I emailed you,I swing one handed and was hitting great. could hit the driver about 220 yds,my 4 hibird 155 yds then all of a sutton i started coming over the top,and couldn't break the habbit,i use your videos to start with and it seem to just leave me all of a sudden. i had about a 10 hanndecapp. i sent you a email asking could you help,never receive a answer. Lyman Usher

Thank you very much, I am in to the season a couple of months now and your video on stance or width of your stance HELPED! When I widened my stance I started pull hooking. Now I am hitting with much more accuracy and my scores have improved.
Thanks again
Dan Michael
Rapid City, SD.

Don....Just had a new driver built by ProFit (9.5). I like it very much. However, the ball flight is extremely high. How can I lower the trajectory and gain distance.
I am a 12 handicap and 72 years old. My 3 metal is very nice and low and runs out very well. Why not the driver? My group says my swing is to vertical. What can I do?
Mark Painter....markpainter1@yahoo.com

Hand position at impact...What swing thought should a player have to make sure his hand position is "square" at impact?

Can you post the same frames from the down the line view? I think that that will help me tremedously

Although Fred Couples and John Daly appear to have a "piccolo grip" at the top, they compensate by having a "Harley Davidson" or strong grip to compensate for that cupped left wrist at the top, otherwise they will slice. A cupped left wrist at the top opens the clubface at impact without the compensatory strong grip.

At address the most natural thing is to have the shoulder slightly open because the right hand is slightly outside the left hand in the grip. Although with the short iron since the hands are close to vertical with each other , the shoulder maybe square. Squaring the shoulder is artificial. Anyway, when you look at the impact position of the shoulder---IT IS SLIGHTLY OPEN.

With regard to the wrist that is definitely not flat and level in frames 4 and 5 and Richard Thompson definition of flexing. Don is on video clearly describing the wrist actions. The one you call cocking he describes as arching and cupping. The one you call flexing he describes as cocking, but he says that since there is very little range of motion in cocking the act of making the cock typically results in arching or cupping and leads to a bunch of problems.

We understand the value of what Don is trying to convey. The problem for me is the use of the term key in referring to components of the swing that although they are obviously not exaggerated (on the contrary the appear subtle and quiet) they are non-the-less there.

This seems to be like an example of the Emperor's new clothes. Don is not cocking his wrist, but his wrist cocks in order to allow the club to get to the 13:30/14:00 position... the only way he could possibly get the club that far without the wrist cocking is to bend his right elbow... which he ABSOLUTELY DOES NOT DO.

there is clearly 2-3 inches of lateral movement and hip turn, but not what could be described as rotational. Don is definitely choosing terms to differentiate his swing from others but he is also describing elements of the differentiation as keys that if taken literally are contradicted in analyzing the swing. But if taken in context of trying to pull people back from the exaggerated expression of these terms Don is perhaps giving the impression that they are eliminated instead of de-emphasized.

Don and DJ have great swings. The PPGS is a fantastic tool for increasing accuracy and reducing damaging torque on the body. There is a subtle deviation from the flat and level wrist and a slight rotational twist but they are not the cornerstones of the swing by any means as they have been in other systems.

Getting on target early, staying on target as long as possible through to the high T finish. You can clearly see where Don's emphasis is. The swing is gold. Allow the strict interpretation and the demand for confirmation of the contradictions to pass and just get the benefit of allowing yourself to take the club back to the 13:30/14:00 position without bending your elbow and keeping the wrist firm, flat and level as far back as you can then allowing it to flex as you transition from the upswing to the downswing. The still picture shows a wrist cock that is the byproduct of torque and not a directed action. The twist and lateral movement are byproducts of loading up of the back side and explosively accelerating the swing through to the high T finish.

Please do not throw out the baby with the bathwater. The Trahan's are providing great value here if you allow then to use terms and keys to differentiate what they are advocating from the rest of the teachings out there without shouting foul because a still photo gives you the impression of something else entirely.

Hope this helps put some of the debate to rest.

Regards,
Ted

I am 70 years old and I have done more than 25 years of the science of atleast the logic behind the different aspects of the swing. This is my legacy that I want to spread while I'm still alive. Any golf school that I will be associated with will perhaps be the best golf school ever.I have done few good things like topping the Medical Boards in the Philippines, Sang in a concert,, play mediocre piano, but golf is my main thing.

