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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: 26 June 2009
Why do so many golfers who have trouble hitting their driver seem to immediately blame themselves and their swing? The Number 1 question about hitting a club poorly are mostly referencing the driver... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 25 June 2009
I had a father call me to talk about a lesson with his 7-year-old son, Jack. He loved practicing and playing and was already winning junior tournaments in his age bracket. He went on to tell... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 24 June 2009
I was giving a lesson to one of my regular students a scratch senior amateur who had a real good PPGS setup with the trademark wide knees and the ‚¾ limited turn backswing. We had taken a... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 23 June 2009
I got a call from CC, an LPGA Professional who heard that I was having a lot of success helping players hit the ball longer and she wanted and needed some of that. At the first lesson, I... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 22 June 2009
Well, I'm back home from a great trip to New York. I have to say The US Open is in my opinion, the ultimate test of golf. While the Masters was gorgeous this Spring and produces great... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 22 June 2009
I had been working with an LPGA professional (I'€™ll call her Kay which is not her real name) for a few years. She hit me one day in a lesson with a psychological problem that was bugging her... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 21 June 2009
I was waiting on the practice tee at Harbour Town Golf Links for my first lesson after lunch. Little did I know that it would turn out to be a lesson of a lifetime. The story you are about... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 20 June 2009
It was early March in the mid-1980s. I received a call in my office at the Pinetree CC golf shop in Kennesaw, Georgia. A member asked me if I would work with a young lady that his friend was... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 19 June 2009
Ladies playing golf need fitted clubs just as junior golfers and for that matter all golfers. The key issues for ladies are length and lie of the shafts, flex and grip size and overall weight... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 18 June 2009
Junior golfers are the future of the game. I started yesterday'€™s article off with the same statement and I do it again because it is so true and important. The points I want to discuss... Read More