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: 28 July 2011
Comments: 94
There was a question on the blog about wrist cocking and how much, if any, is the right amount. Well, it's simple. No wrist cock is the right amount! We don't ever want to get in the habit of... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 27 July 2011
As you know, I recently taught a three-day golf school in Holland with our newest Swing Surgeon certified instructor, Leo van Bennekom. When we got to the putting section of the agenda, Leo and I... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 26 July 2011
Comments: 59
Last week, we received a great question from Irv Hoffbauer, who is 84 years young and still working on his game, proving once again that golf can and should be a game for a lifetime. Irv is... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 23 July 2011
Comments: 72
In this video Greg MacDonell, my chief Director of Golf Instruction, and I review some of the things we observed in last week's golf school at Orange County National in Orlando. This year we have... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 22 July 2011
Comments: 23
As you may know, I have just returned home to South Carolina after three weeks of travel to England, Holland and then back to Orlando. We held successful golf schools in each location and I must... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 21 July 2011
Recently, Steve Smith, one of our most active bloggers on this site and a great student of the Surge Swing, did some self-analysis. He videotaped himself swinging every club in his bag to find out... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 20 July 2011
If you had a chance to watch the final round of The Open Championship this weekend, you saw a marvelous performance by Darren Clarke in the face of some pretty ferocious conditions. As you know,... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 18 July 2011
Comments: 41
One of the major reasons so many golfers have come to this site is because it's home to the most pain-free swing. Because this swing is based on physics and physiology, and because of my years of... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 17 July 2011
Comments: 61
A great deal has been written and taught about weight distribution when addressing the ball. It'€™s easy to get confused. You'€™re told to distribute your weight evenly on your right and left leg.... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 16 July 2011
I walk the course as often as I can. I highly recommend it. While it'€™s not the continuous walking that physical therapists would like you to do to increase your metabolism, it'€™s still darn good... Read More