Do Not Hit Down

FYI, DJ is paired with KJ for his Saturday round and tees off in about 16 minutes.

Hi Don,
First off I want to say that I for one miss you on Peak Performance and they can take their new REVOLUTION and rotate.  Looks like your vacation from daily video lessons are agreeing with you because you are looking good and I never get tired of reviewing the course I got from you.  Thank you for all the lessons you provided in the past and keep swinging.  Johnny

To all, thanks for the encouragment, I will work on palms perpendicular, I haven't worked on this much at all to be honest as I have been that fixated on getting the club inside on the FUS to cure the slices and getting a bump going.
Maybe this will help to straighten me up if I can get it right.
I have something in my mind to aim for now thanks.
I have been looking at my grip and Don & Djs, theirs seems to be in a stronger position on their swing vids if you have a look. When Don/ Dj set up you can see a lot of their glove front and their right hand looks weaker as they preload heavy right is this helping them get in the mitt and vertical?
My left hand I am sure is in a weaker position so I have to rotate my wrist more to get to this position maybe causing me to increase the wrist flip? I know palms are perpendicular but take a look and see what you think, maybe they have the club angled differently to me.

Robert. Let me know how your fitting works out.

I am curious as to Fitters suggestions...

Phillip

Ian

Them guys on the other site get together every so often and spend the day making enough videos to last awhile if they are even doing that Wilson had his own site before he joined the one were he is at now they are probably videos from his old site that did not go anywhere. If you like it over there why you here. After all he claims he can hit 82% of the fairways off the TEE without even practicing if he is that good why is he not out on tour playing I asked that and never got a response from him.

In my opinion that site is for nothing more than making money at all cost.
By the way he is wearing a red shirt on his old site also.

Boog,

Unfortunately, some of us, speaking for myself, just never learn about somethings. Don't you wish you could just stop time when those premonitions hit you?

Kevin

egodoc

Great front nine.  We are all striving to be able to connect a great front and back 9 on the same score card.

That is nice shooting pal.

Please keep us updated on your progress.

Congratulations,
Dick

Awesome d. A 37/ 79 day? Wow! Cogratulations on eagle, bird and great day.

Robert_miner
Have you bought Don's video package ? If not I would get up of the darn couch and get your wallet out and buy it. Then you can watch him swing all you want.
Don could start going to the range and doing these videos and turn this site into a pay per view site how would you like that ? My suggestion is not complain about what you get for free.

sportsdoc, He's won twice. That's more than 90* of all the guys out there.Dan Marino, one of Golf Channels sweetheart favorites has yet to win one among many other very good players. Our cheering for DJ is not based on if he wins. If you are a sports fan of any and all other individual or team sports do you only cheer for them if they win or if they've won recently? Most of us die hards have been cheering for the same basketball and football and baseball teams and individual athelete favorites for years. Not you? Myself and several others will comment on and cheer for DJ regardless of his week in and week out results. Okay?!

Steve Smith:

   I am glad to hear that regarding the 1 iron.  For many years I retired my 3w in favor of the 1 iron because, on average, it was a longer and straighter club. Plus I could "work" it high or low at will.
 
   For me, the 1 iron was a great club for the longer par 3 also.

   The 3w however for some reason is the hardest club for me to hit consistently from the fairway.  I hit more thin and chunky shots with a 3w than with all other clubs combined! But most of the time - prehaps 75% to 85% of the time it goes well, but low and running.

   Whereas with advancing age and a slower swing speed, the 1 thu 4 irions are nearly identical in carry distance, so the 1 iron is retired in favor of the 3w these days.

    I still take the 1 iron to the practice tee - and when I am striking it well, the other irons take care of themeselves, so it still has some value!  Of course my "old" 1 iron probably has the loft that you would associate with a modern 2 iron - or maybe even a 3.

    Keep hitting them STRAIGHT and LONG

    Amos

thanks, Robert, i was grading some drawings and had let the time slip by.

Hi

I couldn't agree more with all the replies you have received.

I'm 74 and took up Don's swing (to the best of my ability) about 6 months ago after buying the instructional package.

I am now hitting the ball longer, straighter, and with more accuracy than I ever did before. And without the pain I was suffering with my earlier rotational swing!!

Hope this persuades you to dig into your pocket. I assure you it will be money well spent.

Cheers

Brian

Surge My problem is that if I don't hit down on the fairway woods I top the ball Now what 

DJ has two PGA Tour wins in his career, and one Nationwide win. How many do you have?

http://www.pgatour.com/players...

Scott,
The only way for your watch face to point at the sky in the backswing is to be flat at the top of the swing.  When I swing the club down the toe line, the only part of my watch  I see is the side of the watch.  Remember the club needs to be vertical at the top and "Shaft" points at the sky, not your watch face.  If you can read what time when you finish your back swing you are definitely flat and rotational, which is not a Surge movement.  I recently took lessons from Derek Hardy in California and he had my shaft pointing at the sky at the top of the back swing, which makes hitting the ball so much easier to hit, for gravity helps it fall into place on the forward upswing.  I hope that helps.

