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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 August 2009
I was having a quarterly lesson with Bill from far up north on one his Southern getaway trips to see me and play a little golf for a few days. He told me he had not played or practiced much... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 4 August 2009
Mike L. was down from Canada for his bi-annual swing check-up and playing lesson. Mike stated he was not playing or practicing a lot, but overall was hitting the ball pretty good. However, he... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 3 August 2009
In early spring, 2006, during the first round of the Honda Classic, John Daly injured himself trying to put the brakes on his swing after being startled by the flash of a camera. Sounds crazy... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 2 August 2009
A while back, Frank L. wrote: '€œI have recently gone to a strong rotational swing, straight leg and back setup. I was hitting the ball well but I now have a ruptured disc and another which is... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 1 August 2009
For years I have listened to golf tournament commentators, tour pros and teachers, preach the principle of laying up to a yardage that is close to your full sand wedge distance shot for more... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 31 July 2009
Comments: 1
Every day when I read blogs or give a lesson, the number one problem club for most golfers to hit solid and straight is the DRIVER, or as they called it on the good old days, # 1 wood. For... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 30 July 2009
Comments: 1
Putting is sometimes called the game within the game. Because it is all about touch and feel and not strength, as in hitting long drives, it is the part of the game that everyone should be... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 29 July 2009
The arms and shoulders create a triangle in the setup, with the putter extended from the hands. The stroke is one of the shoulders doing a combined little rock and rotation around the top of... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 28 July 2009
Comments: 2
In almost every round of golf, we are faced with having big breaking putts, from short must-make ones to the long-lag-it-up close ones. There are a few pointers that will help you make more... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 27 July 2009
Almost every lesson I give I have to address alignment as one of the problems causing the students'€™ swing and shot issues. I believe alignment is critical and is probably one of the most... Read More