============================================================== [ TomTuckerGolf.com Tips ] Issue 14 - Date 05/23/12 ============================================================== If you like this newsletter, please do me a favor and forward it to your friends so that they may subscribe: Subscribe - http://www.tomtuckergolf.com/signup.html The Unsubscribe link is at the bottom of this newsletter. My bio is here: http://www.tomtuckergolf.com/ If you wish to comment, respond, or ask a golf related question, please email me directly at ttucker@rochester.rr.com The venue where I give lessons, the Plum Creek Driving Range and Practice Facility, has their new simulator up and running. Rates can be found through a link on my home page here: http://www.tomtuckergolf.com/ WE TAKE CLUBS ON CONSIGNMENT Plum Creek is now accepting clubs, bags, etc on consignment. If you have something golf related in good shape - clubs, bags, balls, etc. - that you want to sell, please contact me directly for details at ttucker@rochester.rr.com. IN THIS ISSUE: - Tom's Bonus Tip: Front Leg Pressure At Impact - Tom's Featured Tip: Top 6 Reasons For Hitting The Ball Fat or Thin - Golf Lessons - Sponsors: The Batavia Country Club, Chestnut Hill CC For the sake of simplicity, all advice on swings and drills is provided from a right handed perspective; lefties .... well, you know what to do :-) Editors Note: in the last issue I mentioned that I had ordered a Medicus Prototye Overspin putter to test it out, really hoping that I would love it. I received it in the mail last Thursday, practiced indoors with it for four hours, then put in play for a round on Saturday. I liked it, but didn't love it, and I have to love it to keep it in my bag. It was a bit light for me, I generally prefer a heavy putter head. If you like a standard weight putter and feel, it might work for you. In an upcoming issue I'll talk about light putter heads vs. heavy putter heads, pros and cons. ============================================================== Tom's Bonus Tip - Front Leg Pressure at Impact ============================================================== For about 95% of your golf shots, at impact your weight should be on your left side. You should also have good forward shaft lean, your left wrist should be straight or slightly bowed (suppinated), and your right wrist should be slightly cupped. I'm always asked the question " How much weight should be forward at impact? " According to research from Swing Catalyst, top players have 95% of their weight pressure on their front leg at impact with irons, and 75% pressure on their front leg with their driver. ============================================================== Tom's Featured Tip - Top 6 Reasons For Hitting The Ball Fat or Thin ============================================================== Everyone should be aware that with virtually every club in our bag except our driver, we should be striking the ball first and the ground second. Your divot should be in front of where the ball was positioned prior to the strike. When this doesn't happen we usually hit the ground first (fat hits) or we hit the ball thin. HERE ARE MY TOP 6 REASONS FOR HITTING THE BALL FAT OR THIN 1) Breakdown of the left elbow. Many players try to get a little extra length in their backswing by bending the left elbow too much in the backswing, usually causing them to hurl the club to the ground with an incorrect downswing sequence. This will cause a fatty most of the time. The Cure: Concentrate on keeping your left elbow long in your takeaway and backswing. Not locked, just long.  Here's a left arm extension drill: http://www.tomtuckergolf.com/drillLarmextension.html SLOW PRACTICE REPETITIONS WILL GET YOU THERE FASTER 2) Weight on right side at impact. Sometimes caused by reverse weight shift, sometimes caused by not shifting your weight forward before you start your downswing. The Cure: take practice swings (without actually hitting balls) where you take the club to the top of your swing, pause for four seconds, bump your weight very slightly forward, then swing down and through and hold a full finish. Here are four good weight shift drills: http://www.tomtuckergolf.com/drillwtshift4.html SLOW PRACTICE REPETITIONS WILL GET YOU THERE FASTER 3) Lack of hip and/or torso rotation. When you don't turn through at impact, your club bottoms out behind the ball, causing a fat hit - because your swing arc is now behind the ball instead of slightly in front of it. The Cure: practice body turn drills,  here's a good one: http://www.tomtuckergolf.com/drillbodyturn.html SLOW PRACTICE REPETITIONS WILL GET YOU THERE FASTER 4) Right arm straightening too soon in the downswing. This causes your swing radius to lengthen prematurely, and you'll hit it fat most of the time. Your right arm should lengthen gradually during your downswing, with the full straightening happening when the clubhead strikes the ball at the moment of impact, not before. The Cure: practice your final 24 inches of downswing prior to impact correctly and slowly, and take care that your right arm doesn't reach full extension until impact. SLOW PRACTICE REPETITIONS WILL GET YOU THERE FASTER 5) Breakdown of the wrist(s) at impact. When your wrists break down at impact, it's usually a result of the player trying to help the ball into the air by flipping the wrists through the ball. This causes an incorrect swing radius on the downswing, and since the club is extended more than it should be, once again you hit the ground before the ball. The Cure: learn the correct impact positions for the wrist, then practice them constantly by doing short swing motions without a ball or club. Just pay full attention to your wrists as they approach impact and as they go through impact. This type of practiced takes very little time and no equipment, so just do it! SLOW PRACTICE REPETITIONS WILL GET YOU THERE FASTER 6) Coming out of posture too early. This is commonly referred to as "picking your head up". Once in awhile this is caused by a student wanting to see the result of the shot too soon. but that's really not the root of the problem.  Offenders, more often than not, in their downswing inadvertently do one or more of the motions in the faults mentioned above that cause the swing radius to extend early. Sometimes your brain recognizes the problem, and you start to straighten your back (come up and out of posture) to avoid hitting the ground before the ball. The result is a thin shot if we stand up fast enough, or a fat shot if we don't, and once in a very great while you hit a decent shot - but not often. The Cure: work on correct downswing positions, slow practice reps are best. DID I MENTION THAT SLOW PRACTICE REPS WILL GET YOU THERE FASTER? Enjoy, Tom ============================================================= Golf Lessons ============================================================== I conduct lessons at The Plum Creek Driving Range & Practice Facility there's a link with info here: http://www.tomtuckergolf.com/ Lessons are available for all ages and skill levels, please contact me - Tom Tucker - at (716) 474 3005 or at ttucker@rochester.rr.com for more information. Lesson rates are here: http://www.tomtuckergolf.com/lessonrates.html ============================================================== Sponsors ============================================================== Batavia Country Club - http://www.bataviacc.com Memorial Day Special Rates: 18 holes with cart $20, carts free for members Chestnut Hill CC - http://www.chestnuthillcc.com Low greens fees, great course! ============================================================== All the best, and remember: Motivation Without Knowledge Leads To Frustration Tom Tucker Teaching Pro, Plum Creek Driving Range & Practice Facility WGTF "Top 100 Golf Teacher" USGTF Class "A" Teaching Professional Cell: (716) 474-3005 Email: ttucker@rochester.rr.com http://www.TomTuckerGolf.com http://www.usgtf.com/top_100_wgtf.html