Hi Don,

Been a long winter here in Belgium and have finally been out on the course every day last week.The PPGS works well for me,good ball contact, but on the longer clubs, I developed a swirl to the right(right handed player).
My wife and daughter(12 and 9 Hcp who both switched successfully to the PPGS as well) observed me and established that I was popping up out of the toaster even faster than your suggested A.F.A.P.
I went back to your images and found one, where your head is still behind the ball and your right arm is fully extended forward.
Gone back to the driving range and sure enough that little delay in popping up did the trick.I was too focused on the toaster pop-up part of the PPGS.

I have been trying to read as many blogs as possible....I believe some of the questions may be answered by the one wrote in the Golf Injuries category under this title.......PLANE PRINCIPLES: The Real Truth, Part 2

I think this is a good article. I know I always tried to pattern my swing on using the Plane as Hogan did in his 5 lessons book.......this article brings a new perspective to my understanding the swing the Surge is teaching.

I have read a lot of comments regarding frame 5 where questions about the shoulder turn being excessive and the club being out of position are asked. It appears to me he has started the slide or bump or move to the left side......doing this will naturally pull the club down and decrease the angle at the wrist area......does not mean he cocked the wrists, but the weight of the club is increased as his lower body moves left and the energy is being transferred. This would also explain why the shoulder appears to be more turned....this is what makes a swing have power.

At least that is my opinion of what I am seeing.....the beginning of the downswing rather than a continuation of backswing.

Well, I agree with all but one; When you made the back swing I thought that you didn't turn your shoulders back enough to generate more power.

I was looking at the golf swing sequence and wished there were a few more photos from just before impact to just after impact to show the position of the body at these points of the swing. Would it be possible to get the additional photo added and send this out once again? Thank you.

i agree. no one shows enough shots from parallel through impact. one of the most crucial parts of the swing. lots going on.

Soon I will be 85 and golfers 20 yrs younger are puzzled how I can out drive them most of the time and amazed how I stay in the fairway. My index has dropped to 16.5 and enjoying golf once again. Thanks Don. PPGS works for me. Keep up the good work.

Recently purchased series on line. Yet to be tested. One major question - in the backswing you say stay vertical. I assume this means keep the club shaft in a vertical plane , or do you mean keep the club SHAFT vertical

I watched the Youtube video of a drive of DJ's at the 2009 Masters attached to this blog topic and it is clear to me why he was rated inside the top 10 on the driving stats. (There are much better and clearer videos available - do yourself a favour and purchase his driver DVD)

A smooth one piece takeaway with hip and forearm rotation to take the clubhead back into the mitt toe up.

The silky smooth transition into the up the tree motion, no Furyk type hitch, to finish at about the 13:30 - 14:00 position on the backswing.

The wonderful flat left wrist, the stand out for me, from the catcher's mitt position to the top of the backswing and through the forward upswing until it squares up during forearm release at impact.

The right arm powering through post impact with the forearms finishing the release of the clubhead toe up in the forward mitt. The right wrist becoming and remaining flat from the forward mitt and up the tree right on through to the Tee finish.

The other stand out was the quiet wide knees on the backswing loading up the big muscles of the legs and hips just prior to the bump and forward upswing. This allowed for a smooth and efficient transfer of power and speed through the kinetic chain - legs, hips, upper torso, arms, hands and clubhead.

I thought the swing was awesome.

Regards, Craig S

There is a classic picture of Ben Hogan hitting a 5 iron at impact. His legs look like a turkey wishbone. This position would be between frames 6 and 7 of your sequence. Can you stick in a couple of frames between these frames? Thanx. cave

to JIM:


TWO clocks are involved.

The Vertical (12:00) end of backswing refers to a clock seen when standing BEHIND the golfer, looking "down the target line". In this view, 12:00 is ideal, "laid off" to 11:00 is acceptable.

However this series of swing sequence photos is shown from "face on". In this view, it is acceptable to go to about 1:00 or 1:30 (clock centered on golfers hands at top of swing)

I know -- two clocks is confusing -- I too thought it was 12:00 in both views for a LONG time!!

Keep hitting them STRAIGHT and LONG

Amos

A knee replacement on November 5 has really slowed me down. I am going to Florida in February for 3 months. Any suggestions on practice or exercises to let me play a little while the knee gets better. I played to an 8 hdc last year. A 5 two years ago, best was a 3 many years ago. I am 62 started playing golf early thirties. I am very flexable but the knee is quite stiff. I hope the warm weather and walking will help.

