Find What Works For You

I guess you have to do whatever it takes but my whole point was that this is not a hand movement exercise, it's a body movement.  The skipping the rock is to teach the bump.  When I throw a frisbee I don't "bump".  So, if you do and it works, then it's a great exercise.

Dear Surge,
 
I would just like to take the time to write on this blog and thank you for enlightening me to the way you swing a club correctly. After 6 months of soul searching of how to master this swing of yours, I have finally got it all, and Im now swinging the Surge swing correctly and successfully.
 
Im straighter and longer and I can honestly say that initially, I was sceptical, as it wasn’t happening as easily as you said it would. Now though, the final penny has dropped, you are the man Don, and this scientific approach to golf it defiantly the future.
 
Thanks for all the daily videos that have helped my cause of finally being able to play golf without the horrible pulls, hooks, slaps, tops, duffs and slices and the mental torture that I had endure in the past.
 
I will be advocating your theory to all I meet !

Hola Jack.

At first glance it seems that you are releasing the club from the top (casting) and hanging back on the back foot so that the club is hitting the ball with too much loft. This can cause an increase in backspin which will rob you of a chance to maximize distance. Try to feel the L shape in the picture on page 102 of the manual,

Here is a drill to help "trap" the ball. Take your stance and then lean the shaft so the grip is 6" ahead of the ball. You should have let the hips turn slightly open. See the picture on page 103 of the manual. Then swing the ball off the club face down the aim line while straightening out the arms towards the position Don is in shown by the picture on page 104.

The bump when done properly will drop the arms with the L down to the waist height and then slightly turn open to help the club swing down and out so it is On On On.

Too many people swing hard from the top instead of swinging fast through impact. This is easily shown with the skipping of the rock where the back fore arm swings levelly from waist to waist as the rock is released at the target.

Hope this helps.

Boogm, Glad to here your Harvey Penick reference. I was tempted to mention him, but decided to wait and see if anyone else would know that he was one of the first to use the scythe as an actual training aid. For those who don't know what one looks like, here it is.
http://www.4gea.com/forum/lmes...

Hi Robert,
Many thanks for your advice  I´ve already been slowly practicing my swing in front of a mirror. something which never ocurred to me before.  I´ll keep on trying with Don´s pictures.  It´s nice to know that someone cares, you´ve raised my spirits !!  Again 'gracias'.
Jack

I like to use the idea of a weed chopper for the FUS. The old farm boy in me I guess :0)
Bob

Just trying to change over to the Surge swing. I definitely had a low take away type swing before.Its starting to work for me. Still a little low until left shoulder gets to ball.I pick it up vertical at that point. Am I on the the right track? On the range next to a scratch golfer who was liking the results of my ball striking, wanted to try my clubs because of the sucess I was having and distance.Ball flight was good and way more accurate.

I like your instruction through use of the Foundations Manual. Great explanation.

Interestingly, Lucas Glover and DJ also both played for Clemson at about the same time.

Repeat: Never.

Okay, that may not be enough for you, so check out this video: http://www.swingsurgeon.com/Ho...

There are several others from 2010 but they're currently unavailable.

sgw,

It wasn't Jim Furyk. He was directly behind Fowler. The guy I'm referring to was about 4 guys away from Fowler and was wearing a turquoise shirt with checkered pants of the same color, had dark hair, and some facial hair (I couldn't tell if it was an actual beard).

Keith. I like that tip...short backswing, longer follow thru.

Going to practice that!

Phillip

Thanks T.

I like to take Don and DJ's face on and down the line videos into Photoshop and use the tools to create lines to see what is really going on. The stills from the video are not as impressive as are the photos in the manual. As Don has stated the body cannot make the perfect swing and each of us will have subtle differences even when using the same theoretical structure.

Spent a little time with scythe and swing blade as a kid, after I backed the riding mower over a fence and my oldest brother snapped its front axle against a tree. I guess my troubles stem from spending more time with an axe, though, chopping all that wood from when we cleared half-an-acre of forest so my dad could have his garden. Well, it mostly kept my brothers and I out of trouble.

