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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: 7 July 2009
Yesterday was a good day on the lesson tee. Sunday afternoon I drove to Mt Pleasant, SC to D.J.'€™s house to be there a day early so we could get an early start on the lesson tee on Monday.... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 6 July 2009
I recently played a round of golf with one of my students and we were behind an extremely slow group that held us up the entire 18 holes. Many times when they left the green, we all hit our... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 5 July 2009
This position is perhaps the most critical in the PPGS posture and was the last part of the setup that I figured out. I discuss all the points and issues of Pre-Loaded Heavy Right (PLHR) in... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 4 July 2009
I was playing golf with Jack the other day and he mentioned that, when he was at the Masters he talked with Doug Sanders, one of the most flamboyant dressers in the history of the PGA Tour and... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 2 July 2009
A few days ago I went to watch a big junior golf tournament for the first time in over 15 years. That used to be pretty routine when I watched D.J. play. This tournament had juniors from 10... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 1 July 2009
I'€™ve got to share this one with you. David, Director, Occupational Health... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 30 June 2009
I was playing a round of golf with long time student JM, a friend of his and my brother Ken. JM has mastered the 3/4 backswing with all his clubs except his driver. He has it for a few swings and... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 29 June 2009
Senior Suggestion for Driver and Clubs I have been writing a few articles about club fitting and the importance of having properly fit clubs to play better golf. I have been closing each... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 28 June 2009
I received an e-mail on June 9th from a club manufacturer who specializes in woods, with a super offer to all PGA professionals. They broke into the club business on Tour building 3 woods,... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 27 June 2009
The PPGS customer service call line got a call from a customer the other day asking why he couldn'€™t hit his driver using the PPGS. My brother, Ken, handles swing questions as he knows the... Read More