Jeff Faul, of Harvey, North Dakota sent me an actual letter via the U.S. Mail (can you imagine that in this electronic age?). Jeff is having a significant problem--he's not consistently getting under the ball at impact.
"I began using the Peak Performance Golf Swing two seasons ago and really like the simplicity of the swing. Occasionally, however, I develop a problem I have not yet been able to solve. The simplest way I can state the problem is that I hit the ball near the centerline, resulting in these low sizzlers. I videoed my swing to see what I might be doing differently when I have this problem compared to the times when I am hitting the ball in the air, and I cannot spot the flaw. I can feel the difference as I am beginning the forward motion but I can't see what I am feeling. Can you offer anything that will help me get under the ball more consistently?"
You bet I can, Jeff! It's pretty obvious that somewhere along the line you are coming out of the shot. The question is: Why? The first place I would look is at your setup. As I have stated numerous times before, "The Setup Determines The Motion" so if you are regularly hitting the ball at its equator, or centerline as you call it, then it may be due to a poor setup. I've heard many golfers describe this problem, saying "I lifted my head up" but that's really a misnomer. What actually happens is that your body lifts up and/or your legs straighten and since your head must go with your body when it moves like this, it usually gets the blame. One possible cause is bad alignment, where a right handed golfer is lined up to the right of the target. When this happens, you will have difficulty with your arms clearing your body to get back to the aiming line so the usual movement is a reverse weight shift which is caused by your front leg straightening up and pushing your weight backward. This often is accompanied by your forward arm breaking down as it comes out of the forward mitt. Either one of both of these can cause a "belly ball".
Another cause could be poor ball position, either too far back or too far forward. So could standing too close to the ball which drops the hands down too close to the body so that as you start your downswing your hands run the risk of hitting your rear leg. The natural reaction is to straighten your leg, and presto! Your body stands up and you hit another screaming bug burner.
Jeff, I would bet that if you go back to your videos and look for these tell-tale signs you will spot the cause. And once that happens, you are well on your way to fixing your problem.
Keep it vertical!
The Surge
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Comments
DJ is having a fairly good
DJ is having a fairly good week in Reno after a slow start Thursday. The stableford scoring system is cool. It really encourages players to take more chances par gets you zero.
Here's the run down for those less familiar;
http://www.pgatour.com/2012/to...
Let's pull for DJ to have a strong finish Sunday. He's going to need a few good finishes in order to finish in the top 125. He's at 154 right now . He can do it with a couple of top 20's.
So Steve, a longer club if
So Steve, a longer club if ball is below my feet???ÃÂ ÃÂ Shorter if it is higher than my feet??ÃÂ I guess I don't understand all it?
Thanks,
marilyn
First of all I didn't even
First of all I didn't even know it was a question. I thought you were just simply saying that his problem was hitting the ball on the equator.
I thought you were joking so I was going along with the joke.
About my shoulder: Probably nobody, but just maybe somebody else has the same problem. If it makes you feel better I will probably take the comment down after while anyway if nobody has any interest, like I usually do.
P.S. I was trying to remember the last time I disagreed with Surge on this blog. Maybe you could tell me when that was.
Rpcp.Steve's comment is
Rpcp.
Steve's comment is absolutely correct. Considering your observation that a last minute adjustment to close your shoulders does remind me of my own set up though. I have had it pointed out to me that I set up with everything square and parallel to the target line but sometimes my shoulders are a bit open at address. This is especially true with the longer clubs and driver where we set up with the ball forward of the middle. So, I have gotten into the habit of what at first felt like closing my shoulders but in reality is just squaring up my shoulders in line with my hips, knees and feet.
ÃÂ Guessing, but if you had a friend look at your alignment just after you "close" your shoulders you may learn that you are actually just squaring them as they should be.ÃÂ That may explain why you then hit them straight.
ÃÂ Ha ha! And, hopefully,
ÃÂ Ha ha! And, hopefully, the ball remains on the golf course after being struck.
He only has Wyndam left to
He only has Wyndam left to get FedEx points, will need a top 5 there to get to the playoffs.
No Marilyn. I was referring
No Marilyn. I was referring to balls on an uphill lie (where one the front foot would be above the back foot) or a downhill lie (where the front foot would be below the back foot).
On an uphill lie as we swing up the slope it, in effect, creates more loft on the club so the ball will have a higher trajectory but not travel as far. (So we have to use a longer club for the distance).