John, Houston TX.

SWE, I think I like this thought line, but I will have to try it out at the range or course. Seems to work in my living room.

Thanks T.  I really do like the Swing Tech - it really helps a person get "the feeling" for the proper swing.  Take care and have a very nice Sunday.  R2

There certainly needs to be balance in our responses and respect for others. However I love a spirited discussion. As long as our thoughts are tempered by logic, and reason, passion for our beliefs does indeed stir the spirit of freedom of speech. As they say, we can agree to disagree and still have a good game of golf together. So tee it up and speak freely here guys and girls. Just play nice :)

Tiptoeskst:  Thank you, thank you, thank you!  Well said, direct and to the point!  R2 

impressive, T, I didn't even know you were on the course!  DJ made a nice one too, btw ;)

DJ's second round started on the back 9, so Hole #1 was his 10th of the day.

John, There has been no vacation from daily videos by Don. He has been at this new site and doing daily videos since Jan1st 2011.  Don completely split from the old site at the beginning of this year and started his own site here. You can view all the past videos from this year in the archive files at the right side column here, or go to this Surge Utube site and view them all at one location. Welcome back.
http://www.youtube.com/user/sw...

Keith,

Take a look at your hands and the club position at about 0:51 of the video. Your left wrist is severely bowed, which throws the club into the SBG. If you can make a few swings concentrating on keeping the left wrist straight and firm (not locked), then video it, I think you will see a significant improvement.

Combine that with Dan and Robert's comments below, you will probably leap-frog past the rest of us in the quality of your swing. Try one thing at a time. I see several things that need to be corrected, but I am not quite sure which one is the cause of a problem and which one is an effect. By trying one at a time, it is easier to find the root cause of a problem.

Please, excuse my going on. I taught universal troubleshooting techniques for 36 years and find that they apply to almost any fault in any system, even a golf swing. Good luck and hope to see more of your swings in the future.

Kevin

Nice round!

Phillip

Hello Bob, I do agree with get'n off the porch. I am 60 and get'n shorter drives all the time. I have swooped, looped, hit down, topped, sliced, pulled, and even broke the driver in a devit.
Trying to duplicate words only get's tough. Let's see the real time use of instructional advice.
Other than that cudo's for 150 at 83...Cole Miner (given Name is Robert C. Miner)

Ian......

I have never hit the ball staighter since being on the SSGS. My duck hook is in the past! I have not lost any distance, in fact increased distance as I hit ball on sweet spot more often. Still perfecting Driver swing, but am confident I will get there.

These results are from Surge and support group of Steve Smith, Robert Meade, R2, T, Robert F, DGaines, Doc G and many, many other Surgites!

Still waiting for a certified SSGS instructor in Chicago.....

Where else can you get this support, with minimal investment?

Phillip

Ditto to what the guys said.

 Another point that you don't have exactly correct is that DJ's shoulder turn is not huge. The appearance of a huge shoulder turn is caused by the fact that he manages to lift his arms so high. He is not turning to 90*, much less past it. If you could see his swing from overhead, you will find that his swing is not exceeding 75*. If you think it is 90* or past, look at the face-on views of his swing. In every one of them that I have seen, I can still see his right shoulder beside his right ear at the top of the back swing. Had he gone to 90*, his right shoulder would be hidden behind his head.

Kevin

You've made good progress, Keith. Don't get discouraged. It's a much smoother motion than it was even 3 months ago and you're getting to a very good T finish. If you work on the feel of having your palms perpendicular to the ground throughout the swing, I think it will come together even more.

I am looking for some input from The Surge.  I am a supporting member of the PPGS; but, there

is something
I've been thinking about lately and want to start working on next. In the drill below, the author discusses initiating the drill with
the hip turn, and delaying the hands.  I think
that this may be an important key to the golf swing.  That's all Jack Nicklaus seems to talk about in his book: i.e.,  driving the legs and turning the hips even before the
completion of the back swing.

 

Like throwing a ball.  One does not pull their arm back and
shift their weight to the back foot only to move the weight forward while
throwing with the arm simultaneously.  We instinctively begin to transfer our
weight to the front foot, AND THEN throw with the arm.  Why
would golf be any different?

Achieving left wrist supination in the golf swing (Drill)

 
Ben Hogan was right that the best swings in the game have this supination
action at impact.  It allows the club to come into the ball square.
But many players do not fully understand how to achieve this supination. 
Here is how you can begin to get this feeling in your swing.
One of the most important things I have discovered about this supination is
that it is NOT achieved by the wrists or the small muscles in the hands.  The
wrists are too weak to force this position and too weak to overcome the huge
forces that the swing is generating.  The way to achieve this supination is to
use the large muscles of the body properly in the golf swing.
That sounds a bit strange, doesn’t it?  Here is an image of the left wrist
supinating, but you can’t force it to happen.  You allow it to happen by doing
the right things in the swing.

