We've talked a lot recently about how we always want to keep our knees from locking up during the swing by putting outward pressure on them and keeping them slightly flexed. But what if that's not possible due to a physical limitation? That's the question that Al Borgerding, a.k.a. CBorgy, asked DJ and me during our first webcast of The Surge Show.
"Surge:
I have a left knee that will not bend due to an accident when I was a boy. I'm now 76 and have been playing golf for about 40 years. I'm right-handed. Will the swing you teach work for me?"
Well, Al, in a nutshell: Yes! In fact, there is no doubt in my mind that this is the very best swing for you. Remember that the Peak Performance Golf Swing has parameters within which we want to find what works best for our own personal situation. This limited turn, 3/4 vertical swing is totally body-friendly as opposed to an X-Factor type rotational swing that creates excessive forces on your lower back and knees. In this type of swing, a rotational instructor will put you into a wide stance with your feet perpendicular to the target line and your knees leaning slightly inward. As you transition your weight to your forward side you collapse your trailing knee and then lock up your forward knee, using it as a pivot around which your hips and shoulders can quickly rotate well past the target. Compare that to the Surge Swing where we put a bit of outward pressure on our knees and keep them slightly flexed. We want our stance to be narrow and our feet flared 30 degrees or more so that we can maintain our dynamic balance and a quiet lower body until impact.
In your case, since you can't flex your forward knee, I would try flaring your forward foot 45 degrees or more if your injury permits it. This should make the transition to your left side easier for you so experiment with varying degrees of toe flare to find the position which works best for you. And if you do find that going beyond 45 degrees is what you want, then you'll need to pull your forward foot off the toe line a bit--maybe just an inch--so that your heel lines up under your hip. That way you'll be able to maintain good balance as you swing up to a perfect T-Finish.
Good luck, Al. Drop us a line on the blog and let everyone know if this works for you.
Keep it vertical!
The Surge
Comments
We shall see Raymond. As one
We shall see Raymond. As one of our great yanks once said, "It ain't over till it's over" To the victor go the spoils.
Good luck to your side.ÃÂ
Amos:
Amos:
ÃÂ Best wishes with your eye surgery.
ÃÂ I had both eyes done in 2009, a couple months apart. I recommend getting the multifocal lens implants if you can afford the extra cost. I am able to function under all normal conditions without glasses, and just passed my Drivers renewal eye exam last Feb with flying colors. The surgery and recovery was pain free for me, so I hope yours is also.
ÃÂ The very flexible body is
ÃÂ The very flexible body is most likely combined with less flexible arms to keep
some control. The loss of distance can then be gained back by loosening the arms
a bit. Experiment with this and you probably experience slightly more lag, more solid contact, and more distance.
Hope this helps.
Terry, what are you having
Terry, what are you having doneÃÂ for your hand?
What kind of camera do you
What kind of camera do you use ?
Drew,
Drew,
You may be shifting too far instead of bumping at the start of the FUS. If you do that, your hips will rotate too soon, causing what you describe. A while back, Surge described a drill of swinging from in-the-mitt, toe-up on the BUS to in-the-mitt, toe-up on the FUS. This is one of those Know-Your-Place-in-Space drills. Practicing this in slow-motion will give you a good feel to the correct hip motion - none in the BUS; bump; rotate on the FUS.
Good luck and PMGAS
Kevin
It's surgery season I guess.
It's surgery season I guess. Eye hope it goes well!
I need to put that back on my
I need to put that back on my computer myself Keith. It really is a great tool for golf.
I use keepvid.com to download
I use keepvid.com to download to my computer and Quicktime to play it. To get the video from You Tube, right click in the url box, select all, right click in the url box again and copy. Then on the keepvid site click in the box and hit the download button. That should bring up options on what type of file to download to your computer.
There are other ways to download and perhaps another on the blog will show how they do it.
Here are some more funny ones
Here are some more funny ones.
http://listverse.com/2011/04/1...