On a downhill lie as we swing along the down slope it, in effect, creates less loft and the ball will come out lower and hotter and go farther and roll out more than that club would normally go.
(So we have to use a shorter club than normal for the distance).
Balls above and below the feet (side hill lies) are not what I was referring to. The distance on those should be pretty consistent with flat lies except that a ball above your feet will be more likely to draw or even pull left for most people. The ball below your feet will be more likely to fade or push right for most people.
The adjustments I might make for those are to accordion down more with my knees and try to keep my legs very stable with the ball below my feet and to choke down slightly on the club and swing slightly flatter (so the lie of the club fits the hillside) with the ball above my feet.
Uphill and downhill lies a
Uphill and downhill lies a problem; have a problem and maybe over correcting; chojce of club and stance a problem; any advice?ÃÂ Thanks
Sometimes we underestimate
Sometimes we underestimate just how easy it can be to have the shoulders open and not know it.
Any attention payed to any point in front of the ball can cause it. The farther in front of the ball our focus is, the more we are likely to open up. It's just human nature to turn toward what we are focused on.
Any time I ever worked with young kids, or even older kids that didn't know proper throwing mechanics, the first point to address is to get it in their head that the throw starts with the shoulders perpendicular to the target line.
I started every clinic with a "four corners drill" where four players throw the ball clockwise around the horn. The object was to catch the ball facing the oncoming ball and then without turning start the throw to the player to the left, which automatically had the shoulders in the correct position. Any lefties in the drill caught the ball and made a 180 degree turn to the right before throwing to the next player, which put them in the correct position.
Back when I was young and before women's sports was very big in this area a phrase we heard a lot was "throw like a girl". What most girls did back then was try to start every throw with the shoulders 90 degrees to the target (in other words chest facing the target).
Now of course the girls that play softball or baseball know how to throw as well, or better, than the boys.
I had a very similar problem
I had a very similar problem until a friend just this week told me I was breaking my wrist during the backswing.ÃÂ Once I started keeping it flat, my shots were actually getting some height to them again.ÃÂ Without some feedback from someone viewing my shot I couldn't seem to determine the problem by myself.
I think you're confusing
I think you're confusing FedEx Cup position with money list position. He was 144th on the money list starting this week and 154 on the FedEx list. A good finish will clearly help him in both, and making it into the FedEx Cup Playoffs would make a big step toward getting him back inside the top 125 in money.
http://www.hulu.com/watch
http://www.hulu.com/watch/2364
Here are some things Surge
Here are some things Surge has done on that subject.
http://swingsurgeon.com/DailyV...
Yeah, I think that's the part
Yeah, I think that's the part I have the most trouble with. Especially when they put those houses along the left.
True. In any case he need a
True. In any case he need a couple of good finishes.
ÃÂ Ha ha! Never mind.
ÃÂ Ha ha! Never mind.
That's great news Steve. Your
That's great news Steve. Your home made rehab obviously is working wonders. I have recently been diagnosed with a partial tear of the supraspinatus tendon ( a rotor cuff injury) along with some other 'itus' related pains in the area.
Actually had an MRI two weeks ago. Going to be lining up some sessions with a PT and will consider some other conservative treatments. Meanwhile because it involves over use and inflamation I have had to cut back on the frequency of my golf play and practice along with addingÃÂ daily icing. After things calm down and the inflamation and pain fade a bit, I will be gradually incorporating some rehab. Not sure about the ball throwing idea (in my case) but swimming is an excellent low impact therapy that I will likely do. Having a pool and hot tub in my back yard makes that easy along with being a member of an athletic club that has a-z available. My job as a massage therapist is very demanding and physically requires me to be fit and strong. SoÃÂ I have multiple motivations. Having been a gym rat most of my adult life and normally very fit I am not enjoying this set back but realise I need to proceed with caution before I can amp it up again with excersise.
The ironic thing is that I think it is because I replaced much of my former gym time with more golf thatÃÂ the scale has been tippedÃÂ in the wrong direction. In other words I got imbalanced. I have to incorporate atÃÂ least 3 days or more per week of stretching and resistance training along with cardio or I am susceptible to injury. For the last few months it has been more like 3 or 4 days of golf and only 1 or 2 days at the gym.
Balance grasshopper.ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ Glad to hear about your improvements with your shoulder. Inspire you do:)
ÃÂ While we were getting
ÃÂ While we were getting ready to play yesterday I told Ron that since he shut the back nine down my record was going to last forever.
