point you would definitely lose distance. There's also an upper limit to how consistently your body can return the club to square, beyond which you lose control so gaining distance becomes irrelevant. You need to find what, for you, is the sweet spot of weight and weight distribution for the club.  There's also the matter of length of club. Most off-the-rack clubs these days are made too long to properly swing with a vertical swing like the PPGS.

You might want to look at some of the information from Doc Griffin about clubs (and the possibility of getting a driver from him through his distance fit program that will likely be better for you than any club you walk into a golf store to buy, and not much different in price). Go to www.docgriffingolf.com for more info on that. 

 R2

Thanks pal, always good to hear from you.

I am feeling much better already.  Not much pain today.

Glad you got out there today.
Dick

DJ/Surge, so simple but so effective. When I'm lining up my shot I stand back and
line up from the target line to a spot in front of the ball and appear to be waving my club
at the ball. My mates are always having a go at me as they don't know what I'm doing.
Then after the shot goes straight down the middle, I just turn around, smile and keep my mouth shut, LOL. 

Hey Surge, You broke the code for me! I've always been told that I tend to reverse pivot, but I've never been able to figure out why...Your last comment about the left knee going into Special K looks like the answer.

Back to the Range...Thanks!

Bob W.

BTW, I still suggest you use, "Surge here, Home on the Range!" as your opening line.

I agree with keep it simple.

Last week when we rebuilt my driver we were missing around and hitting shots while we waited for the glue to setup enough to leave with it. We got my swing on the computer and I swung two different ways in the BUS. The first way I focused on swinging the club with the with the shoulders to 70* my hands tend to suck inside to quick like this and get in the SBG. The second way I just swung the club back without thinking of turning the result were 70* shoulder turn and the hands slightly inside the toe line to 3/4.This was my thought all day Sunday just swing the club.     

Surge:  Thanks for the very timely reminder!  Had a chance to play today and would just like to echo your words that a quiet lower body makes a HUGH improvement in ball striking.  Hit some of the best shots ever with my driver and the key was not overturning and keeping that forward knee "in place" thru the BUS.   Love this swing and love to play this great game!  R2

What do you mean when you say the  wide knee outword pressure?

Practice 3 hours a day!!  You da man!!!!  R2

Clearly you don't have (or simply haven't looked at) the Foundations Manual or basic instructional videos. This is a basic element of the PPGS setup. Knees directly over the feet as if you were a little bowlegged rather than the triangle-leg setup in more mainstream golf instruction. The idea is to set a stable base to restrict turning. 

Really good 9 there Amos.
Here's my report from this mornings 9 before work at 9 am (6am-8am) at muni.
Great start. Par,par,par. Next hole the par #4 13th. Good drive (my third of three fairway thus far) in the middle right side. 168 left. 6 iron to the middle of the green. 40 feet. Easy two putt, or not? Left it wowfully short by 10 feet. missed the par putt- three putt bogie. 14th-par. 15th-bogie. 16- bogie 17 always a tough and long par 4, missed a 12 footer, bogie. Okay a birdie at the relatively short par 5 18th would give me a 39. Good drive, center of the fairway. Good 5 wood, 5 yards in front of the green. 58 degree looked good but slid by about 12 feet. Downhill right to left birdie putt.............. just missed, tap in par 40 for the nine. At work now awaiting a 10am appointment.
4 strokes from a 36. It's coming soon I hope. I see it, it's within reach now.
5 of 7 fairways.
4 of 9 greens
3 up and downs
1 three putt
3 one putts
5 two putts
16 putts

PMG

Here's a little something that I think you all will like. It is what I need.

https://mail.google.com/mail/?...

Surge

I finally found a way to help the left knee collapse by flaring my forward foot to about 40*. 

PS,  Breakfast was lowfat yogurt and a small bowl of of mini wheats.  No disrespect to Special K. ;0)

Played a round today and ran into something the group may find interesting. A fellow I played with was using, in my judgement, what was essentially a modified PPGS. The interesting change was that he started with what appeared to be a rotational swing but never turned more than about 20 degrees. If you assume a vertical backswing but then lay the club back to about 20 degrees above horizontal you have his backswing. He then made what appeared to be an almost pure arm swing as in the PPGS with his body just following along. His body did not turn quite as far as the PPGS in the follow through. His shots were long, generally above 200 yards, and straight. I did not see him mishit. His problems were short game and putting.  .

 R2

For about 3 months prior to this last PAT I was playing 4-6 rounds a week and then practicing like crazy.  We figured that I was averaging somewhere between 700-1000 shots a day.  It was working fine until I blew the rib out.

I think I was making the pros and the young guys I work with at the course tired from watching me and taking turns working out with me.

I will admit I had a blast during that time.  Can't remember when I have had more fun playing golf.

I owe it all to Surge and the Surge Nation.  Without all of you, I would still be sitting on the side lines, like I did for the last 20 years.

