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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: 5 September 2009
Dj'€™s tee time was 7:40AM first group off of 10 tee. Bob and I got to the course and made it to the tee with around 4 minutes to spare before tee off. DJ was paired with Greg Chalmers, a... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 4 September 2009
I arrived at TPC Boston around noon and found DJ in the players'€™ and family dining room and joined him for lunch before heading to the range for practice. He wasn'€™t scheduled to play in... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 3 September 2009
I met DJ around 11:00 AM on the range. He beat me to the course and was already on his second bucket of balls. This was unusual for him as he usually begins all practice and pre-tournament... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 2 September 2009
DJ has a new set of irons in his bag. He has switched shafts from the Project X to true Temper Dynamic Gold Sense Core. The first thing I wanted was to get a good look at how they performed.... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 1 September 2009
Comments: 1
I drove up to Massachusetts to meet DJ to work with him before and follow him the entire tournament, the Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston. The Deutsche Bank Championship is the 2nd... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 31 August 2009
Comments: 1
Sometimes it feels like I'm trying to heard cats. “Big turn versus limited turn.” People keep asking how a limited turn can be as powerful — or more powerful — than a big turn. So I pulled... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 30 August 2009
'€œThat'€™s not possible!'€ the science teacher said to me. He was a professor at (name withheld) University. His specialty was, I believe, quantum physics, but don'€™t hold me to it. I do... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 29 August 2009
I was standing in the golf shop at Birkdale Golf Club in Huntersville, NC where I do some teaching, talking to the Wes Jones, the GM and Director of Golf. Wes worked at Harbour Town Golf... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 28 August 2009
I was watching TV and a promo commercial came on for the US Tennis Open. It showed both men and women players smashing shots in fast action playing. I watched and looked intently at their... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 27 August 2009
I got a call for a lesson form one of my long time regulars, DB, who was desperate and ready to quit the game. He just came back from the golf trip of a lifetime with his son and two close... Read More