Wow. I can totally relate to
Wow. I can totally relate to that. I swung the club back like KK for almost two decades while thinking the problem was swing too far inside. I had a flash last April warming up for a tournament and the key was to swing the club head (CH) inside and then start lifting a split second later. Won the tournament going away on an extremely long, tight course that normally would beat me up for a score fifteen shots higher. Since then it is still a struggle. I am thinking a lot of the perception problems have a root cause in tilting the spine and causes a difficult time in finding where vertical is.
A thousand pounds, at least.
I recieved I bonus daily blog
I recieved I bonus daily blog video named 'This should end the debate' by Malcolm Rawle about video camera angles and swing tips which I found really useful and surprised this video isn't on the blog. Am I missing something here?
Anyway here is the link to the video
http://player.swingsurgeon.com...
Regards Keith
It's a Kodak Zi8. Same as
It's a Kodak Zi8. Same as Surge uses to record the dailies.
It's a pretty good camera but there are probably other choices out there that might be better.
It can record at 60 fps (in the HD 720p/60fps mode) and works fairly well for a golf swing but if I buy another camera I would like something with more fps that I could have a little fun with in REALLY slow mo.
It has very, very little internal memory and to take videos in High Def I had to by a memory card (not included).
I like that I can pull still pictures out of a video on the Media Impression player.
When my wife and I were at the beach and she wanted some pictures I just set up the camera on record and when we got home I pulled the pictures that were the best out of the video, and they were all very good.
Taking normal still pictures it always seems like someone in the picture has their eyes closed or something like that is wrong with some of the pictures.
I bought mine on E-Bay in manufacturer's refurbished condition and was a little bit leery of that, since I hadn't bought a refurbished item before, but it has worked great.
Kevin:
Kevin:
I agree with two additional items added to your equation.
Stable lower body + 70* shoulder turn + vertical lift + gravity + proper bump + proper timing and tempo release = maximum club head speed.
Dear Surge, I have used your
Dear Surge, I have used your swing since june of this year and this is my first post.ÃÂ I have gone from shooting in the mid 90's to a 7.5 handi cap.ÃÂ i am very happy with this new swing.ÃÂ i do have but 1 question.ÃÂ Prior to starting your swing i was driving the ball all over but 50% of the time when i did go straight it was well over 280 yards.ÃÂ i am now hitting the ball about 240 yds but its very straight and i am happy with that. but i also lost about 10 yds a club as well.ÃÂ I am 6 foot 3inches and weigh 235lbs in really good shape.ÃÂ my question is, what can I do if anything or any drill to keep the ball straight but get some of my distance back?ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ thanks, Jamie in Pennsylvania
Glad that right arm position
Glad that right arm position has helped. That is key if you want to get vertical. Yes it does feel odd for a while as you get used to it. More normal with practice. As far as how you look on video, while that does tell us alot, if you are now nailing it and the results have improved likely your on track.
PMG!
Hi Robert, yes totally agree
Hi Robert, yes totally agree about the SBG, i cannot seem to get this part right or the combination of lift between the two arms! If I get this right it will probably get me straighter and consistent.
My next thought will be to lift with both arms, I must admit I have been focasing more on lifting the forward arm and keeping it relatively straight which I am just about managing but I guess the back arm is sort of dragging it down or restisting the lift!.
I feel like I am getting closer to more consistent golf!! and a break through.
You have got to be optimistic haven't you;-)
Don't worry about any comments I am fairly thicked skinned, I am not cringing at the sight of my own swing anymore so that must be a good sign...............
Best Regards Keith Kent
MikeÃÂ I pray the surgery
Mike
ÃÂ I pray the surgery goes well.ÃÂ Just think, by the time you're back to chasing that little white ball your mental game should be sharper than Tiger's. ;0))
The earth being round instead
The earth being round instead of flat is to blame for putting too much curve on some of my shots.