Dick

Don,

Thanks for the tip regarding putting more pressure on your left leg - this has been extremely valuable to me.

Keep the tips coming, You're great.

Thanks,

Tim Johnson

This is A WONDERFUL EXPLANATION BRINGS IT ALL TOGETHER!

Robert gave you a very thoughtful answer. On the thought of which driver might give you less elbow pain. Hmmmnn..... can't say emphatically either way. When you're talking about 26 gram difference it would seem that while it may effect your ball flight resullts that the elbow pain would more likely be connected to your over all swing method and what you might be doing to aleviate the pain through treatment (rest,ice, massage, et.).
Here are some dailies that discussed elbow injuries and treatment that may help;
http://swingsurgeon.com/DailyV...
http://www.swingsurgeon.com/Da...
http://swingsurgeon.com/DailyV...
Just breezed thru these as I was searching for you. There is a ton of thoughtful info here. Be sure and not only watch/liston to the videos but read all the many thoughtful coments from many who have delt with elbow isssues in the three above listings. All very helpful.

Dick Lee:

   Glad to hear you are recovering nicely. Just remember the old Marine manta "That that does not kill me only makes me stronger"  -- Well, maybe.
    As to the tornadoes, I lived in Wichita KS for 5 years and Little Rock, AR for 4 years. I have been through the agony of sweating out "Tornado Alerts" -- and the clean up afterwards.
Hang in there -- All will be better soon

   Amos

Not that I agree or disagree. Tom Watson teaches it in his lesson of a life time but he eliminated the reverse C he lets the heal come up to eliminate the torching of the lower back and promote a full shoulder turn then when he plants the left heal back down it supposedly gives him the rubber band effect. I think M Breed tells people it is ok to  get a full shoulder turn behind the ball with the heal coming up slightly. Seems like everything I here them talk about is to allow the hips to turn going back to eliminate the stress on the back. I think a lot of them have gotten away from the X factor.

Only thing I can say is user beware.   

I recently started to really concentrating on keeping the knees steady and apart. I thought my knees were fine and when I broke down my swing...that's where the real problem was!....It all tied everything together and made sense to me. When I got into the proper setup and REALLY concentrated keeping knees apart and flexed, I then felt the the upper half of my body really loading up by thinking of my waistline turning with resistance against the lower body (think knees apart and turn from waist helped me get into that squatting shock absorber right leg!.....This NOW gives me the feel of  separation and bump forward just when ringing the bell. I was too loose before and this really tightened up my swing. This is now my only trigger...I think good setup and keep knees flexed and turn the upper body keeping lower quiet. I love this swing and this has helped me greatly. I'm now maximizing my power and hitting the ball more solid more than ever.

 Amos

Yes, "This too, shall pass".

I have decided that if the old saying "pain is weakness leaving the body" is true, then I must be very strong right now.

I must admit, I really don't want to be any stronger right now.  I just want to be a wimp for a little while.

Night folks, hitting the rack, got a full day ahead of me in 5 hours,
Dick

I already have one, but I can't find it anymore. What does yours look like, I can't remember what mine looks like. I might have seen it just the other day, not quite sure though. Wish I could find it, I'm heading out for my 1st league round and could really use a boost.

Great daily!  It gets confusing since watching the Golf Channel and all the "Experts" ...the left knee (for righties) is always collapsing .....  I have posed this question in Posts before....so great review.   Thanks!!!

Surge Nation:

    After action report -- "It was the Best of days -- it was the Worst of days"
    On the more difficult front nine, I had 6 of 7 fairways, 1 GIR and 5 chips for one-putts, resulting in 5 pars and 4 bogies for a 41.   Truly, I was putting on a short game clinic. on that nine!
    Alas. I "lost it" on the back nine, normally 3 or 4 strokes easier than the front nine.  I managaed to hit all 7 driving farways but could only come up with 1 par and 4 bogies!  the par was from my only "up and down" on the back side. What really hurt was going double boige, triple bogie and double bogie again on the three shortest and easiest holes on the course!! UGH!!  With another double bogie on the par 5 17th hole -- resulting in a  49  OUCH!!

     Final tallies:
        13 of 14 fairways; 168 yard average drive - with a worst drive of only 129 yards -- hit a "pop up" turning the driver into a strong 6 iron -- but at least it was in the fairway.  All othe drives were in the 175 - 185 yard range.
        5 pars, 9 boiges, 3 double bogies and 1 triple
        1 Bunker, 0 sandies and 1 water ball
        30 putts used -- toatla made putts = 64 ft -- with longest made pusst of 20 ft and 11 feet.

         score = 41 +49 = 90 -- seems to be my "new standard"  lol

      Now to see if it continues on Wednesday

      Keep hitting them STRAIGHT and LONG

      Amos

That's a little goof on my part. I had the link to Bubba and an article and thought I posted it. Just did an hour massage and came back to find the cute responses (and totally logical) from you and Steve. Forgive my senior moment!
BTW, it's up there now.