DJ recently took some time out of his schedule and conducted a clinic with the participants of our Swing Surgeon Spring Tournament at Old South Golf Links in Bluffton, SC. He answered all sorts of questions regarding the golf swing and what he's been working on this year out on the PGA TOUR. When asked what he considers to be one of the most important parts of the game, DJ immediately spoke about alignment.
I've said it here many times. Nearly all swing problems arise from poor alignment. In the video, DJ demonstrates how to set up to your intended target every time by using a simple method. By picking a target in the distance but aligning to a much closer aiming point, it becomes much easier to set up to the ball properly aligned.
DJ has played many pro-ams and he claims that alignment is the most common mistake he sees in amateurs' games. But by performing this easy routine, there's no reason why you can't be aligned properly on every shot. Give it a try and be sure to look out for more tips featuring DJ in the upcoming weeks.
Keep it vertical,
The Surge!
Don Trahan
PGA Master Professional
If you can't view the YouTube video above try CLICKING HERE. You must allow popups from this site for the link to work.
Comments
I use the marker in front of
I use the marker in front of the ball as DJ mentions.ÃÂ I believe I do an ok job of aligning my feet parallel to the aiming line.ÃÂ My issue is with aligning my hips and shoulders to my feet.ÃÂ I find I must constantly re-align hips and shoulders back to the right to match my feet. I wonder if anyone can explain this to me.ÃÂ Is it because I'm right handed and I tend to want to turn my right shoulder more to the target at address?ÃÂ Maybe I'm right eye dominant and that causes me to turn my shoulders to the left so my right eye can get a better view. Any thoughts on this?
Zzzzz
Zzzzz
Steve: Awesome joke! Phillip
Steve:
Awesome joke!
Phillip
ÃÂ I also use the same set
ÃÂ I also use the same set up routine as DJ. I also often have my shoulders more open than my foot line and I am left eye dominantÃÂ and have no desire to get a better view of anything because I never look down the target line but am merely setting up parallel to the imaginary line between the ball and the intermediate target.
That only leaves two reasons for my misaligned shoulders.
1. When we place our bottom hand on the club we are having to reach down farther than with the top hand which makes it very easy to accidentally open the shoulder line, and preloading heavy right accentuates it further.
2.The course I play on has more OB right than almost any course I have ever played and you can get away with murder missing left but can't afford a miss to the right. Subconsciously it is very easy to open the shoulders in a misguided attempt to make sure of not missing right EVER.
The reason I know it's misguided is that when I am on holes where there is no bail out and can't afford to miss either left or right I almost always hit my best shots consistently.
Great tip...
Great tip...
LOL Steve:ÃÂ Fun stuff -
LOL Steve:ÃÂ Fun stuff - thanks for sharing this!ÃÂ My daughter (a nurse) was delighted when IÃÂ forwarded it to her at work today.ÃÂ You made our day!ÃÂ R2
Terry:ÃÂ As others have
Terry:ÃÂ As others have said, it's either your slow computer or your provider.ÃÂ There are days that my provider service is so slow that I start the video, hit the pause, then take 50 or more swings with my swingrite before playing the video.ÃÂ Other days, it loads nearly instantly.ÃÂ Today's video loaded andÃÂ ran perfectly for me.ÃÂ Sorry you're having problems but there is a way to work around them.ÃÂ R2
Steve, I can se what you mean
Steve, I can se what you mean, though for most that flare effect doesn't prevent them from having their upper bodies out of whack with the knees, hips and shoulders. Evidently, most have poor alignment regardless of flare or no flare. I do get you though.
My flare of the front foot is moderate at best until I get to the short wedge shots where I will adapt a more open stance depending on the shot. The thing I really like about the set the club down (before) we hit it idea is that it tells us overall if we are lined up well enough left or if our eyes have decieved us again before we take our shot. Surge has also suggested many times that students lay a club down after the shot to see if they were aligned well and that's good too. The biggest advantage to the laying it down BEFORE idea is that it then forces us to get used to visually seeing and feeling what parallel left really is while actually playing. After we get use to being lined up that far left for a while it no longer seems wierd but normal. Then I only do the lay a club down while playing occassionally to see if I have gone back to improper set up habits. Again, golfers will initially feel as if they are too far left but will actually be aligned correctly for the first time in their golfing lives (for many)
Out of the hundreds of Surgites I wonder how many will take the time to do this on the golf course? Likely few because Surge has said though he has given like advice hundreds of times few liston and follow this advice. This is one reason I like to play alone once in a while on a day when no one is waiting behind me and I can take my time in these "practice" rounds to lay
clubs before and or after a swing/shot. I'll beat many just feel awkward
doing something that no other golfers are doing. maybe embarased or
something, I don't know. I do know that it works if practiced deligently
and I would love to take the alignment test in front of Don any time, any
place baby! I think I could now pass with flying colors!
