Daily Video Blog

Authored by: Brady
Posted on: 21 March 2026

Don Trahan's analysis of his own swing with different clubs reveals golf's most misunderstood concept: it's your arms that swing on plane, not the club.

Most golfers focus on getting the club on plane, but Don's demonstration shows this is wrong. At address, your arms start below the plane—especially the trail arm (right arm for righties, left arm for lefties). This is correct and necessary.

During takeaway, Don rotates the clubhead first, moving the toe toward "the catcher's mitt" and "up the tree." This rotation naturally lifts his lead arm onto the plane, where it stays throughout the backswing. At the top, his lead hand and forearm align perfectly on the plane while the clubhead passes through it.

The downswing shows his lead arm maintaining plane contact until just before impact. After impact, physics takes over—the trail arm moves onto the plane while the lead arm comes off it, demonstrating equal and opposite reaction.

Don's vertical swing style... Read More

Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 10 September 2011
Comments: 19
Today I'd like to stay on the subject of Forward Shaft Lean because so many Surgites had questions and comments regarding the daily I recently posted on this topic. You all know my #1 Surgism: "The... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 9 September 2011
Comments: 100
Today I want to begin by talking about an initiative co-sponsored by the PGA of America and the USGA called "Tee It Forward" and then I will tie it all together with some comments recently made by... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 8 September 2011
Today's tip stems from comments made recently by two Surgites, Randy Freisinger and Joe Scocco (a.k.a. Randy Freisi and Joe S.) during a discussion of The Proper Amount of Turn (07/30/11). "... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 6 September 2011
Comments: 65
Today's tip continues a discussion we've been having about forward shaft lean (FSL). As I said recently, you have to have a degree of FSL in order to hit a good shot. However, too much FSL can... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 5 September 2011
Today's tip stems from a comment RustyKiwi made a few weeks ago. Rusty suffers from near constant back pain due to years of physical abuse and he wrote to thank me for giving him the ability to... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 4 September 2011
Comments: 47
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 3 September 2011
As we head into the Labor Day Weekend here in the States, I want to take time to talk about an important subject. Recently, George Yeung posted a question on the blog asking what he could do to... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 2 September 2011
Comments: 20
Today's video stems from a question we got on the blog a few weeks ago from Merv MH, who just turned 88 years-young. Merv says that a shorter backswing game is all he can do at his age and that he... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 1 September 2011
Comments: 42
I recently gave a lesson to one of my students from the Spartanburg area who has been with me for the last fifteen years or so. He's a good player--his handicap floats between a six and a seven.... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 31 August 2011
Three-Day Golf School in the Northeast! September 9th-11th in Townsend, DE More than 28 hours of hands-on instruction from the Surge and Dave Seeman We cover Long Game, Short Game and... Read More