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TomTuckerGolf.com |
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Golf Tips Newsletter - Issue 227 - January 16, 2013
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Prepare to play your best golf by doing something now! In This Issue - Tom's Featured Tip: Putts Gained - Tom's Bonus Tip: Weight Distribution - Hooking & Slicing - Product Review: KP 100 Golf Tape - Lesson Comments: http://www.tomtuckergolf.com/testimonials.html - Sponsors: Batavia Country Club, Chestnut Hill Country Club Plum Creek Driving Range and PGA AboutGolf.com Golf Simulator GCC Golf Management Program, Provoto Putting Systems PLUM CREEK IS OPEN ALL WINTER Come on down to play or practice. Call 585-993-0930 or email Mark at plumcreek4@rochester.rr.com to reserve your simulator time! Great money saving monthly specials, check them out here: http://www.plumcreekdrivingrange.com Buy Gift Certificates for Lessons Sample Gift Certificate Indoor lessons are available 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. Indoor or Outdoor Driver Fitting Get the most bang for your buck when you buy a new driver by getting professionally fitted first. http://www.tomtuckergolf.com/indoor.html To comment or respond to this newsletter, please click here ttucker@rochester.rr.com Subscribe - http://www.tomtuckergolf.com/signup.html If you like this newsletter, please do me a favor and forward it to your friends so that they may subscribe, thanks! The Unsubscribe link is at the bottom of this newsletter. Tom's Featured Tip: Putts Gained Statistic 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! After last issues' article on analytics, Mark W. emailed me a question about how the PGA Tour "Putts Gained" statistic works. Thanks for the question Mark. I leaned heavily on research done by Mark Broadie, Columbia University, for this answer. Prior to the Putts Gained statistic, all that was measured for putting was basically putts per round. This stat doesn't always tell the tale because it doesn't take putt distances into account. Another misleading scenario arises when one player gets it up and down with a great chip and a 3 foot putt, and another hits the green and two putts from 30 feet. Does this make the one putter a more competent putter than the player who hit the green and two putted? Of course not, and that's the deficiency of simply counting total putts to gauge putting competence. Here's the equation the tour uses for Putts Gained: Putts gained = PGA TOUR Average putts to hole out minus Actual putts to hole out For example, suppose a golfer lands on the green 33 feet from the hole and then sinks the putt. For PGA TOUR golfers, the average number of putts to holeout from 33 feet is 2.0, so the one-putt represents a gain of one stroke (2.0 average putts minus 1 actual putt). A two-putt from 33 feet corresponds to zero putts gained, since the actual number of putts matches the PGA TOUR average from that distance. A three-putt corresponds to a putts gained of minus one (2.0 average putts minus 3 actual putts), i.e., a loss of one stroke. In most cases the putts gained or lost on a hole will be fraction of a stroke. For example, suppose a golfer lands on the green eight feet from the hole and then sinks the putt. For PGA TOUR golfers, the average number of putts to holeout from eight feet is 1.5. The putts gained equation for the above scenario results in a one-putt from eight feet equalling a gain of a half-stroke. Putts gained is a simple, intuitive, and pure measure of putting skill. By taking into account the initial distance of each putt, putts gained does not suffer from the deficiencies of putts per round or putts per green in regulation. The putts gained stat is made possible thanks to the PGA TOUR's ShotLink data collection system, which measures the location of putts to an accuracy of one inch. Putts gained doesn't penalize a golfer for an approach shot that stops sixty feet from the hole nor does it reward a golfer for a chip to tap-in range. Sinking longer putts gains more relative to the field than sinking shorter putts. Conversely, a three-putt from six feet costs more than a three-putt from fifty feet. This becomes relevant when you consider a round that Angel Cabrerra had in 2010 at a Tour Event. He only carded 26 putts, less than the PGA average of 29 putts per round. Sounds good, but his putts gained statistic was -2.8, which means he lost 2.8 strokes to the field due to his putting. What was misleading about the 26 putts was that he holed