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: 14 May 2010
  Greg MacDonnell, PGA, is the head instructor at the Don Trahan Golf Academy. He has taught the Peak Performance Golf Swing to thousands of visitors to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 13 May 2010
  Since 1986, Greg MacDonnell, PGA, has been The Surge'€™s #1 instructor. His style to instruction is his own, but his teaching is a mirror of Don'€™s and the Peak Performance Golf Swing.... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 12 May 2010
Here are thoughts running through The Surge'€™s head. Tiger leaves on the fourth round of Players Championship due to neck issues. Steve Stricker withdraws with a sore right shoulder.... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 11 May 2010
When a client comes to me for a fitting, one of the first things I do is to assess their current equipment. I am continually amazed at the number of '€œsenior'€ players that are still... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 10 May 2010
Health Note: The Surge is doing fine. He went to his doc today and passed all tests with flying colors. He'€™s still in significant pain, primarily where they '€œharvested'€ a vein here and... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 9 May 2010
Comments: 1
Here'€™s the story. Our club fitter, club maker, voice on the blog and certified PPGS instructor, Lynn Griffin, wanted to help The Surge with some ideas he had about the site and the swing. So... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 8 May 2010
  In earlier videos The Surge explained why he started to develop the Peak Performance Golf Swing. You know and probably have also had the same experience: his back hurt him when he played.... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 7 May 2010
You just never know. When the Surge published his first book, Golf, Plain and Simple, he didn'€™t know what to expect. '€œIn the mitt and up the tree'€ first appeared there. In fact the very... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 6 May 2010
  Several years ago the Surge was giving a demonstration in Columbia, South Carolina, to about 500 people at a golf show. At that show he was definitely a lone cry in the wilderness. It was... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 5 May 2010
Comments: 1
The Surge and I got on the phone again today. I scout through the blog and the Inner Circle and find questions about the swing or game of golf that have something in common. One frequent... Read More