Daily Video Blog

Authored by: Brady
Posted on: 21 March 2026

Don Trahan's analysis of his own swing with different clubs reveals golf's most misunderstood concept: it's your arms that swing on plane, not the club.

Most golfers focus on getting the club on plane, but Don's demonstration shows this is wrong. At address, your arms start below the plane—especially the trail arm (right arm for righties, left arm for lefties). This is correct and necessary.

During takeaway, Don rotates the clubhead first, moving the toe toward "the catcher's mitt" and "up the tree." This rotation naturally lifts his lead arm onto the plane, where it stays throughout the backswing. At the top, his lead hand and forearm align perfectly on the plane while the clubhead passes through it.

The downswing shows his lead arm maintaining plane contact until just before impact. After impact, physics takes over—the trail arm moves onto the plane while the lead arm comes off it, demonstrating equal and opposite reaction.

Don's vertical swing style... Read More

Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 12 January 2012
Comments: 119
Richard Griffith wrote me a very good email a few weeks back and asked a question about one of my basic tenets of the Surge Swing: "Don't Hit Down!". "Dear Surge, I have been devoted to the Surge... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 9 January 2012
Without a doubt, the portion of the swing that generates the most questions to me is The Bump. Regardless of how many times I have covered this topic from any number of conceptual angles, someone... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 7 January 2012
Comments: 83
Last fall, I got this short question from Harley Ruth, a Surgite of "an advanced age" who lives down in the San Antonio area. "When I was much younger, I hit the ball around 300 yards. Now, at my... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 6 January 2012
As you all know, I like to cruise the comments in the blog to keep my finger on the pulse of the Surge Nation. Two weeks ago, frequent commenter, Kevin McGarrahan, posted this self-diagnosis of some... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 5 January 2012
If you can't view the YouTube video above try CLICKING HERE. You must allow popups from this site for the link to work.
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 5 January 2012
If you can't view the YouTube video above try CLICKING HERE. You must allow popups from this site for the link to work.
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 4 January 2012
Comments: 81
I spent the quiet time between Christmas and New Year's reading the blog and catching up with some of the conversations that have taken place recently. I do this regularly because I find that it's a... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 4 January 2012
Comments: 56
Today's tip comes from a question that Mike O'Shay, of County Limerick in beautiful Ireland, posed to me a few weeks ago. "Hello, I have totally bought into the Surge Swing and am getting into the... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 31 December 2011
Today's tip comes from an email that George Miller sent to me a couple of weeks ago. I really like this one because it has to do with setup and you know how important I believe that is to making a... Read More
Authored by: Don Trahan
Posted on: 30 December 2011
Comments: 98
Today's daily is an answer to an excellent question posed by Lex van Weezendonk, a Surgite who lives just south of Brussels, Belgium. "I still have a problem understanding the initial part of the... Read More