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============================================================== [ TomTuckerGolf.com Tips ] Issue 217 - Date 11/14/12 ============================================================== Newsletters Archive: http://www.tomtuckergolf.com/archive.html Hundreds of Great Tips and Articles to help you improve your game. IN THIS ISSUE: - Tom's Featured Tip: Sean Foley Comments - Tom's Bonus Tip: Expansion of Foley Comments - Lesson Comments: http://www.tomtuckergolf.com/testimonials.html - Sponsors: The Batavia Country Club, Chestnut Hill CC, Plum Creek Driving Range and PGA Golf Simulator November "Get To Know Us" Indoor Golf Special - $75 Foursome Rate to Play any of our 40+ Simulator Courses. Call 585-993-0930 or email Mark at plumcreek4@rochester.rr.com to reserve your tee time! Visit us at www.plumcreekdrivingrange.com. I am conducting indoor lessons this winter in the Simulator bay at Plum Creek, please call me at 716 474 3005, email me at ttucker@rochester.rr.com, or visit my website at http://www.tomtuckergolf.com/indoor.html for rates and details. If you want to respond to this newsletter, PLEASE DO NOT hit reply, email sent via reply gets auto-deleted. Instead, please FORWARD your reply to ttucker@rochester.rr.com and I'll get it directly. Thanks! Tom Tucker http://www.tomtuckergolf.com/ 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. ============================================================== Tom's Featured Tip: Sean Foley Comments ============================================================== 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 :-) Last issue I mentioned that a former student of mine, Destry Mullen, is attending Campbell University and taking the PGM (Professional Golf Management) Course. He mentioned to me that they had Sean Foley, Tiger Wood's coach, in for a three hour seminar. Of course I asked Destry to email me any comments of note that he could remember. I wish I could have been a fly on the wall in that room! I'm a big Foley Fan. Destry said that Foley seemed to be a very calm, laid back person, and here are a few of the pearls of wisdom that he shared with the students. He said that his three priorities for learning a golf swing are: 1) hit the ball first every time 2) the ball has to start on its' target line 3) work on a "one sided miss" The upper sternum should be covering or even slightly forward of the ball at impact. There should not be much lateral movement to the rear on the takeaway and backswing. The ball's not going to move, so you should swing on a circle, not an ellipsis. Editors note: Elliptical swings result from swing methods involving a lengthy sway from the rear side to the forward side during the downswing. It has a more "up and down feel" to it than other swing methods. He offered a Plato quote "Insecurity comes from not understanding the concept". And here's the piece de resistance: "Nothing Should Be Done At The Expense of Balance" Good stuff. Make next year your best year. Love your practice, enjoy your golf, Tom ============================================================== Tom's Bonus Tip: Expansion of Foley Comments ============================================================== 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 :-) Here's an expansion of Sean Foley's comments from my perspective. I have made it my business to study Foley, and my swing teaching philosophy has developed from some of the same teachers and methods that Foley has studied, primarily Homer Kelly (The Golfing Machine), MIke Bennett and Andy Plummer (The Stack and Tilt Swing), and others. Foley uses most of their swing elements, although he has put his own slant on them to accomodate the student he is teaching, as any good teacher should do. Tiger swings a little differently from Justin Rose, who swings a little differently from Hunter Mahan, all Foley students. But if you look closely, you will see many fundamental similarities. One thing that I really admire in Foley is that he thoroughly educates his students so that they know their own swings intimately. They understand their own swing concept. I think he accomplishes this better than many other top level teachers. You can hear this when you listen to his students discuss their swings and their rounds during interviews. I will say that you'll learn more about Foley's teaching methods by sorting through Youtube clips than you will from his DVD "The Next Generation with Sean Foley". Not much substance in the DVD as far as I'm concerned. I'm not detracting from his ability to teach, I'm a big fan, but the DVD was lacking detail. Maybe he didn't want to give up too much information to the competition. First of all, I am in total lockstep with Foley on "nothing being done at the expense of balance". My teaching philosophy is to encourage a student to take a rip at the ball if it's within their emotional makeup to want to do that - with the caveat that they must finish in balance. He said that the three priorities for learning a golf swing are: 1) hit the ball first every time 2) the ball has to start on its' target line 3) work on a "one sided miss" My teaching sequence priorities are just a little different. If you are working on your own game, this would be a good swing practice outline to follow: 1) Find the bottom of your swing - My ball-striking lesson, which is the first lesson I always give to a serious student, concentrates on educating the student on where the bottom of their swing falls. Then they learn the correct ball position and weight placement to hit the ball first and ground second. Click - Thud is what you should hear at impact. 2) Develop sufficient swing speed - the student is taught how to swing back and through to take advantage of their natural leverage in order to hit the ball with sufficient power to play the course. Foley probably doesn't list this as a priority because his students already have sufficient power to play the game - however, Tiger's improved ball striking has produced more length in his irons. 3) Optimize accuracy - Foley - and others including me - uses a "target cone" concept in his teaching. Keeping your shots within your target cone is a principle of accuracy that defines a "one sided miss". Your target cone starts at the target line and moves laterally about twenty yards to the right for a right handed player that plays a draw. But keeping it within the cone is only half the battle, because the shot curvature also needs to be consistent. Accomplishing this involves educating the student on why golf balls curve the way they do, as well as many swing repetitions to have the student learn a swing that produces a consistent starting line and curvature. The upper sternum should be covering or even slightly forward of the ball at impact. There should not be much lateral movement to the rear on the takeaway and backswing. The ball's not going to move, so you should swing on a circle, not an ellipsis. These are all sound swing principles that I adhere to and espouse. Editors note: Elliptical swings result from swing methods involving a lengthy lateral movement from the rear side to the forward side during the downswing. It has a more "up and down feel" to it than some other swing methods. He offered a Plato quote "Insecurity comes from not understanding the concept". And here's the piece de resistance: "Nothing Should Be Done At The Expense of Balance" Great stuff there! Love your practice, enjoy your golf, Tom ============================================================= Golf Lessons ============================================================= I conduct lessons at The Plum Creek Driving Range & Practice Facility there's a link for Plum Creek 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. Rates: http://www.tomtuckergolf.com/lessonrates.html Testimonials: http://www.tomtuckergolf.com/testimonials.html Indoor Golf Lessons now available in our simulator bay, indoor rates: http://www.tomtuckergolf.com/indoor.html ============================================================== Sponsors ============================================================== Plum Creek Driving Range - http://www.plumcreekdrivingrange.com Play indoor golf on any of our 40+ Simulator Courses. Call 585-993-0930 or email Mark at plumcreek4@rochester.rr.com to reserve your tee time! Batavia Country Club - http://www.bataviacc.com Course open, weather permitting. Chestnut Hill CC - http://www.chestnuthillcc.com Course open, weather permitting. ============================================================== All the best, 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 Success Loves Preparation ~ Anonymous |