Drills for supination
1. Left hand only half swings (do not hit the ground or a golf ball with this
drill)
Start with you normal stance, but only your left hand on the club.  Take the
club back only until the shaft is parallel to the ground with the toe pointing
straight up.  On the way back you should feel your left forearm rotating.  If
you are wearing a watch, the watch should almost face the sky or ceiling when
the toe of the club is pointing up.  Your shoulders should rotate too and their
rotation should stop when the shaft reaches parallel.
Initiate the downswing by rotating your hips to the left (for right-handers).  You should feel a
small delay in the arms.  Take the club through until it is also parallel with
the ground.  The toe should be up and have rotated somewhat to the left.  While
you are doing these short swings, take a look at the position of your left hand,
it should match the drawing.  If it is not matching, don’t force it match by
using your wrists.  That dose not work.  You need to feel large muscles actually
driving the rotation of the club face.
It will take some practice but this drill will help you to feel the club
releasing and rotating through impact.  As you do this drill, you will improve
your left hand arm action and it will help you hit the ball longer and
straighter.Surge, can you offer your input?Scott RiceVirginia, USA

I bought his instruction series and saw just what you were asking for.  I suggest you break into your piggy bank and do the same.  I don't care if you are 23 or 83, Bob Minor, Don gives a lot away for nothing.  Thanks Don.

Keith,

I have another comment that might help you and save the batteries on your camera a bit. After you make a swing, play back the swing you just made. See what you did and if you think you need to correct something. You will probably find that your range time will be much more productive and less frustrating.

Good luck.

Kevin

Ian

Why would you buy both when they are completely contradictary of each other.  Makes no sense.  It would only lead to total confusion and your swing would be somewhere out in neverland.  I disagree with Paul Wilson's method, but I'm not going to his site espousing the virtues of Surge's method.  Your best option is to pick one method and go with it.  Good luck.

Lynn42

When to hit the ball is still unclear to me:

In the downswing, the club goes down, then "flat" for an instant, then up.
When or where in this sequence do you make contact?  
(I am not including the Driver in my question.)

Oops, TeeOn13.

How on earth could one forget Dick??

Cheers

Brian

To:  Kevin McGarrahan:  Thank you for your reply to my question.

A few things of note. This advice about severely pronating and supinating the wrist is in direct conflict with Surge's principle of keeping the palms parallel to the ground throughout the swing. Second for "If you are wearing a watch, the watch should almost face the sky or ceiling when the toe of the club is pointing up" to be true, you would have to have a severely strong grip, not the recommended 3-P neutral grip of the Surge Swing.

Now, practicing swinging with just the left arm is a good thing. Even more, I usually take 5 or 10 swings with the club held only in the last three fingers of my left hand as I'm warming up. Using those three fingers activates the lifting muscles on the outside of your left arm and helps with both power and control.

Now, in terms of your comment about the weight shift, you are exactly correct and that's what Surge is talking about with starting the transition with the bump. The bump is shifting your weight from your back foot to your front foot and it starts the motion of the rest of the body going into the forward upswing. However, you do not want to do that weight shift by turning your hips unless you feel like spending time in traction for a strained lower back. The hips will turn, but you don't force them. Laterally shift the weight from the back foot to the front foot. That will move the knees and hips toward the target while the head stays relatively still. The motion triggers the arms to change direction, drop into the slot and swing up to the T-Finish with full release of the upper body through impact until you're standing facing the target with your weight on the outside of the front foot.

Sportsdork

I clicked on your fake picture in your post and read a bunch of the comments you have posted on this and other blogs.  You are an expert on everything from golf to basketball to the stock market.  I guess we should be tickled to have someone with your expertise on our blog.

Do you do the same painstaking research on stocks before you get in that you did on DJ before you shot off your big mouth?  Probably not, it is hard for a zebra to change it's stripes.

Lastly, who made you the boss on this blog?  We talk about anything we want to talk about.  Just so happens most of us are big Surge and DJ fans.  Apparently you are not. 

Are you this negative in the rest of your life?  You must be a blast to spend an evening with.

Run along now, the big people have some stuff to talk about,
Dick

Seems to be some flame wars on here today folk!
Anyway back to what we are here for, I have uploaded three videos of me from today to youtube
take a look and let me know what you think.
Please no smart arses!
I only picked a golf club up 9 months ago.

thanks, Robert, I shall follow along for a hole or two before heading downtown for a Red Cross seminar.

Don, I'm 83 yrs old and 5' 7" 155# with a max speed of 75 mph with my driver. This results in 150 yds approx. in distance which is not good. How far are you hitting and what does your swing look like? I agree with others who ask you to get off the damm porch and show us an actual series of shots in the field that shows your entire body from the ground up. You are great with words but lousy with demonstration in my opinion. Many of us need better help than you are giving us. Regards, Bob Miner