Enjoyed your comments and videos, I think it is a place to start for me. Thanks again. David

Don

I bought into the program in December on Cape Cod, that means not a lot of time to practice.
I couldn't wait to hit the recommended "two buckets of balls". It is now January on Cape Cod and I did get to hit the "two buckets" and low and behold... you're right. The PPGS works. I'm 63 and still active and pretty supple for my age. I have not played much golf in 35 years. In 2009 I got back into the game and got bit hard by the bug. To start I bought a $100 set of clubs. Well, you
know what you get for a whole set for $100. For Father's day last year my children (grown) gave me a new Callaway driver. Then of course came the new set of Callaway irons, the new putter, bag, push cart...etc. The point is that I was trying to regain what I had years ago, which was pretty good at the time. I was watching videos, reading magazine articles and trying to be a sponge of swing knowledge. Yes, I did improve. I also teach music as a side job and I tell my students, the way to improve is practice, practice, practice, it's almost a mantra. Last year when I began playing again, I realized that I'm no different, to get better I needed to practice.
I joined the local practice range and all I did was practice, very little golf rounds. Well, it all started to come back because of the practice, but something was missing. Having bought your
PPGS system I now realize that what was missing was 35 years of my body. As mentioned, I am fit for my age, but came to realize that my love for the game of golf was very much limited by
what my body could to at my age. Here's the payoff. Your swing advice from your videos has remarkably changed my accuracy and that is the bottom line of golf. My putting is strong. My striking was not. Now, when I remember to do it right, in balance, catchers mit, up the tree, the ball goes right where I was set up for. I say "when I remember" because it's still new to me.
January on Cape Cod is cold, but I managed to play nine holes today (1-22-10) and it was exciting. I played alone and was able to hit two balls whenever I wanted. If I forgot what to do,
I was able to correct it in the moment and the results were very exciting. It's early in the year and I'm hoping for an early Spring. I must tell you and all those who may be involved already or still questioning your methods, that you are right on the money with your advice. Especially for
the less flexible like my old bones. Thank you for making me better and the future of golf, for me,
so much brighter.
Bill Jamieson
Hyannis, Mass.

Don

I live in Sydney Australia.


I recently bought your DVD series but I am yet to receive them.

Picture number 5 above has totally confused me. Your club is not at 12:oo o'clock when you finish your back swing -it appears to me like it is more at 2:00 o'clock -which looks like a full swing to me not a 3/4 swing.

Don't think many average golfers get is past 2:00 o'clock. I have been practising the PPGS in the range and I only swing to 12:00 o'clock as that is what I thought this was all about.


Please let me know -also I think the proper word is "tenets" not " tenants" in the first line of your spiel of 22 January 2010.

Also -I hit the ball consistently straighter after watching your dvd's ( on line) and my back is not hurting after I hit two buckets in he range ( oops sorry - practice tee) .I just had a 1/2 knee replacement 4 weeks ago -and its going great. I am only 48 years old but played a lot of sports at high levels. I am not a very good golfer though -handicap 21.

Thank you for improving my swing. I can't wait to try it out on the course.

Cheers

Carlos

What a gas! I love reading this blog because it always seems the conversations get back to the blasted wrist cock or shoulder turn arguments. At the end of the day, all that matters is "if" you keep your swing on a swing path that will return the club face to square at impact while traveling parallel to the target line. Learn to hit the ball straight first and then learn to increase your swing speed until you are satisfied with your shots. Everyone is searching for the "Holy Grail" of golf secrets. There are no secrets people. Each individual must find his own best swing that puts the club along a reasonable plane (one-plane, two-plane, Rotary, Slot-Swing,PPGS, and others) that works for "them". If the PPGS is the right swing path for you because of your age, or physical ability then go with that. But unless you can get back back to square with that swing you will not hit it straight. I would ask J Griffin to comment on whether it is even possible to have the club shaft and club face in the proper position throughout the swing without having all the associated body parts "also" in the proper position? (assuming we aren't talking about triple-jointed people) This is a bit reverse thinking because golfers are taught body positioning first because teachers know that the end goal is to get the club on the proper swing plane and keep the face square relative to that plane. Don's guidance is admirable and I believe his swing fundamentals are sound. What is difficult for most however is converting verbal instruction (or written) into learnable cognition. Babies "mimic" their parents lip movements and learn to speak. Some babies learn to talk early and some late, same with walking. Imagine trying to teach a baby or young child how to walk by "telling" them how to do it? If your shots are curving to the right (slice) your swing path and/or your club face is not square. And it is more likely that position was incorrect at some point previous to impact. Find that point and correct it there. A swing that stays on plane and square (club face) has less to go wrong by the time you get back to impact. If your swing gets off track you must make a "compensation" (compensating movement to get back to square) prior to impact. Hey, I didn't just make this stuff up and BTW, it's not any big secret. Most all the big swing theories out there work for somebody. Don's PPGS appear to work for the older gents among us. That's good news.

