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: 2 March 2011
Comments: 3
Well here we are at the Honda Classic. DJ and I are standing on a really high back porch in West Palm Beach. DJ said the PGA National, where the tournament is being played this week, is one of the... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 28 February 2011
In the blog, David said he was having problems with the forward catcher'€™s mitt. He wanted to know if we had to '€œroll'€ the club into the mitt. Well, David, remember. Secret #4 is '€œpalms are... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 28 February 2011
Comments: 1
We have been talking about releasing the club and swinging up to the T-Finish. But to get the most power out of your swing, you must release your entire body. My €œSurgism€ is, at impact, you must... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 27 February 2011
Comments: 2
Jim has a problem. He says that when going vertical he goes too steep in the downswing. Here'€™s the answer to '€œsteep.'€ There are those who say a vertical swing causes you to '€œgo steep.'€ In... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 26 February 2011
Comments: 1
There are certain training aids out there that tell you to swing down on the ball. They scare me. If you'€™ve been with us for any length of time, you know we'€™re all about swinging up. Swinging... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 25 February 2011
Fred said he was having a problem with '€œbanana balls'€ off the tee. His playing partner says Fred is pushing his club away from the aiming line. For those of you who are new to the game, a '€œ... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 24 February 2011
Michael has no problem getting off the tee or turf with his 3-wood. But he'€™s having problems with his driver. On the blog he asks if it would help to shorten his driver. Absolutely! By today'€™s... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 23 February 2011
Comments: 2
When I was over to see Lynn Griffin the other day he showed me a comment on the blog about choosing the right 3 wood. As usual, Lynn had some interesting thoughts. In this video, Lynn shows us... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 22 February 2011
I could probably repeat this tip every other day. Everybody seems to be having problems coming over the top. In the blog, Jerry said while practicing the vertical swing he was coming over the top... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 21 February 2011
Comments: 3
I had just put down on my '€œthings to do'€ list to talk about how to read a divot. And here the question comes up on the blog from Kim! It'€™s something most golfers don'€™t know how to do... Read More