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: 30 January 2011
Lynn Griffin, our Director of Club Fitting, found a question on the blog about irons that interested him and asked if he could answer it in a video. Of course, I said yes. The question boiled down to... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 29 January 2011
Comments: 1
We got a question on the blog recently from '€œNeal of Oz.'€ He said he had a two problems trying to go vertical: he was lifting his head, therefore moving his spine angle, and his club was going... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 28 January 2011
Comments: 2
If you saw DJ talking about his swing at the Bob Hope Classic, you noticed he went right back to fundamentals. He went back to his setup. And that'€™s where he found his problem. That'€™s exactly... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 25 January 2011
DJ talked about it in his video at the Bob Hope Classic: flaring the feet 30 degrees and bending his knees more. Remember, we want outward pressure on the knees. Golfers used to be taught to bend... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 25 January 2011
I was watching the Bob Hope Classic and a celebrity came on at the break to get a lesson from a teacher. This wasn'€™t just a tip, but it looked like a real "make-over." I watched the celebrity'€™s... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 23 January 2011
Saturday at the Bob Hope Classic, DJ found he had a problem with his setup. As you know, a major Surgism is, '€œSetup determines the motion.'€ DJ found his legs were not quite bent enough, that is... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 22 January 2011
DJ sent me this from the Bob Hope Classic. He had a GREAT -7 round and wanted to share some pointers with you. Someone asked me once why I wasn'€™t with DJ at every tournament as his coach. When he... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 21 January 2011
Comments: 2
Jim, from Australia, asked if there is any relationship between chin contact and the bump in the backswing. Yes, Jim, there definitely is and I'€™m going to show you in this video. I call it the... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 20 January 2011
I remember having a new student on the practice range at '€œThe Golf Stop'€ in Columbia, SC. That'€™s home to our Director of Club Fitting, J. Lynn Griffin. My student was having a horrible time... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 19 January 2011
'€œGood wrist action is no wrist action.'€ That'€™s one of the fundamentals of the '€œSurge Swing.'€ Jim, one of my students, sent me a great email, which reminded me of the '€œchin-shoulder'€... Read More