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: 15 September 2009
Bob F. from New Mexico, who was heavy left in his setup and was hitting a lot of chunky shots and in trying to avoid too much earth digging and removal, then pulled up and out of the swing and... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 14 September 2009
I had a two-day lesson session with Bob F. who flew in from New Mexico to get some instruction straight from the source. He had the DVD'€™s and swing manual but felt he needed a hands on... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 13 September 2009
I can pretty much tell when new golfers join our site. They've missed some of the fundamentals about the PPGS. So, to help them get up to speed and, if you've been with us all along, to you... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 12 September 2009
Comments: 1
Your reading it right! Tee it high to hit it low. Sounds counterintuitive, right? You tee it high to hit it high, but how can you tee it high and hit it low. Well, my good friends, I am... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 11 September 2009
The President'€™s Cup teams have been chosen, with US Captain, Fred Couples, and the International Captain, Greg Norman, announcing their Captain'€™s picks this week. Couples chose US Open... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 10 September 2009
I have already written a playing lesson, '€œFirst in Wins,'€ about how putting out first on the final hole or in a playoff increases pressure on your opponent and thus increases the odds of... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 9 September 2009
We retuned to New Bedford/Dartmouth MA after the cookout at Kim'€™s house (my daughter) in Nashua, NH. DJ stayed the night at his aunt Paula'€™s (my wife Susan'€™s youngest sister) home as we... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 8 September 2009
We had another early morning as DJ was the second group off at 7:55AM playing with Don Rose. The round started poorly with DJ hitting a good shot to the green that ran around 3 feet over,... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 7 September 2009
DJ was in the 3rd group off at 7:55AM and was paired with Jonathan Byrd, former teammate of his a Clemson in his freshman year. I did not see the first hole as I was attending to getting some... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 6 September 2009
DJ had a 12:10 tee time and I got to the course in time to meet him as he was having a late breakfast. I just sat and we had some small talk, then I slid the conversation over to how I was... Read More