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TomTuckerGolf.com |
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Golf Tips Newsletter - Issue 241 - April 17th, 2013
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Prepare to play your best golf by doing something now! To comment or respond to this newsletter, please click here ttucker@rochester.rr.com In This Issue - Tom's Featured Tip: My Take on Tiger's Penalty - Tom's Bonus Tip: Head Movement - Yes and No - Lesson Comments: What Students Have To Say - 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 DRIVING RANGE IN BATAVIA, NY, IS OPEN ALL YEAR Outdoors in season; Indoors - simulator available for 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 Golf lessons - Outdoor and Indoor - 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/lessonrates.html for details. Indoor or Outdoor Driver Fitting Get the most bang for your buck when you buy a new driver by getting professionally fitted first. Click for details: http://www.tomtuckergolf.com/indoor.html 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: My Take on Tiger's Penalty 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! It was a great Masters last weekend. Adam Scott was a very deserving winner, and he'll wear the mantle of a Masters champion well. Good to see Australia get on the board, but it would have been OK with me if Cabrerra won it and became the first grandfather to win the masters. The two playoff holes were very well played under enormous pressure, neither player gave anything away, it was won by great play. Tiger's Penalty. I'm writing this newsletter on Monday morning, and you won't see it until Wednesday, at which time this topic will have been talked about ad nauseum - but I wanted to weigh in on it anyway. By now most of us know that Tiger took an inappropriate drop on hole 15 during Friday's round at the Masters, but what happened afterwards polarized a lot of people. There was a two shot penalty imposed on Tiger, but prior to all of the details being disclosed, many of the Golf Channel's commentators aired their opinions. Brandel Chamblee was in his full force "Tiger hater" mode, excorciating the ruling before he knew all the facts. In fact, he as much as called Tiger a cheater, actually stating over and over again that Tiger knowingly took an illegal drop to "benefit himself" by making the shot easier to pull off. Faldo was implying that Tiger's career would forever be besmirched because he didn't disqualify himself from the tournament, although he wasn't as vitriolic about the situation as Chamblee. The only reasonable voices were Notah Begay, a friend of Tiger's, and Frank Nobilo - who I like more each time I hear him speak. They used guarded words and comments while waiting for the full story to unfold. One would think that Chamblee and Faldo would have been wise enough to wait for all the facts before they made such harsh comments. Let me preface my comments about the situation by admitting that I'm a Tiger fan, and I'm also a stickler for the rules of golf when I play. I was glued to the TV Saturday morning while decisions were being made; and the press conference by Fred Ridley, chairman of the Masters Competition Committee, clarified the ruling. He stated that they had been reviewing the drop on Friday before Tiger completed his round as a result of a call from a TV viewer that said Tiger's drop after hitting his ball into the water on hole 15 was incorrect. At that time, before Tiger completed his round and signed his card, they determined that there was no violation, and the matter was closed without mentioning anything to Tiger. Then Tiger gave a press conference and mentioned that he dropped back a little further than from where he had hit the shot that went into the water so the ball wouldn't fly as far, unknowingly admitting to violating rule 26. Note to Brandel Chamblee: if Tiger knew that he violated a rule, he obviously wouldn't have said that on TV. After the press conference, a different TV viewer called in and said that Tiger's version of the drop amounted to him breaking a rule, and the committee reviewed everything again. After looking at tape again, they called Tiger in Saturday morning before his round for a meeting. They informed him that after hearing his remarks, they concluded that he took an inappropriate drop and hit from a wrong spot on hole 15, and that their decision was to give him a two shot penalty. Here's a quote on what Ridley told the press: "I told Tiger that in light of that information that we felt that he had, in fact, violated Rule 26 under the Rules of Golf and that he was going to have to be penalized," Ridley said. "I also told him because we had initially made the determination that he had not violated the rule, that under Rule 33-7 that there was ample reason not to impose the penalty of disqualification but to waive that penalty and impose a two-shot penalty." " We had made a decision before he finished his round, before he finished his scorecard, and I think he's entitled to be protected by 33-7, and that's our decision, and others agree with us." " Disqualification this morning was not even on the table." Ridley further explained Woods was docked two strokes under Rule 20-7 for playing his shot from the wrong place. So essentially Tiger was brought in and told that he was given a two shot penalty for what transpired, and then continued his play in the tournament. Although signing an incorrect scorecard can be a DQ, in this instance the ruling was otherwise, and I think appropriate. Note to Chamblee and Faldo and the other Tiger detractors: if you respect the rules as much as you do, don't you you also have to respect the rulings? I think you do. Additional note to Faldo (who I actually like): don't whine after the fact about not having complete information before you gave your opinion, instead follow the advice my dad used to give me "look before you leap" - in other words, shut your pie hole until you get all the facts. Note to Tiger: LEARN THE RULES OR TASK YOUR CADDIE LEARN THE RULES, AND CALL A RULES OFFICIAL OVER IF YOU HAVE ANY DOUBTS WHATSOEVER. Love your practice, enjoy your golf, Tom Tom's Bonus Tip: Head Movement Yes and No 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! Head Movement - No. When you are putting, keep your head absolutely still, period. Head Movement - Yes. When you are swinging the club for other shots, it's totally permissable to let your head rotate to follow the ball after it's been cleanly struck. Note that I said rotate, Lateral head movement forward towards the target or backwards away from the target should not occur. The old adage of "keep your head down" (worst advice ever) will ruin your neck as well as your shot. Your body, including your neck and head, need to turn (release) through the shot. I'll bet that you thought the word release only applied to hands and wrists, but it very much applies to body turn. The key is to maintain your torso angle of inclination towards the ground as you do it. Click here to learn more about angle of inclination. 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 Outdoor range and 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 simulator 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 degree program for anyone interested in a career in the golf industry or teaching golf. Batavia Country Club Best greens in WNY, great rates. Chestnut Hill CC Great rates, 20 minutes East of Buffalo, NY . 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 |