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TomTuckerGolf.com |
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Golf Tips Newsletter - Issue 252 - July 3rd, 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: Hinging - Tom's Bonus Tip: Pressure and Focus - Equipment Review: The RukkNet Golf Net - 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: Hinging 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! Both of the tips for this newsletter came as a result of a conversation I had with Chris Carroll, a student of mine that plays on the US Players Tour. He competed June 30th at the Lorton Open, held at the Laurel Hill GC in Lorton Virginia. He shot 72 - 1 over - and cashed, was four off the leader. He caught a bad break and carded a double bogey on a 300 yd. par 4, when he lost a ball in high heather just right of the green after an errant 3 wood tee shot.. On his way home from the tournament we talked on the phone about some iron shots that went right of their target (he's a lefty, he overcooked his natural draw), and the pressures of professional tournament golf - when your sponsors are following you around and taking PR photos. I know his swing, and when he mentioned that he was missing greens to the right (he's a lefty) I had a pretty good idea about what was happening. He thought he was flipping the club, but actually he has been using too much horizontal hinging in his release. That's different from a flip. How The Wrists Work Through Impact
After more discussion, Chris felt that the crossover was happening with his irons, not a flip. I gave him these drills to reinforce a neural pathway for an angled hinging action through impact.
Love your practice, enjoy your golf, Tom Tom's Bonus Tip: Pressure and Focus 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! Chris also mentioned to me that he felt a little more nervous that normal because his sponsors walked every hole with him and took several PR photos. I played on a much smaller mini tour about ten years ago, and I can relate to the nervousness he must have experienced. Actually, I take that back - because I wasn't in a position where my future livelihood depended on my performance, in front of sponsors that control my destiny to a degree. Tournament golf at the professional level is something that most people never experience. Take the pressure of a 5 footer to win your $20 Nassau and multiply it by about 10,000 and you might get the feeling. Having said all of that, for anyone that has aspirations to play at the professional level, you have to have a coping mechanism or you will succumb to the pressure. Here's How To Cope
This might seem a little crazy, but you absolutely will notice your powers of concentration getting stronger if you do this three times per day. Deliberately practicing focus and concentration will help you tune out outside distractions, which is of utmost importance for playing high level tournament golf. It will also help you hole that 5 footer to win your $20 Nassau! Love your practice, enjoy your golf, Tom Product Review: RukkNet Golf Net Earlier in June I received a RukkNet Golf Net that I ordered from Rukket.com to test out for working on chipping stroke mechanics. My thoughts for using the net were for chipping lessons, as well as for indoor practice for my students. In my fundamental chipping lesson, the first portion of the lesson is dedicated to developing good stroke mechanics. The student usually executes around 50 or more short chips, and I'd rather have a student concentrate on good mechanics than worry too much about where the ball is going. I thought the RukkNet could serve a good purpose for that - if it was quick and easy to set up and break down. I also like my more serious students to set up practice stations at home, and this looked like an interesting component for a home ball striking station. Here is a page with all you need to know about setting it up and breaking it down: RukkNet Golf Net After my RukkNet with the ChipIt chipping target arrived, I unpacked it, took it to my backyard and set it up and broke it down ten times. It's truly as quick and easy to set up and breakdown as they claim, and the portability is a plus. Then I set it up and hit about 80 ball striking shots into the net with real golf balls. These are short but firm swings, like long chips or short pitch shots. It worked like a charm for these short swings, and worked just as well for driver swings. Then I took it into my basement, which is a normal sized basement, moved a few things around, and set it up. After re-arranging it a few times, I was able to conduct my short swing ball striking practice off a stance and hitting mat without any problem. I don't have the ceiling space to swing a driver in my basement, but if your garage is big enough, it would work great in that space too. I give this product two thumbs up for quality and value. This product is designed for using real golf balls, and I would heartily recommend that for short swing ball striking practice. However, for nets like these I usually use AlmostGolf Balls for driver swings - only because it is possible to miss the net with a full swing. That's not the net's fault, it the players fault, but it's better to err on the safe side if you are in a populated area. You can order your RukkNet Golf Net here: RukkNet Golf Net 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%. Batavia Country Club Best greens in WNY, great rates. Back by popular demand: Friday Night Golf and Dinner at BCC 18 holes of golf, cart, dinner, tax and gratuity - $35. 9 hole package - $27. Choose from 4 entrees' with side and salad bar. Dinner served from 4:30 pm - 9:15 pm. Dinner available for non-golfers also. Menu and band schedule posted at www.bataviacc.com 4th Of July Special: Free Carts For Members; 18 Holes With Cart - $20 For Non-Members Chestnut Hill CC Great rates, 20 minutes East of Buffalo, NY . 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. 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 |
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