Daily Video Blog

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: 11 December 2011
Comments: 74
Today's video tip is a bit of a cautionary tale for those of your who are trying to incorporate much or all of what I teach into your game. I recently saw a tip from a well-known rotational swing... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 10 December 2011
Comments: 117
A couple of weeks ago, I received an email from Robert R. with an interesting question of when to release your head in the Forward Upswing. "Hello, Don I want to thank you for breaking down the... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 8 December 2011
Comments: 102
Today's tip comes from a question Kevin Wolfe sent in to DJ and me back in September when we did the first webcast of The Surge Show. "I have a question about how to keep from slicing the ball. I... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 6 December 2011
I've been a golf pro for more than thirty five years and the one thing that I hear students say more often than anything is that they want to be able to hit the ball more consistently. Sure, some say... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 4 December 2011
A few weeks ago, I held a three day golf school at Old South and, as I always do, I drove the +5 hours from my home and arrived mid-afternoon the day before. I had arranged to meet with my Head... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 3 December 2011
Comments: 8
Last week I posted a video that demonstrated a number of swing drills you can use to improve your swing from impact up to a perfect T-Finish. In the discussion that ensued, a Surgite by the name of... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 2 December 2011
As you might guess, as the owner of a world-wide golf instruction website, I get a LOT of email from others in the industry. While some might look at this as "junk" mail, I like to read them because... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 30 November 2011
Art Hobbs sent a question in to the first webcast of The Surge Show that DJ and I did from his house in Charleston. It's one that I think many of you may be interested in: "I know that you and Doc... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 29 November 2011
Today's question from Rich Parrow, a Surgite from Georgia who is really interested in improving his short game based on the instructional videos he has purchased. He wants to know how many wedges I... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 27 November 2011
Today's question comes from David, in Washington, who writes: "Surge, I watched The Surge Show where you and DJ talked about turning the forward foot out to help the turn and finish. But you did not... Read More