5 Reasons Why Swinging To Parallel Doesn't Work

Sun, 06/01/2014 - 08:00 -- Don Trahan

I'm wrapping up my trip overseas, but wanted to give you one more quick tip on why swinging to parallel just doesn't work. Golfers who follow the teachings of the Peak Performance Golf Swing are certainly in the minority, but that shouldn't stop you from believing that this is the superior swing.

You should all know by now that the PPGS is the most body-friendly golf swing being taught today. If someone doesn't believe you, just simply tell them that it's been scientifically proven as the better swing. You actually gain more speed by NOT going to parallel in your backswing. Again, that's a fact and I've got the documentation to prove it!

Check out today's video and I'll give you 5 reasons why swinging to parallel doesn't work. You'll be equipped with the facts for the next time your buddies tell you that your swing doesn't have equal power as theirs.

Keep it vertical!

The Surge

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Don Trahan Demonstrates the PPGS Swing

Comments

Robert Meade's picture

Submitted by Robert Meade on

Another reason parallel or past it is a lie for the far majority of us is in the funny and now famous way our dear Surgite DH would say it adversely effects our chances of good "ti ming and tim po", especially timing. Getting back to the ball and hitting it square (or not) is one of the miracles of golf and the reason most can never get any consistency. 3/4's aids greatly in solving that quandary. "Square, solid, on and on while accelerating". This is what we all want. One of the best examples of powerful and long without parallel is JB Holmes. It was great to see him playing well again in recent weeks and actually winning. He has nether an intentional wrist set nor goes back to past 3/4's yet bombs it a mile. There are now countless examples of long hitting and accurate Champions tour pros that have shortened their swings with still plenty of distance and super accuracy.
Really proud of my wife Cindy. She is a model Surgite and being that I taught her how to play less than 3 years ago, she only has ever known the PPGS swing. Vertical, 3/4's and hitting it longer all the time. The past few times out she has had lots of pars on holes she formerly couldn't reach and even a couple of birdies. Seems she reaches new mile stones all the time. She has broken the 85, and I expect her to sneak under 80 by the end of this summer. She rarely ever reaches 3/4's and you'd be shocked at how far her little swing delivers the ball. It is me that she now kindly reminds to not over swing! I actually bought her golf balls with the words printed on them,"Down the middle Cindy" Never have to look for her ball. Love it! Thanks again Surge for this golden advice:)

dickc@mchsi.com's picture

Submitted by dickc@mchsi.com on

You discussed that when using a parallel swing more times than not the club head is decelerating at impact. I recently videotaped my swing & when we shot the video head on or 90 degrees to the target line, it appeared that the shaft flex was bowed toward from the ball as it approached the ball. For the first half of the swing, the shaft was lagging the grip and club head. Was this a visual effect (camera angle, etc.) or does this indicate that the club head is decelerating as it approaches the ball?
Note: I've been struggling with my swing lately & sure enough I was taking the club past the 3/4 turn. Thanks Richard

Robert Meade's picture

Submitted by Robert Meade on

Richard,
Regardless of the speed of the swing it is normal physics for the shaft to flex a bit during swing, however it has been concluded that regardless of the swing speed and flex of the shaft, most of the extreme flex seen through photography is distortion. So, no the photos do not indicate deceleration.

The following video is a rather long but interesting one that seems to prove that MOST of the bend seen again is distortion and not real. However there has been shown to be some bending during the swing as the club actualy bends for and back many times during a swing just not as much as seen in many pictures. Even if you change your swing the distortion will show up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dToMXNNpbrM

kjmduke@aol.com's picture

Submitted by kjmduke@aol.com on

I had a slow-mo of my swing and saw the same visual as Richard and thought the same thing, I was decelerating. Glad to see your response as I basically could not believe it and gave up thinking negatively about it. Kevin

dickc@mchsi.com's picture

Submitted by dickc@mchsi.com on

Thanks for your response & the attached video demonstrating shaft distortions. It's one less thing to worry about! RIC

Steve Smith's picture

Submitted by Steve Smith on

I'm not getting why anybody would ever have to argue with their buddies about whether their swing has power or not.

It either does or it doesn't. When you tee off if they are consistently past you they win the argument and if you are consistently past them you win the argument.