Thanks, this one has been
Thanks, this one has been forwarded on.ÃÂ
DJ/Surge, such a simple thing
DJ/Surge, such a simple thing to do, but so effective.ÃÂ Similarly, I get well behind the
ball and line up my target and ball and pick a spot couple of feet in front. When
I do this I'm waving my club vertically to ensure target, ball and marker are all one
line. I cop heaps of flak from my mates who don't understand what I' doing, but after
I hit a ball down the fairway, I just turn, smile and keep myÃÂ mouth shut, LOL.ÃÂ ÃÂ
ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ
Lots of necessary things are.
Lots of necessary things are...I wouldn't let my mom teach me to play the piano because she wanted me to start by learning the scales and chords and notes and I wanted to play Color My World and Benny and the Jets and Rocket Man. So I learned them on my own. Only problem was I didn't have the basics I needed to do much else.
Most of us wander around the wilderness in golf because we think the basics are for "Zzzzzs".
I knew I should have remembered the "rules" in math class but it was so easy to do it in my head that I never bothered until it dawned on me in the more advanced classes that I didn't have a clue how to do the problems.
Hi Terry, and others,
Hi Terry, and others, concerning the slow video.
I have at times found the video stuttering but found if I clicked on the Youtube link at the bottom of the video it seemed to run faster. It's not usually a problem but, being at the bottom of the world, perhaps I generally get to watch while many Surgites are in bed.
You might have tried this, and otherwise, as suggested, let the video download or play through first before you replay it when it will run smoothly.
Persevere, the teaching is priceless.
Bob (Hilbridan NZ)
Several things can cause us
Several things can cause us to misalign our upper body. I was caught doing this by Surge right there at Old South Links two years ago and still work deligently at squaring my shoulders (and hips) with my knees and feet. It is an easily overlooked set up tendency for many I'm sure.
Here's some observations.
Most right handed golfers line up aiming too far right of target for starters.
Then when they take that last look down the line at their target they HAVE to turn a bit more left to see where they want (or hope?) the ball will end up (the target). That little turn of the head normally brings the front shoulder back and the back shoulder forward thus open. This is one good reason to follow Don's method of not looking up anymore after we have choosen our line. It can simply be that looking up has adjust that little bit open that pre-sets us to swing left which will actually be in the direction of our target (because we have our feet aimed too far right). Follow me?
Another cause? Having our right forearm set up too high in relation to the left forearm. Surge use to call this BAD - Back Arm Dominant. This adds to the tendency to be preset for open shoulders and anÃÂ out to in swing among other unwanted results.
Cures?
Learning to set up in the FAD position. Front Arm Dominant now known as the Master Set Up. This has our right shoulder back,down and soft in comparison with our left. It has our back arm (forearms especially) set up slightly below our front leading forearm.
So Jeff, if I were a gambling man (I live here in Las Vegas but rarely gamble if ever!) I would say you may be guilty of all of these set up sins.
1) You're likely lined up too far right. Don't feel bad, most amatures are lined up too far right and that is why Surge and his team rarely find any students (early in their classes) with correct alignment. So likely the initial cause of your upper body being too open at address is started with you NOT being parallel left.
Suggestion. Study everything on this site about alignment and what parallel left is. Too, look up and learn how Surge does the "two step" in his alignment process. Again you'll find several jewels of free nuggets on this on this site. Too, nothing beats his paid for lessons on alignment.
One of the simple things that Surge always does when he steps into his determined alignment is to approach the ball with the club in his right hand as he places it behind the ball body somewhat open and after he places the clubhead behind the ball (with his right hand only) he then places the front ,left foot parallel left of the aiming line and then adds the right foot and THEN adjust the knees,shoulders,hips and shoulders to his feet-ALL equally parallelÃÂ left of that aiming line. This puts his body lines aimed anywhere from 5 to 25 yards left of the target some 60 to 250 yards away. Get it? If not that's why a study of what parallel left really is would help you.
This is alot of info but if you bare with me I will give you one more idea I got from Surge this past fall at the Las Vegas Swing Surgeon tourny.
BEFORE every shot and AFTER I said I was lined up and ready he would ask me what my target was and would place a club at my footline and have me walk away and look at my actual alignment. 99% of the time I was aimed too far right. He would l lay the club at the target and then I would reset(parallel left), the club was removed of course and then boy did I feel that I was now too far left. I was'nt. But visually it takes practice like this to really see and feel what correct alignment is. Being aimed parallel left automatically helps us also align the rest of our body (including our hips and shoulders) correctly.
