Daily Video Blog

Is Your Takeaway Ruining Your Swing Before It Starts?
Is Your Takeaway Ruining Your Swing Before It Starts?
Authored by: Brady
Posted on: 5 May 2026

You've probably been told your whole golfing life that you need to keep moving before you swing. Waggle, forward press, rock the knee — whatever it takes, just don't stand still. Surge heard that too. He just never agreed with it.

His thing was this: if you're pressing forward to start a swing that needs to go backward, how do you make that feel exactly the same every time? With every club, every lie, every round? After a while, you start to realize — you can't. That little forward move changes just enough, just often enough, to mess with your timing without you ever knowing why.

What Surge taught instead was to come to a full stop before starting the swing. Feet planted, waggle done, one last look at the target — then still. From there, a simple three-count: squeeze the grip equal in both hands, press the knees out slightly, and go. The toe of the club moves first, the arms follow, and the club finds its way back up the plane. Nothing fancy, just quiet and controlled... Read More

Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 1 September 2011
Comments: 42
I recently gave a lesson to one of my students from the Spartanburg area who has been with me for the last fifteen years or so. He's a good player--his handicap floats between a six and a seven.... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 31 August 2011
Three-Day Golf School in the Northeast! September 9th-11th in Townsend, DE More than 28 hours of hands-on instruction from the Surge and Dave Seeman We cover Long Game, Short Game and... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 30 August 2011
Today's tip is based on some observations made by CharlieY, a frequent visitor to this site. In a comment he posted on the blog, Charlie wrote "I saw/heard something new to me at 1:53 on today's... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 29 August 2011
Last month, I did a daily tip titled The Proper Amount of Turn. As is often the case, this topic ignited a vigorous conversation on the blog that provided the entire Surge Nation, including me, with... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 28 August 2011
Today's tip was inspired by a comment from RogerfromKY during a discussion about my belief that "Good wrist action is no wrist action". Here's part of what he wrote: "All this wrist cock stuff I do... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 27 August 2011
Comments: 6
Over the last few months, I've noticed a small, but consistent, thread of comments from people who seem to be struggling with the concept of the Surge Swing as they transition from a rotational... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 26 August 2011
I was watching the Golf Channel during the PGA Championship a couple of weeks ago and something one of the commentators said really struck me. This former PGA Tour pro was discussing Jason Dufner's... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 25 August 2011
My chiropractor has been a student of mine for a long time; he's an excellent golfer and his handicap ranges between 1 and 3. And even though we are about the same height, he can usually smoke me... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 24 August 2011
A few days ago, I posted a tip titled "Good Wrist Action vs. Bad Wrist Action" that generated a lot of good comments back and forth among fellow Surgites. However, some students were still trying to... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 23 August 2011
I recently received a comment from Gary R., a 71 year old Surge Swinger, about his recent struggles with his new driver. He couldn't seem to stop slicing the ball every time he teed it up. Then he... Read More