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: 21 August 2011
Today's tip is an answer to a question from Ray McLeod who played baseball for 17 years and finds that he still rotates his arms during a golf swing like he does when he swings a bat. He asks, "... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 20 August 2011
Comments: 5
We received a really good comment and question from a subscriber named Simply Golf the other day, the answer to which should help a number of you get a clear picture of what is considered proper... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 19 August 2011
Comments: 93
Anyone who knows me also knows my views on the nearly single-minded obsession that many amateurs and professionals have with distance. This is undoubtedly because, as the equipment manufacturers... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 17 August 2011
Comments: 27
Perhaps one of the most talked about shots during last week's PGA Championship came from the First Round when Rory McIlroy's drive on #3 came to rest up against a substantial tree root. As... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 16 August 2011
Comments: 58
Today's daily is in response to a yet another comment I've received on the swing drills I've mentioned recently. Amos, a long-time Surge Nation stalwart, wrote saying that after practicing some of... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 15 August 2011
Comments: 67
In the Surge Swing, I give you parameters in which to base your swing. But, like I've said before, we're all different. Whether it's our body type, our amount of flexibility, or our skill level,... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 14 August 2011
People often ask me, "Surge, where do you come up with the ideas for your daily video tips? You never seem to run out of good ideas". Well, the answer is I get inspiration from just about anyone I... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 13 August 2011
Today's tip stems from a conversation between two of our more prolific commentators on the blog, Neil Halden, a.k.a. Neil of Oz, and Robert Fleck. Neil, who actually hails from Western Australia (... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 11 August 2011
Over the past week or so I've posted some daily videos about good drills that I think will help you with the Surge Swing. They've gotten some good responses, but I think some people might be... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 10 August 2011
The other day I received a really good question from one of our newest members of The Surge Nation, Mike Campanale or CampyM as he is known on the blog. Mike's a lefty in his early 60s and has... Read More