Hope this helps
ÃÂ I like the idea of laying
ÃÂ I like the idea of laying the club down along the toe lineÃÂ BEFORE the shot.ÃÂ That should be great feedback.ÃÂ Of course, either practice on the range or not very busy day on the course.ÃÂ I think getting that feedback by doing that multiple times will eventually adjust your mind to the proper look and feel of alignment.ÃÂ Even with that it will be a struggle to keep my shoulders properly aligned.ÃÂ I think it is a valid practice to set alignment and forget about looking back down to the target.ÃÂ I noticed Bubba Watson looks at his target a lot.ÃÂ But he can hit a wedge 90 degrees out of the trees and land on the green and win The Masters.ÃÂ I'm happy to just hit it straight on purpose.
ÃÂ Here's something to try
ÃÂ Here's something to try before you give up.ÃÂ Along the bottom of the screen, look for an icon that looks like a toothed gear, between the CC and clock.ÃÂ It allows you to choose the video resolution.ÃÂ If it is set on 360P, select 240P, and you will see an improvement.
Another thing--look at the scrolling bar at the bottom of the screen.ÃÂ As the white dot runs from left to right as the video plays, check to see if the bar turns grey ahead of the white dot.ÃÂ That is an indication of whether or not the video is downloading faster than you are viewing it.ÃÂ
At 240P, the grey part of the scrolling bar will run ahead much faster than at the 360P setting.ÃÂ
Don't worry. Bubba Watson can
Don't worry. Bubba Watson can't hit it straight on purpose. ;-)
They hold the club and try
They hold the club and try not to cup or bow and minimize flexion.ÃÂ
Believe it or not I have one
Believe it or not I have one "small" (Ha ha!) thing to add to all of that.
If you use the extra flare of the front foot the biggest drawback I have found to it is alignment.
To start with we have to find just how far off of the toe line the left toes need to be to compensate correctly for the extra flare. I have found that lining up the heels does not work, not only for the obvious reason that it's hard to do but is actually incorrect (for me anyway) in the balance of the swing. What works is half way between feet flared equally toes in line and heels in line. Or in reality the center of the arches in line, extra flare or not.
With the extra flare we don't have the good subconscious reference point from our perspective of each shoulder looking parallel to each toe. If we make that mistake the shoulders will be open for obvious reasons.
Laying a shaft along the toe line also becomes a useless endeavor using the extra flare for the same obvious reason that the only true indicator is the "center of the arches line" (my phrase). Makes it near impossible to tell from a video if the feet are aligned properly and almost as hard for another person to stand behind us and check foot alignment. If there was a yellow dot or something on top of the feet over the center of the arch those two dots should be parallel left.
In closing there are great advantages for me in using the extra flare in finish balance, and reducing or eliminating the urge to lift the left heel, and restricting the back swing.
The huge disadvantage is in the further complication of the already hard to get right alignment process.
All things considered I wouldn't recommend the extra flare to anyone learning as long as they have the ability to stay in balance in the finish while rolling to the outside of the left foot normally as Surge has always taught. For those of us that can't do that for physical reasons complicating the alignment is a necessary evil to deal with and the benefits of extra flare are worth the extra trouble in alignment.
Justine Rose might be our
Justine Rose might be our best example of a player on tour that does the same vertically with his club. i do this all day long. Smart move and it works.
as usual I can not watch
as usual I can not watch vidio. it goes on and off, a real pain.
i have tried and tried so have many of my friends and they have the
same problem. Its not worth the problems.
sorry , we want to watch but forget it
Terry
A woman brought a very limp
A woman brought a very limp duck into a veterinary surgeon.
As she laid her pet on the table, the vet pulled out his stethoscope and listened to the bird's chest.
After a moment or two, the vet shook his head and sadly said, "I'm sorry, your duck, Cuddles, has passed away."
The distressed woman wailed, "Are you sure?"
"Yes, I am sure. Your duck is dead," replied the vet..
"How can you be so sure?" she protested.
"I mean you haven't done any testing on him or anything.
He might just be in a coma or something."
The vet rolled his eyes, turned around and left the room.
He returned a few minutes later with a black Labrador Retriever.
As the duck's owner looked on in amazement, the dog stood on his hind legs, put his front paws on the examination table and sniffed the duck from top to bottom.
He then looked up at the vet with sad eyes and shook his head.
The vet patted the dog on the head and took it out of the room.
A few minutes later he returned with a cat.
The cat jumped on the table and also delicately sniffed the bird from head to foot.
The cat sat back on its haunches, shook its head, meowed softly and strolled out of the room.
The vet looked at the woman and said, "I'm sorry, but as I said, this is most definitely, 100% certifiably, a dead duck."