KEITH:
KEITH:
ÃÂ ÃÂ Remember the place in space drill, cactus drill. If you get your right hand to it's proper place in space at the top of your BUS, your left hand and arm has no choice but to follow along since they are tied together. Likewise, the same (but reverse) applies on the FUS. Just get the proper hand to it's proper place in space, weather BUS or FUS, and the other must follow. Easier to say however,than to consistently do. Good luck.
Great fun Raymond. Must be
Great fun Raymond. Must be awesome to see these guys deal with that course up close. Do you get to play that one too?
Steve:
Steve:
ÃÂ Thanks for the link. I too wonder why it is not posted on the site with a quick link somewhere. At any rate, I have the link shortcut for future reference to the inquiring minds.
ÃÂ Surge, it sure looks like you are playing the ball well back in your stance, could this just be camera angle?
YES!!!
Off topic, but two items some
Off topic, but two items some may find interesting.
I was marking the length of my shafts based on the lengths recommended for ladies graphite shafts, since the driver length is 43.5", the correct starting length for my WTF of 34.25". One thing I noticed was the total lack of consistency in shaft lengths. My 3-7 FW all had shafts that were between 1-1/4" to 2-3/4" too long. My 6i-9i varied from 3/4"-1-1/4" long, and my 4 wedges were all 1/2-3/4" too long. I had originally checked my driver and 7-iron, and based my hand placement accordingly. Boy, was I mistaken! :-{ I will go outside in a few minutes and hit some shots with these new lengths, maybe try making a video.
The second item is about my 4-1/2 y.o. grandson, who decided he wanted to do some putting. I have an electric ball return and the rug in the den has a very low pile which makes for good putting. Part of the pattern has a 1-1/4" wide, 6" long strip that makes a good line for putting. However, my grandson decided it would be fun to block my putts from going into the ball return. So, I decided to make a game of it and teach him something at the same time. Our putter faces are slightly less than the diameter of a hole (3-1/2" for both). Any ball that hits the face would go into a hole. I putted at his putter and hit it on the face. I then had him putt the ball back and try to hit mine. We did this for about 10 minutes and he quickly became very good at it. He still hasn't quite developed a feel for distance, but he is getting really good at aiming.
Play Golf America.
Kevin
Jamie,
Jamie,
See my replies to WongPhil below and Drew above. A lot of former rotational swingers have problems keeping the knees stable, especially during the BUS. The toe-up to toe-up drill I mentioned to Drew should help.
Good luck.
Becoming a true believer.
Becoming a true believer. Have workedÃÂ toward the SURGE swing for several months.
Have 2 bad knees and a bad back for years ; and, as a 68 yo, the center of gravity has made a cruel shift over the years. Saw the 'Saw Bones' --Orhtopedic Dr.---todayÃÂ ÃÂ for a strainedÃÂ R knee-- done 2 weeks ago. Told the DOC, that the knee did NOT hurt during the golf swing; tho, I am not real sure why.ÃÂ ÃÂ Must be falling onto dynamic balance--or something close.
Yes I have tried this out and
Yes I have tried this out and can say it is highly effective.
Ultimate broken record here
Ultimate broken record here for my nightly tour around the island. ;-)
I played the video frame by frame and at the start of the takeaway the club is still well outside of the toe line at the point that the lift should be vertical.
From that point the only thing left to do is to flip the hands over so the club head wouldn't end up over your head.
When you flip the hands over the back of the left hand is close to straight up and the back of the right hand is down, hence very laid off at the top.
You might be able to "save" the swing at about halfway up in the back swing but with the right elbow tucked, as Robert alluded to, there is no chance to save the swing.
As a contrast click on Robert's 52* wedge video and pause the video when the club head is about thigh high in the back swing and you will see that it is already on the toe line. From there it's no problem to just lift up, no turning the hands over is necessary to get the club in a position to hit the ball.
