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 February 2011
Comments: 1
When I was walking around at the Phoenix Open last week, I couldn'€™t help but notice all the rotational swings. That got me to thinking. If you'€™re in the Northern Hemisphere, you'€™re probably... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 10 February 2011
You see it every day on the Tour: rotational swingers. I know it'€™s very tempting to follow those model swings, but the problems you'€™ll encounter in trying to mirror those swings are far... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 9 February 2011
You know I'€™m big on a pre-shot routine. Do your practice swing. Feel the swing, then swing the feel. However, at the Phoenix Open, I was taken aback by the pre-shot routine of some of the players... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 8 February 2011
Last week, DJ was talking about slowing down his backswing a little. What he was referring to was his tempo. Tempo is a personal thing. It'€™s not timing. Timing is getting all the body parts... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 7 February 2011
Comments: 3
I got a really good question on the blog about a method of swinging taught in the 1970s. It was called "€œsquare to square."€ The writer wanted me to juxtapose or compare the biomechanics of the... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 6 February 2011
While I'm on my way back from The Phoenix Open, Head Instructor, Greg MacDonell, is lending a hand again with his tips on ball position. Greg excels at illustrating the Surge Swing fundamentals. In... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 5 February 2011
Due to the cold weather (this IS Phoenix, Arizona, right?) we had a late start, so DJ and I sat down and talked about the effect of delays on players. DJ talked about what he has to do to keep his... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 4 February 2011
While we'€™re out here at the chilly Phoenix Open, our head instructor, Greg MacDonnell filled in with a great video on posture. As Greg says, we need to get into an athletically ready position in... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 3 February 2011
Yesterday I talked about helping the older of two brothers with his power blocks and slices. Today, we'll discover the main problem with Brother #2. It really all came down to where he was looking... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 31 January 2011
Comments: 1
I just got back from the Golf Show in Orlando last week and we met some old friends while we were there. They had two sons, young men, who were golfers, and I was asked to help them out. The oldest... Read More