MikefromKy's picture

Submitted by MikefromKy on

My buddy is 63 and gets his driver out about 260 which right now is 60 yards past me do to a years worth of problems I have been going through . I tease him about taking him to the local hospital to get him tested for steroids all the time I think he gets longer every year. I need to get my strength built back up. I have played 3 weekends in a row and each time my distance gets a little longer and scores go down a little.
Its funny I am hitting my driver around 200 yards but it never leaves the fairway. It will be nice when I get back in shape. I just got cleared Friday to get back on the tread mill.

Robert Meade's picture

Submitted by Robert Meade on

Mike short but in the short grass is nothing to feel too bad about. Good to hear you're starting to get back in shape. It can be a long road.

MikefromKy's picture

Submitted by MikefromKy on

Robert

I do not mind being short and in the fairway. What is taking getting used to is shooting in the 90's instead of the mid 70's. I am playing in 1 gym shoe and 1 surgical shoe / boot. I am a little paranoid to go hard with weight shift on to the left leg right now. I not in a hurry to rush anything at this point. I am just happy to be alive and have my left leg.
Now I may have a new challenge to learn to play and score well if I don't get the distance back. Either way I will have fun trying.

raygawlak@cox.net's picture

Submitted by raygawlak@cox.net on

Hi ho Steverino- Right you are, old chap. I usually hit first (and mostly from the fairway) since my golfing buddies are from 10 to 40 yards past me. Since they are 8 to 12 years younger than me it doesn't affect me too negatively. Wish I could attain more clubhead speed but at the age of 74 that ship sailed quite a while ago. Really like your comments and suggestions and have benefited from same many times.
Regards,
Ray

Steve Smith's picture

Submitted by Steve Smith on

It's all relative anyway depending on who else is in the group. ;-)

gkey63's picture

Submitted by gkey63 on

I just wanted to comment on video quality: nice to see it in HD. Surge is looking really good too, fit and trim. Excellent.

Kevin McGarrahan's picture

Submitted by Kevin McGarrahan on

I received notification from my doctor that I am scheduled for rotator cuff surgery a week from tomorrow. Knowing that I will not be able to play for a while, I decided to play a round yesterday afternoon at Brookside in Arab.

The greens are in awesome shape; I would rate them an 8 or 9. Every putt ran flawlessly. If I had done a better job at reading them, I would not have had 38 putts, including three 3-putts and one 4-putt. I missed five 3-foot putts, all downhill, right-to-left.

As for the rest of the course, I would rate it a 1 or 2. The fairways are basically scrub grass with random patches of Bermuda. I had one decent lie in the fairway. For all the rest, the ball was sitting on hard pan between clumps of grass; worse than hitting out of a divot. Quite a few of the fairways have radical slopes that make it virtually impossible to keep the ball on the fairway. Even so, I managed to get five of them. On the rest, even a perfectly straight ball landing on the high side of the fairway rolled off the other side into very difficult or unplayable lies.

In spite of the course conditions, I managed to enjoy myself. Unfortunately, because of my shoulder, I could not get any power in the swing, leaving every shot significantly shorter than my previous round. On every hole, I was playing one shot extra. On the downhill, dogleg right, Par-4 2nd Hole, I managed to get my 2-metal to run out to 218 yards, past the dogleg, giving me a pitching wedge to the green, which I put to 6'. I missed the first putt 2" left, but got my par; the only one.

Back to the shoulder - I immediately knew every time I overswung due to a sharp pain. When I swang properly to 3/4, I had no pain at all; pain-free PPGS. I will have to be diligent with my PT after surgery so that I can get back to playing as soon as possible. However, my doctor doesn't think I will be able to play until after Labor Day. We shall see.