Edit: I sincerely thought I was done with this subject, at least for a while, but it is so obvious that I had to say it again.
Looks almost exactly like my swing did last winter when I was searching, with the exception of the right elbow, with which I was able to come fairly close to saving the swing at the last minute.
Not a fun way to play.
Amos, the man that got me
Amos, the man that got me hooked on the game and made my first set of clubs scored his first and only ace a few months after having cataract surgery.ÃÂ Positive thoughts and who knows.ÃÂ ;0))
Hey Jim,I am not overly
Hey Jim,
I am not overly flexible or overly strong but I was always very fast with my hands.
ÃÂ Yes he did. He has a
ÃÂ Yes he did. He has a rather long list of famous quotes.
http://www.baseball-almanac.co...
Robert:
Robert:
ÃÂ Thumb surgery on the left hand. I have no cartilage left in the joint closest to the wrist. It is constantly sore with even the slightest movement, and very sore during and after golf.ÃÂ They remove a tendon from the forearm and use it to replace the missing cartilage by sewing it into the joint somehow. I have a female friend my age who add the surgery a year or so ago and it took away all of her pain. So I am hopeful it will work as well for me. I have not set the surgery date yet, but probably early Jan.
Thanks for posting that link
Thanks for posting that link Keith.
If anyone is still wondering about the takeaway from our conversation yesterday (and maybe wondering what in the heck I, or we, were talking about) the visual Malcolm does on what he calls the correct way is about as close to the way I was talking about as I could have done myself, from what I could tell.
It was almost as if he was handing the club to the camera on the toe line with the palms perpendicular, which of course means toe up, and he didn't rotate the palms clockwise when he did it. He simply turned it back there without spilling the drink.
Kids are pretty amazing
Kids are pretty amazing putting a golf ball. By the time they are about 12 years old they wonder why everybody thinks it's hard and all they remember are the ones they made.
By the time they are 40 all they can remember are the ones they missed.
;-)
ÃÂ Good point, T
ÃÂ Good point, T
I'm pretty much the same way
I'm pretty much the same way except that whether I like it or not some rotation at the shoulder socket does happen to get the palm perpendicular on the toe line.
But it's not much, almost too little to even notice.
BTW, I wouldn't care if my discussions were ignored. Ha ha!
I ignore parts of them myself. I just throw occasionally throw something out there that works for me with the hopes that there MAY be someone else that won't have to learn the hard way.
We golfers are a funny bunch though. We are very protective of our back swings and our understanding thereof. We like to complain, or curse, at the results of our shots but it CAN'T be that we are missing something in the swing. ;-)
When I was trying to figure out what I needed to do there was a day when I knew with the first swing that was "it" and the pitching wedge I was hitting took off like a rocket.
I'm still batting 0 on someone else having that moment from any of my descriptions. (But hey there's always the chance of getting that first hit if we keep going to the plate).
This one has been about discussed out though so I'm on break for a while from anything that ain't in the book. ;-)
I just looked and no videos
I just looked and no videos were found.
Used the address you mailed and am in. Thanks.
How to Do Slow Motion in
How to Do Slow Motion in Windows Media Player
By Aurelio Locsin, eHow Contributor
updated:September 3, 2010
Windows Media Player is the built-in video player for Windows operating systems that can handle multiple file formats like wmv or avi. The program displays graphical buttons that you click to control playback. For example, a slow motion feature decelerates the frame rate so you can observe complicated choreography in detail or decipher complex sports actions.
Difficulty: Moderately Easy
Instructions
Right-click the top bar of Windows Media Player to display the pop-up menu. Choose "File" and "Open" to display the Open dialog box.
Navigate to the file you want to play in slow motion. Double-click to load it into the player.
Right-click the top bar and choose "Play" to display the pop-up menu.
Choose "Play Speed" to display the Play Speed Settings pane below the video image.
Click "Slow" to slow down playback to half-speed. If you prefer finer control over the speed, move the Play Speed slider bar left to a number between 0, which is a complete stop, and 1.0, which is regular speed.