Everybody just stopped what they were doing, wondering what record I could possibly have, since Ron shot a 26 on that nine one time.
When Ron asked me "What record?" I told him as far as I know I'm the only one to ever hit the ball OB on hole 16.
Most people capable of reaching OB on that hole are not capable of hitting a shot that far off line.
Thanks
Thanks
Last Sunday I was hitting a
Last Sunday I was hitting a lot of belly balls, and finally one of my playing partners said that I was raising my body up, just a bit, as I took the club back.ÃÂ It took a few holes, but I finally stopped doing that,ÃÂ It was such a small movement, so subtle, I couldn't tell I was doing it but my playing partner did. ÃÂ
ÃÂ The great thing about the
ÃÂ The great thing about the swimming is that I can more or less invent different strokes to make sure I am working everything.
ÃÂ Steve, I don't know what
ÃÂ Steve, I don't know what was wrong with your shoulder, but I've had some success doing stretches specifically aimed at the rotator cuff muscles. My shoulders used to crack and pop from some old injuries (never out of socket though). I added stretches along with my strengthening work outs and it has been very helpful for my golf swing. I wish my swing was half as ugly as Eamz1 thinks yours is, maybe I could finally break 40 in my two 9 hole leagues.
Dale
Thanks again Don, you must
Thanks again Don, you must have seen me play
because I think I do a little bit of all that you mentionned
I wonder if someone would have a way to explain why
is it that I get so insecure on the tee box thats where I get
the most in trouble and its not every day the same.
and not only the driver I have even started playing
my irons of the ground.
I onceÃÂ was toldÃÂ that the leingth of avery golf course is the same
its 6 inches long ( from one ear to the other )
thanks for all the help and hope you will be there for many years
your videos are well done your teaching and methode is
always spot on.ÃÂ And IÃÂ get good advice from a lot of the comments
P.S. there are a lot of things that brings me to golf ,the exercise,
the fresh air, the will to get better, the social, but also the goodness
that the sport brings out in most people, and how ever pourly I perform
I am proud to be of this group.
Ron from Québec, Canada.
YES!!ÃÂ Gilda Ratner (Emily
YES!!ÃÂ Gilda Ratner (Emily Latella) -- one of my favorite comedians --- may she RIP
ÃÂ ÃÂ Amos
If this site is so stupid why
If this site is so stupid why are you on here Einstein? And yes, most of us do care about Steves shoulder and other none related matters. Why are you so hateful?ÃÂ I think you might be better suited to a golf site where most folks don't care. Maybe you'll find golf info that's 'smart'.
ÃÂ Why must you be such an
ÃÂ Why must you be such an ass? Didn't your momma ever teach you how to play well with others? Sorry for you, butÃÂ the majority care more about Steve's shoulder than your stupid question.ÃÂ It just might depend on what your desired trajectory for the particular shot is. Just maybe! Think about it, you'll figure it out. Next time try a little humility and politeness, insteade of a sledge hammer. It'll get you better results.
Surge, ÃÂ Everytime I look
Surge,
ÃÂ Everytime I look at the leader board I am hoping to see D.J. Trahan on the first board.ÃÂ I believe if D.J. could win just one tourny that would do wonders for your teaching program.ÃÂ We all know it is good but until D.J. wins the rest of the world won't know just how good it really is.ÃÂ ÃÂ Thanks for lowering my handicap 10 strokes in the last 2 years.ÃÂ I now shoot in the low 80's and I am over 70 years old.ÃÂ
ok, thank you very much,
ok, thank you very much, still don't like hitting on that darn hill...up or down, very hard...I will try and remember...accordion down is maybe what I should do more...thanks,,,,
Sounds excellent. I'll
Sounds excellent. I'll gradually get into it as my shoulder allows.
Lots:o good points in this
Lots:o good points in this daily. I will add another that I see all the time, the head bent so the chin is close to the chest. Why? Because we are used to see the object looked at in the center of the field of vision. This prevents a proper turn and leads to a "jump shot" in order to not hit the ball fat. I see this constantly in recreational players who don't have the time to work on developing good swings.
ÃÂ The shoulder has been
ÃÂ The shoulder has been injured for a long, long time but had gotten worse. Funny that I would use throwing to try to fix it, since throwing was what hurt it in the first place. ;-)
DJ does have two wins on the
DJ does have two wins on the PGA Tour. They were a few years ago, of course. We all want to see him playing better and being on golf announcers list of guys to talk about each week. It would be great for him, great for Don, and exciting for all of us fans.