Comments by rseveral readers imply that Don cocks his wrist during his backswing. I disagree. Don's wrist is flexing, not cocking. There is a huge difference between the two.

Altogether, there are three movements that can take place in the human wrist. Simply put, they are rotation, flexing and cocking.

-If you hold your arm straight out in front of your body and roll your hand so that the palm faces the floor, and then back, so that it faces the ceiling, you are demonstrating "rotation".

-If you hold your hand out perpendicular to the floor and move your hand back and forth with the wrist acting as a hinge, you are demonstrating "cocking".

-If you hold your arm straight out with the hand perpendicular to the floor, and then twist your hand up and down with the wrist acting as the hinge, you are demonstrating a "flexing" of the wrist.

A certain amount of flexing must take place during the back swing in order for the club to reach a vertical position at the top of the backswing. However, this flexing does not change the relationship of the clubhead to the ball and target line. The same cannot be said for rotation and cocking. Both of these movements are poisonous to a golf swing because they inherently change alignment and rob power from the shot because they change the relationship between the clubhead and the ball/target line and require physical effort to return the clubhead to the desired swing path prior to and during the forward swing.

Isaac Newton would have been a terrific golfer. He would have recognized that once the clubhead began accelerating to a high rate of speed, that trying to correct any error in the backswing would be impossible.
If you remember, He said that a body in motion will remain in motion unless acted upon by an outside force.
Once it starts down the wrong path, nobody is strong enough to apply enough outside force to a speeding golf club head to accurately change that path.

If a golfer cocks the wrists or rolls them during the backswing, then the clubhead will automatically be set up on the wrong path for the upcoming forward swing. These errors can only be corrected during the split second between the end of the backswing and the beginning of the forward swing. Since this is a near impossibility for most of us mortals, it is best if we never introduce the errors of "cocking " and rotation in the first place.

That friends, is why Don stresses not cocking or rotating the wrists during the backswing.

Hit'em Straight!

Don,

I know you've covered this recently but in frames 5 and 6 it sure looks like you have cocked your wrists. Not a problem for me because the PPGS is fast improving my game and I will continue to develop it as you teach it.

GRETTINGS TO ALL AND HAPPY NEW YEAR I HAVE JUST RECENTLY IN THE PAST WEEK BEEN WATCHING DON'S VIDEOS AND READING THE COMMENT SECTION AND NOW I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHEN YOU REFERR TO JONES WOULD THAT BY CHANCE BE THE LATE GREATEST GOLFER BOBBY JONES VIDEO? AND IF SO WHERE WOULD I FIND HIS VIDEOS HE WAS MY WIFE'S GRAND FATHER'S COUSIN THANK YOU DON FOR THE VIDEO'S AS IT IS VERY COLD HERE IN ATLANTA AND HAVE NOT HAD THE CHANCE TO USE ANY OF THE INFORMATION AS OF YET HOWEVER I LOOK FORWARD TO THE SPRING

I was looking at the golf swing sequence and wished there were a few more photos from just before impact to just after impact to show the position of the body at these points of the swing. You have nine (9) photos after impact with five (5) showing the takeaway and only one (1) photo of the down swing and that one is still far from impact.

Don thank you so much for your help! I am a 10 handicap and have struggled to maintain it for months. Until you gave me your tens simple and free tips on PPGS. Made perfect sense. Thanks I just needed to be reminded. Shot a 78 today!

Surge:

Have enjoyed the lessons very much but somehow lesson #10 did not come through. Would it be possible to resend it?

Haven't been able to get to the driving range yet to work on any of your concepts but intend to once our freezing weather warms up.

Mike

Can someone help with a question nobody can seem to find time.