Click the "Play" button to watch the video in slow motion. Click "Normal" or move the slider back to "1.0" for playback at regular speed.
Read more: How to Do Slow Motion in Windows Media Player | eHow.comhttp://www.ehow.com/how_6916841_do-mo...
If I may, the vast majority
If I may, the vast majority of folks that I have seen personally that have complained about distance loss have a limited understanding of what the limited turn swing really is. ÃÂ In other words, in their attempts to execute what they thought was the 3/4 limited turn, they were actually not even getting that much turn and the club was not even going past perpendicular on the back swing. ÃÂ The swing looked more like a "knock" down swing regardless of what club they were swinging. ÃÂ If you are doing the swing correctly, you will not lose 40 yards. ÃÂ If you can, send me a video face on and down line of your driver swing. ÃÂ Send to: ÃÂ jgriffin@docgriffingolf.com
Mike:
Mike:
ÃÂ ÃÂ Best wishes and the best of luck to you. I hope the surgery goes well. I'll be having some left hand surgery myself after the holidays.
PMG
Radical T. It is amazing what
Radical T. It is amazing what they can do now.
K2/Steve, great video,ÃÂ
K2/Steve, great video,ÃÂ this problem baffled me immensely early in my vertical learning. I still
today have to manipulate my forearms to ensure I don't go back into the SBG, once I'm
on the toe line. I'm inclined to think that I have greater flexibility in my wrists than most
as I can bend my wrists at right angles to my forearms, while they are horizontal in front of
me, am IÃÂ being presumptuous or can others do likewise?, would like to hear from anyone.ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ
ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ
Hey Raymond,Sitting here
Hey Raymond,
Sitting here watching the great short game shots of Baddeley and thinking that being "an idiot" must be a great thing. ;-)
After watching the Malcolm
After watching the Malcolm Rawle video and giving it a try in the back yard last night I went to the range tonight. I have totally under stood the in the mitt toe up anology before now but until this video didn't realize that I wasn't lifting my arms enough. I guess I thought I had cracked this part of the swing so haven't been giving it much thought until tonight.
The time at the range was great and my iron play was really good and felt good, on the whole most shots were within range of the target I was aiming for which was really pleasing. A few shots where within 10 yds, I practised some really short 20 yard chip shots which was surprisingly good, I was even popping them high in the air like a flop shot but off the matt.
I gave the driver a go and the shots were a lot better than they have been at first and then I lost the swing feel and came in too steep and popped some up high in the air.
As the driver is my weak point I have to decided to concentrate on my irons and short play over winter which hopefully will generally improve my swing feel. Then this will hopefully improve the driver.
Amos, good luck with your
Amos, good luck with your cataract surgery, my friend.
Hey SGW,His link seems to be
Hey SGW,
His link seems to be doing something weird because it took me to my page when I clicked it.
This should take you there.
http://www.youtube.com/user/ke...
T, it sure worked for Tommy
T, it sure worked for Tommy John.ÃÂ Just be sure the Dr uses a tendon with no hooks or slices in it.ÃÂ ;0)ÃÂ ÃÂ A little draw or fade is OK though.
Flexibility and strength are
Flexibility and strength are all relative things. I wonder if the those losing length may have developed a proper release of theirÃÂ wrist cock in the rotational, although erratically timed leading to length but spraying of shots. And, with PPGS haven't yetÃÂ developed the timed and proper release of their arms and right side. I lost a great deal of distance from my 40's to 60's when I rarely played. Now with PPGS I can occasionally hit a relly good long shot for me when I come close to executing PPGS. Doc's point is also excellent, When I was videoing the other day, I could see that my turn and lift were deficient, and especially my T finish (or no T finish).
ÃÂ ÃÂ Looks like you beat
ÃÂ ÃÂ Looks like you beat me to the draw on this one. I like your link better with the pictures.
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