Played today, first nine good
Played today, first nine good, then don't know what happen,,,,:o)))ÃÂ lost it..ÃÂ our course is so darn hard, with no rain it is not fun hitting of off concrete,,,,darn...they do there best, but very hard...maybe tomorrow will be better....
Thanks for all your help,,,
marilyn
Thanks Surge. What I've
Thanks Surge. What I've noticed happens for myself anyway is that be it a worm burner or a fatty, almost every timeÃÂ I miss hit the ball I have not kept my knees and lower body quiet enough and maintained my spine angle and posture. It may sound simplistic but lately I have concluded that with todays clubs (particularly if they're fit) and tha quality of the balls, if we can just get into a good PPGS set up with good alignment and then follow the guidelines for keeping our bodies quiet (fewer angles and fewer moving parts) all we need to do is keep it 3/4's and comfortably vertical and good results come.
KISS works best for me :)
Re; at set up, match the
Re; at set up, match the slope you stand on with your hips and shoulders. From that set up, you are now in a position to simply match your swing to the slope. Sounds easy. Tough to do, especially when hitting from a downhill slope onto a downhill green.
About 2 months ago my
About 2 months ago my shoulder had gotten so bad that it was affecting my golf swing and I started a regimen of throwing and swimming to see if it could possibly help. I didn't have a lot of faith that it would do any good but was down to three options.
Started making about 100 to 150 throws every other day and worked my way up to 200 to 250 throws. Started out throwing at a net about 30 feet away and just easy throws (an educated guess would be about 40mph). Gradually worked back over the next few weeks to 35 feet, then 40 feet, then 50 feet then 55 feet. That is where I currently am. To make throws on a line with no drop and a little bit of pop I have had to increase the speed with each distance increment.
Also started swimming laps every day for 30 minutes to an hour.
It's working very well so far.
Played in the Tuesday
Played in the Tuesday afternoon game today. Started out completely on fire, birdies on the first three holes...
Then the rains came. First rain delay was 20 minutes and when we started again I pulled my first shot on a par three into a bunch of cattails and chopped it out the best I could but came up short of the green and made a bogie.
Continued my loss of focus and blew several "easy" shots that should have been birdie opportunities and then another rain delay on 8. Lost focus again and finished the front nine with a ridiculous double bogie on 9.
Finally settled into a groove again and played fairly solid on the back with one bogie and three birdies including the very, very tough 18th.
ÃÂ It's alright Robert. He
ÃÂ It's alright Robert. He thought I was making fun of him for asking a question. I had no idea it was a question and I thought he was making a joke.
I didn't know it was a mystery where the club is supposed to strike the ball.
Should he be hitting the
Should he be hitting the equated or below the equator
That might be his privlem
Good input from a trusted and
Good input from a trusted and knowledgeable outside source is really one of the best things you can do for your swing. And getting a good video, front and down the line....a moving picture is worth 10,000 words.
Thanks Surge,,,,do that
Thanks Surge,,,,do that myself allot,,,will try and do better,
thanks,
marilyn
Is it posslble in the Surge
Is it posslble in the Surge Swing that the last thing you do is turn the left shoulderÃÂ
into a closed position? This seems to keep the ball going straight.ÃÂ
Don's Situational Shots: On
Don's Situational Shots: On the Course video shows his techniques and tips for dealing with side hill lies, along with all sorts of other things you can run into on the course. He also did a video about it last year, I think, before moving off his back porch, but I don't have the link. There's also this old written and audio lesson: http://www.swingsurgeon.com/Ho...
Basically, use the accordion effect to get to the correct height while staying in balance, swing with the slope and know that the ball will tend to move in the direction that the slope is falling.
From Forest Gump "that says
From Forest Gump "that says it all man".
Have a good day.
Have a good day.
Great question where to hit
Great question where to hit the ball center or below center no one on this stupid site seems to have an answer only smith who has one of the ugliest swings ever but seems to think he knows more about the swing than Don has his usual sarcastic comments
Who cares about ur shoulder
ÃÂ Not if you are trying to
ÃÂ Not if you are trying to be technically correct.
Technically correct is shoulders, hips, knees and feet parallel to the target line.
I'm pretty sure the club is
I'm pretty sure the club is supposed to strike the ball on the golf course, right?