out from off the green twice, and had more putts than average from other distances during the round, including two three putts from under twenty feet. Putts gained is the best statistic to use to get an accurate measurement of putting proficiency. Love your practice, enjoy your golf, Tom Tom's Bonus Tip: Weight Distribution - Hooking & Slicing 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! If you hook the ball, try hitting balls with a 2x4 under your heels. You can't attack the ball too much from inside to outside with your heels in the air. If you slice the ball, try hitting balls with a 2x4 under your toes. You can't attack the ball too much from outside to inside with your toes in the air. After trying the appropriate drill, try to replicate the correct adjusted weight distribution feel without anything under your toes or heels, and hit a few more balls. You should (literally) be on the path to improvement through better weight distribution, better swing path, and better balance. Love your practice, enjoy your golf, Tom Product review: KP 100 Golf Tape The KP 100 Golf Tape http://www.kpgolftape.com A few weeks ago I contacted Dave Roark, Founder/President, K-P Tape Measures about a product that he has developed for golf, the KP Golf Tape. After some correspondence, Dave sent me a tape for testing and review. I'm pretty impressed and excited about this product. The KP 100 Golf Tape is a 100 foot measuring tape for showing distance from the hole. It's an ingeniously constructed measuring tape that attaches securely to the pin for dead on measurement accuracy. I tested the product and exposed it to a few other professionals, and all agreed that this is the best measuring tape made for this purpose that any of us have ever seen. It's heavy duty, works with a very smooth action, it's extremely accurate, it rotates 360 degrees, and it's real easy to use. Having one should be a no brainer for any course owner for their par three closest to the pin contests for tournaments, and for any golf instructor for measuring results or for setting up drills for putting and chipping instruction. If you take your own putting and chipping practice seriously, you should have one of these for drills and for measuring results for yourself. If you happen to be playing on a day when the course isn't too busy, or if you have access to a practice hole, the KP 100 is perfect for measuring how close your approach shots land to the pin, which is excellent feedback for how your practice time should be spent. If you have a group that plays regularly, and if you play for greenies on par three's, this is the ultimate argument settler for who's closest to the pin. Your group needs one of these! You can't stretch or distort the measurement, what you see is what you get. The KP 100 Golf Tape sells for $49.95 plus S&H, but Dave has agreed to sell it at a 20% discount to any of my newsletter readers. That amounts to $39.95 plus S&H. To get that price, you must order from his toll free number: 888-502-6116 and mention the TomTuckerGolf Newsletter Discount. For the record, I don't make anything on sales, all the savings have been passed on to my readers. Try this, you'll like it. 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 email me at ttucker@rochester.rr.com for more information. Outdoor Lessons Details and Rates: http://www.tomtuckergolf.com/lessonrates.html Indoor Lessons Details and Rates: http://www.tomtuckergolf.com/indoor.html Driver Fitting Rates: http://www.tomtuckergolf.com/indoor.html Testimonials: http://www.tomtuckergolf.com/testimonials.html Sponsors Plum Creek Driving Range and Simulator Play indoor golf on any of our 40 Simulator Courses. Call 585-993-0930 or email Mark at plumcreek4@rochester.rr.com to reserve time for play or practice! Provoto Putting Systems readers get a 30% discount on putting greens. Click on their catalog link, and select the green you want to purchase. After you decide on features, add it to your cart. You'll find the field for "Discount Coupon" near the bottom of the page. Enter PGApro in that field and your product cost will be discounted 30%. GCC Golf Management Program click for information on GCC's degreed program for anyone interested in a career in the golf industry or teaching golf. Batavia Country Club Course closed for the season, but the Lodge is open with live bands peforming on Fridays. Chestnut Hill CC Course closed for the season. 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 "There are no substitutes in the quest for perfection!" ~ Ben Hogan |