The vet turned to his computer terminal, hit a few keys and produced a bill, which he handed to the woman..
The duck's owner, still in shock, took the bill. "$150!" she cried, "$150 just to tell me my duck is dead!"
The vet shrugged, "I'm sorry. If you had just taken my word for it, the bill would have been $20, but with the Lab Report and the Cat Scan, it's now $150."
Great Jeff, I'm sure it will
Great Jeff, I'm sure it will help you. As for your shoulders and hips. Re read the suggestions I gave in the first response and do the homework of reviewing all Surge gives us on alignment and you'll learn how to get your body square with your feet and parallel left.
Good video!ÃÂ I had no
Good video!ÃÂ I had no problem watching from start to finish.ÃÂ I think it must be your internet connection.ÃÂ Marv.
ÃÂ Terry, if this is a
ÃÂ Terry, if this is a common frustrating problem, I am very surprised that you have not tried one of the many cures provided to folks with similar issues over the past several years. Numerous posting have been made with instructions on how to correct this problem,
This
has been covered many times in past blogs. It's not the video; it's
your computer connection and download speed. You have a very slow
connection. Getting connected to HIGH SPEED internet, Could help, but
even that can be slow during periods of high traffic to the video.
In the mean time, just click the play, and then click the pause.
Watch the load bar at the bottom of the screen advance from left to
right, when it is half way or more across, click from pause to play
and it will play without interruption, UNTIL the load bar catches up
with the play bar, and then because of your SLOW CONNECTION it will
have to pause again to allow more video to load. You cannot play it
until it has been loaded, and your unit loads very slow, and even
slower if the video site is getting heavy traffic usage. Just give it
time to load before you play it and it will not have to pause to load
more video. There is also another solution, just let it play fully
the first time with the volume off or muted, then click replay and it
will play the second time without interruption, because it has
already fully loaded on your system. Good luck
Here
is a link you can use to check the speed of your internet connection.
http://reviews.cnet.com/intern...
Here
is another link to Swingsurgeo @ Utube, where ALL past videos can be
viewed.
http://www.youtube.com/user/sw...
Like I said before, laying
Like I said before, laying the club down before or after the shot is not an option with the extra foot flare. (Unless you put the feet back to equal before checking it).
It would show that you were aimed way left if you were properly aligned.
Can't speak for anyone but me but since I went to the extra foot flare I definitely have to watch the tendency I mentioned to let the open toe dictate open shoulders and even hips. Not something that can't be fixed but has to be given attention.
Of course for the person that aims way right anyway the extra flare would accidentally fix the bad alignment.
My problems are much bigger than alignment. I can paint parallel stripes on the grass with white paint (which I sometimes do) and still hit the ball all over the lot. Not that I don't think it's important, just that I can miss with perfect alignment or bad alignment.
Today was the worst day of hitting iron shots I have had in 3 or 4 years. Held it together enough to shoot even par on the front but blew up on the back with 4 over, and plenty of awful shots. Just one of those days that I hope never comes back but probably will.
P.S. It was pretty cool, windy, and cloudy out there today and my shoulder hurt way worse than it had been hurting lately and I'm hoping that was at least part of the cause of so many bad shots.
Played fine for me. You
Played fine for me. You probably need a bigger pipe, or you need to let the video load (run all the way through) and then hit replay.
This problem has been mentioned before and is most likely on your end. Keep on course. Most of us are happy with Surge's generosity in providing these videos.
Terry, with the video issues,
Terry, with the video issues, all you can do is Right Click on the Video player and adjust some of the settings for Adobe Flash. Mainly, you need to change how much memory you let it use. It will play better, if you let it use the RAM and buffer it first, before it plays. And a older computer with a slow cpu or a slow internet feed will not work as well as newer, faster ones. Not much you can do about the internet speed, except change your ISP to a a faster connection.
Good video and good to see DJ
Good video and good to see DJ!
About videos not loading, I really don't think it is download speed and wished people would stop blaming this only.
I have a very adequate broadband speed to run ÃÂ simple videos like these and still sometimes get a error message halfway through the playback, go to youtube and watch it and have no problems at all, so that would suggest to me it is an error through the site being able to cope with demand or compatibility issue. ÃÂ
ÃÂ As usual it's either that
ÃÂ As usual it's either that your computer is too slow or your internet provider is too slow, or both.
If you start the video and then pause it for a few minutes while it loads more than likely you can watch it without the pauses.
I have to do that fairly often depending on what mood my computer is in but on today's video it played through without pausing.
DJ, Thanks for the reminder.
DJ, Thanks for the reminder. In the early 1970's Jack Nicklaus wrote articles talking about the same alignment technique. I have used that ever since then. Your and Surge's tips are simple, short and easy to apply.