Could be that the driver is poorly fit for you. If it's too long (as most off-the-rack will be unless you're very tall with short arms), as Doc and Surge pointed out in recent videos, you're forced to cast the club out to get it to the ball without whacking the ground. Plus many other mis-fit problems that can get you slicing the ball. A simple thing to check if you're sure that the driver isn't too long is whether or not you're properly squaring the club at setup. The size and curvature of many drivers make it difficult to tell if you have the bottom line of the face square to the target. Rotating the club ever-so-slightly  counter-clockwise in your grip may be enough to help (if doing this results in all straight left shots, you're almost certainly casting the club).

Scythe Lynn? Your repertoire of skills and experience is inspiring!

Hi SGW,  many thanks for your help.  I´ve already looked up the pages in the manual and have begun mirrowing my swing.  Will see how I get on tomorrow if weather and volcanic dust allow !!  Jack

First, the fact that we don't "cock" our wrists does not mean that there is absolutely no movement in them.  It has been discussed previously extensively that at the moment of transition the club is still going targetward and you are pulling "the church bell" down and this creates a slight angle.  LAG   This LAG is held until just prior to ball contact, RELEASE.  The proper sequence  TIMING is essential.

I'm wondering if you've ever thought about changing to the other side of the ball?  I like your idea of conditioning what is your weaker side.  This is opinion:  I do not see the advantage of having the strong side leading in a golf shot.  I know it used to be taught that the forward hand was all important and the trailing hand is along for the ride.  WRONG!!

I'm no expert M but my gut tells me you would be happier just to go with the flow and let your forward hand dominate. Surge says a right handers LEFT hand should tell the back arm where to go IT should be the boss.In your case that would be the RIGHT. It almost sounds like it could be an advantage. You still need to apply all the other set up and swing basics of course. So after 35 years I would say "Why fight it?". Phil is right handed and plays left. Though he's more rotational than Surge recomends and certainly past parallel he's made it work with a dominant forward hand. You want to do your best to have equal pressure in both hands but let that forward hand be your guide and your strength.

I'm going to try to get my explanation more finite in what I'm trying to say.

We all have a dominate or strong side of our body
.
In the golf swing, the swing is not dominated by either side.  They both have their parts to play and one can't over ride the other in extremes or bad things happen.

Power comes from the twitch muscles and them firing, speed, and technique.  The technique part has to do with the LAG talked about recently and the RELEASE at impact.  This is true regardless of what side is dominant or how you swing.  The trailing arm and hand initiate the rotation.  One needs to have sufficient strength and coordination for this to happen effectively.

The original topic was skip a rock or throw a frisbee.  The idea was to get the feel of the "bump" to initiate the down swing and somewhere along the line it got off into how the "sides" work or don't work in arm and hand movement and that wasn't the point of the visualizations.

I was a baseball player until injuries forced me to talk up golf and I was a power hitter.  You have to admit it is not the norm for a hitter to develop power with the lead arm.  Again, most power was in technique which involved the pronation of the hands right at impact which increases bat speed.  People have a misconception that the ability to hit a ball hard and far is strength related.  It's not.  It's speed related.  The ability for the twitch muscles to fire produces speed and the resistance or twist of the muscles and the subsequent uncoil.

One thing that is generally true about golfers that play with the dominant side on the target side is that they don't fight the other side trying to take over and generally don't fight the dreaded hook.  I think that a misconception is that the trailing weaker side needs to be strengthened when I see it actually as more of a coordination issue.  Like, I'm right side dominant but my left side is not really any weaker than my right.  In fact, my left arm and hand have more strength then my right.  But, I have absolutely no coordination when try to hit a golf ball left handed.  It just don't work.  I could however switch hit in baseball.

I had two lefties yesterday that both play golf right handed and had wonderful swings.  They were coordinated.  It was really a beautiful thing to watch.  I was envious. They both came from rotational swings and one had the bump, the other didn't.  It is so much easier to spin out especially when you're playing with the dominant side forward. So, my "fix", turn the shoulders, no lower body movement, and swing the club head.  Of course, when this was done, the bump happens without even thinking about it.  The reason:  if you turn your shoulders with outward pressure of your knees the hips will turn naturally 45* which is perfect.  So, the swing thought was, KEEP THE LOWER BODY STILL.  I'm going into all this so that others who are having trouble might give this a try and see if it works for them as well. 

The epistle is over.  Have a great day Surge Nation!

Does DJ have a disguise now?