Dragonhead's picture

Submitted by Dragonhead on

Kevin,
A week on Wednesday you will be in my thoughts and prayers for a positive result to your rotator cuff surgery and I know that all Surgites will be doing the same. As one who has undergone the procedure years ago now I can tell you it will be a frustrating time and patience will be in demand and then some. May you be swinging with the rest of us sooner rather than later mate.
Yesterday was our first time out for a while and it was a day my wife and I came back both smiling after some good golf. As a rank beginner her putting and chipping are scarily good : - ) The only part of my round which could have been improved to give me better scores was putting. The wee flat stick was either short or long on some of the holes. As my daughter is visiting at the moment with her dog I was let off the leash today-so I went to the course with only my putter and SW. I used 3 balls all of a different brand, A Wilson duo, Bridgestone e6 and a Srixon Soft Feel on the new club practice putting green.It is a great addition for the members in comparison to the older one. Challenging and much larger. Consistency of distances was the main objective.I soon had the balls dropping and/or on the very long ones close consistently. Later chose the ball I liked most and continued with 3 of them and was stunned at the results. Big SMILE! Then used the SW with the same 3balls and measured the distances with my Garmin S1 watch. Made full shots from lush rough and then half shots. Then bald lies and repeated the process. On a whim I dropped 3 Wilsons and repeated the process and there was a 10yd difference consistently-interesting. Back for a second putting session and left smiling. Now for the real challenge tomorrow or Friday.
Just remember Kevin you can practice putting with only your shoulders turning as I do now without aggravating your post-op condition before September possibly-then chipping etc. We will all be interested in your progress and will be sensibly cheering you on.
Be diligent but cautious my fellow Surgite ; - )
Best Wishes
DH and DL in NZ

wolftitan's picture

Submitted by wolftitan on

Kevin, sorry to hear about your shoulder. I was unfortunate to also experience that same surgery 6 years ago. I had a small partial tear of the rotator cuff and a lot of calcium build-up. I had the surgery and did the rehabilitation and it took six months for me to regain my full golf swing. This will be a painful process, more so than you might think. The first few nights I slept in a chair but I can tell you that after two weeks I had my arm out of the sling. I know that this helped me. Some doctors want your arm in a sling for 4 - 6 weeks; my feelings were that the arm would become even weaker and take even longer to completely heal. Stick to you rehabilitation and fight thru the painful moments. It will be a long process and there will be some days after the surgery you will have doubts about your choice to even have the surgery. Believe me; everyone does with rotator cuff surgery it is one tough procedure. Good luck and stay vertical.

jmwalker480@gmail.com's picture

Submitted by jmwalker480@gma... on

Started using the surge method after my first knee replacement 18 months ago. Had my other knee done 7 months ago. Am up to almost full strength now. My irons have never been straighter or longer with no pain in knees or legs. Still working on the driver. I compensated for so long with the bad knees that I'm having to rewire my brain to convince the knees they can take the increased head speed. Love the outward position of the knees and the tree position on the finish. My handicap is dropping and my distance is further and more accurate than it was prior to my knee problems that started in my mid 40's. My golf buddies razz me about my 3/4 swing and lack of turn but shut up when my ball is 30 yards further on the fairway. Only problem is the zipper scars when I wear shorts... Thanks Surge I can now golf into my 80's!

Robert Meade's picture

Submitted by Robert Meade on

Kevin,
Sure wish you well and a fast recovery from your up coming shoulder 'fix'. That's how I have come to view the things we seem to need as we get a lot of mileage on our bodies. Some times unfortunately a major 'repair' becomes a wiser choice than everything else we try first. Like maintenance on an automobile there comes a point where major repairs and replacements become needed. The good news is that although recovery from any surgery may take longer and be more painful than expected, the long term result is usually good now a days. My cousin just went through the same surgery and recovery and after about 4 months is now doing quite well. (he's 59).
Hang tough pal and you will be in our thoughts and hopes for a complete and as rapid a recovery as possible.

Kevin McGarrahan's picture

Submitted by Kevin McGarrahan on

Thanks, Robert,

I had the surgery on Wednesday and it's already less painful. Unfortunately, they haven't come up with a way to trade up to a newer model body ;-D I just take these things as they come. It will take as long as it takes. I will do what the doctor and PT tell me to so that I can play again in the future. I have a friend who had the same surgery but did not do what he was supposed to do. He still can't swing a club after 15 months. The same doctor that did my knee did the shoulder, so I am confident of a complete and reasonable fast recovery.

Robert Meade's picture

Submitted by Robert Meade on

Glad to hear it went well Kevin. Matter of time and you'll be back playing again.