====================================================
Newsletter - Issue 165 Date 03/31/11
====================================================

====================================================
TCT Quick Tip - Indoor Practice Tools
====================================================


I encourage all of my students to practice - at least a little bit.
To me, "a little bit" can mean a lot of things - and doing one drill
for 100 repetitions qualifies as a valid practice session. You should
be able to do 100 reps of just about any drill in about 20 minutes.

Do one good drill this way three times per week and you'll be 
amazed at the results.

BTW, if anyone wants a "Drills" lesson, let me know. I actually don't 
currently have an outline for a "Drills" lesson in place, but as I write 
this I'm convincing myself that it may be worthwhile.

For a lot of great drills, you don't need any club at all, for some others 
a small version of a club is good to have in hand - especially if "where the
clubface is pointing" is an element of the drill you are working on.

I would recommend something that may seem odd as a training aid
for freehand drills, but if you take an old hockey stick and cut it to 
about 2 ft. in length, it's a good tool to have in your hands for golf drills.
It's easy to see where the face is during your swing segments. It's also
hard to grip it incorrectly because of it's rectangular shape in your hand. 

Another great freehand training aid is a ruler with a 3 inch piece superglued to 
the bottom to form an "L". It's hard to grip the ruler wrong because of it's shape. 
Great grip practice, and you can see the position of the clubface (the "L" portion) at the 
various stages of your swing practice.

Another alternative is an old club (7 or 8 iron), cut to two feet, with tape 
wrapped around the grip end to simulate a grip, or just throw a grip on it.

If you want to spend around $25, here's a decent training aid for indoor or
outdoor training, a Dual Weight Swing Trainer - use it without the adjustable 
weight installed, otherwise is causes a bit too much crossover at release.
I prefer that students feel release through proper technique, I don't want a 
training aid to do all the work for the student: 

http://www.dwquailgolf.com/training/swing_trainer.html

I own several, but any of the other three home made tools mentioned above are 
inexpensive alternatives. I think you can also find the Dual Weight Swing Trainer 
at Golf Galaxy or Dick's Sporting Goods. One negative is that there's no visual reference 
for clubface position on the Dual Weight Swing Trainer..

Enjoy, Tom


====================================================
Golf Tip - "Block" or "Variable" Practice
====================================================


When you practice at the range, you can do "block" practice, or
"variable" practice.

"Block" practice would be taking one club and taking multiple swings 
with that club until you are hitting it well - or until you run out of range balls.
Most of the time this type of practice is implemented because of problems 
with certain clubs, in an effort to learn and feel good swings with that particular club.

It's a good way to practice when you are having difficulty with a certain
club, but all too many players practice this way as their default way of 
practicing, when "variable" practice would be a better choice.

"Variable" practice involves hitting each shot at the range with a different 
club to a different target. This gives you much better practice for concentration,
for pre shot routine,  and for adapting to changing conditions for each shot. 

A great way to do "variable" practice at the range - or even indoors with the
right setup - is to grab a scorecard and play each hole shot by shot. 

Here's an example of an indoor "variable" practice session that I conducted at 
BCC yesterday. I've been working with this particularly talented junior student 
for a couple years, and he's got game.

My setup was comprised of an impact panel, stance mat, and hitting mat for 
drives and approach shots; a swing speed radar to get an idea of how far the drives 
were going; a chipping mat; and a Big Moss 12' putting green ( I have a huge 
4' x 30' roll out putting green also, but I use that more for indoor putting lessons).

I had my student hit a drive, I calculated the distance, then he selected a club for
the next shot. He would then hit the next shot, and if I thought it was good enough 
he would get a 12' birdie putt. For par 5's there would be another shot after the
tee shot where he would decide whether to go for it or lay up.

I included variables like strong side wind, uphill shot, downhill shot, punch
shot from under a tree, etc. to challenge his club selection thinking process 
and shot making technique.

For every shot, a perfect pre shot routine was also required.

This particular student has been working hard on a one sided miss, so if his 
shots strayed left of his aimline, it qualified as missing the fairway or green.
If it was an approach shot, he would have to chip onto the putting mat then 
take his putt(s). If the putt rolled off the back edge of the mat (about 10" past
the hole), his next putt would be from 12'.

He ended up shooting 35, one under par, and I wasn't easy on him. He made
a 12 footer to go one under on the last hole.

At the range, you can do the drive and approach shot practice, and even a chip 
shot if you feel that you would have missed with your approach shot. A swing speed
radar is nice, but you can always estimate the drive distance if you don't have one.

Try "variable" practice like this frequently at your range session, and not only will
you have fun, but your actual game will get better because you are simulating an
actual round on the range.

Enjoy, Tom