Page 47, paragraph 3 on to page 4 through paragraph 2. I realise that some inferences have to be made based on other material in the book also. Where it says left hand for right handed players initiates the swing, it also states that the club is an extension of the left arm up to shoulder and that the hand is a guide of the power, the source being the arm. So, if I take and hold a club in my left hand, I can not start a swing by simply moving my left hand. If I do, I have created a lever. I think this is a case of the tail wagging the dog or the dog wagging the tail. It's really semantics. The left hand can't move the club head without the left arm moving which can't move without the left shoulder moving. So, which starts the movement? If we look at the left side, shoulder, arm, hand, shaft, club head as being the pendulum arm that Jones refers to often, then we know it can't start moving in the middle of the arm, it has to start at the end which is the center of the arc and the source of power. I will say this. Jones does mention the hands a lot. But, the hands are a means of directing the power and controlling the club head, not a medium of swing. The hands are a link in the swing. Any seperate movement of the hands during the swing creates angles (levers) and breaks down the swing. Again, I think we've been on the same page as to what we were saying but saying it in different ways

Well, I will have to post more tomorrow on the take away as for the pages as the book is in my shop. However, you state that "leverage" is a swing killer. You have stated the point quite succinctly that I have been trying to make. That was the whole issue of a 'handsy" player as they introduce angles, i.e. leverage into the swing. That's my main complaint with Ledbetter is this early wrist set by moving the hands into the cocked position before top of the swing. Works for the one plane swing but not the two plane swing. So, I think we were on the same page as to the issue of hands and leverage and I will responde tomorrow as to what initiates the take away. Moving forward now as we've taken a lot of space on Don't pages regarding other subjects.

In anticipation of things to come, I'll add this to the previous post. The thing that made Jones such a "revolutionary" teacher is that he didn't teach starting the swing with the hands. When he was teaching the common practice was to take the club back with the hands. But, this is Surge's forum and sorry for the can of worms that got opened here. But Jones and Don would compliment each other in the take away as it's done with the hands and the hands are very passive. In Don's swing they don't even cock. Also, the #5 statement was actually just a compliment to Don as even though it's not a full turn, it's a good turn and the right side is loaded. The real way to tell the amount of rotation of the shoulders is look at the back. Where is it pointing. You can't always see the right shoulder.

GJ...The point of the lower body is to have the sensation that it stays very quiet. It is impossible to turn your shoulders even 3/4 of a turn and the waist not turn some. If you'll notice the belt buckle at address and compare, it's only moved a couple inches. This bit of coil also creates some tension, not much, but some and it will help some with power as compared to if there was absolutely no movement at all. The average amateur has way too much lower body action and results in sway as a rule.

I really don't want to get into a .....contest you know, one of those contests but ninermike, you might want to re-read the book, seriously. I've been teaching a lot of years (master professional) and Mr. Jones book is the cornerstone of our teaching principles. His advocacy on the take away motion initiating the backswing was to push the club back with the left side (arm/shoulder). About the knfe thing. Keep your arms still and try swing the knife from waist high to waist high with your hands. You can't do it. I'll even go one better, get the knife moving from waist high to waist high with your arms straight and then while you have the knife moving, put any angle in the wrists and you'll lose the tension. Jones taught that the only things the hands did in the swing was to cock and release. Well, only thing other than the obvious ... the hands hold the club. Unless you have a copy of the book before you (I do), I wouldn't step in it again. Check it out closely then post what you find out.

You guys forgot to mention that in clip number 5 that his right side has turned as well on his lower part of the body. Yet he and DJ say to keep the lower part of the body still. So still that DJ says to hold the legs and knees in place. . Gee it looks like the lower body is moving according to these sequences.. But hey it could be me.. Would like to see this swing from the backside.. But if you have the videos like I do you will know that there are NO shots of MR Trahan from the back side. EVERYTHING is shot from the waist up and from the front..

GJ

Does frame #5 not look like a pretty good shoulder turn almost 90*? What say you? I'd like to see this same sequence shot down the line.

Is it just me or does frame #5 not look like a fairly good shoulder turn? Sure looks like 90* to me. What say you others? I'd like to see the same sequence from down the line.

To Namaste: Not sure where you're going with the Ernest Jones reference, but unless he's added another chapter that I somehow missed, he certainly does not advocate the hands in a swing. His whole "thing" was swinging the clubs with the arms and the hands are very passive. His famous drill of putting a pocket knife on the end of a handkerchief and gettting the student to swing the knife from waist high right to waist high left was all based on arm movement. As soon as the hands entered the picture, the tension was lost and knife "flopped" straight down. So, perhaps you could shed a little more light on just what you meant.

to SURGE ( and NinerMike)

Maybe I am missing something here --- the end of my backswing looks similar to frame 4 -- but with less left shoulder turn -- and my finish similar to frame 8 (that is far as I can go do to a weak left ankle and balance issues) Also a weak right hip/spine area do to missing muscle tissue

I suspect this may contribute to my lack of distance (About 165 yds with my driver) -- but I am "Hell for straight" -- 11 or 12 fairways hit and near to the front of opening of most greens .

Any comments appreciated

Amos