TomTuckerGolf.com
 
Golf Tips Newsletter - Issue 273 - November 27th, 2013
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Prepare to play your best golf by doing something now!

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In This Issue  

- Tom's Featured Tip: Winter Practice Outline
- Tom's Bonus Tip: Reading Greens - Go Low
- 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


Click here:  INDOOR GOLF LESSONS  for details on how to improve your game over the winter.

PLUM CREEK DRIVING RANGE IN BATAVIA, NY, IS OPEN ALL YEAR
NEW Equipment & Apparel Sale, Simulator Course Play Specials: http://www.plumcreekdrivingrange.com Call 585-993-0930 or email Mark at plumcreek4@rochester.rr.com to reserve your simulator time!

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.

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Tom's Featured Tip:
Winter Practice Outline

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!

My outdoor lesson season is done until next spring, but that doesn't mean that you can't improve any and all aspects of your swing - including putting - between now and then. You can keep moving forward with indoor lessons.

So .... we got our first real taste of winter last weekend in Western New York, and it looks like most courses will be closed for the season.

Does that mean that you should hibernate your swing for the winter - not hardly!

Winter is an excellent time to work on your whole golf game, including fitness, your swing, and your putting stroke.

Last winter I not only kept up my conditioning, but I got quite a bit of personal swing practice done in between my indoor lessons at Plum Creek. As a result, I was more prepared for the season than ever before when it was time for outdoor play in the spring.

Here's a simple outline to help you plan your indoor practice sessions with minimal time.
  • Include Conditioning. When I coached the GCC Golf Team, our four days per week 6 am to 8 am schedule for indoor practice included 55 minutes of conditioning and 65 minutes of swing training four days per week, with Wednesday being optional. If you are training for competitive golf, use that routine.

    If you are a recreational golfer, use the routines described below - which won't take as much time or energy. Shoot for 30 minutes of conditioning five days per week in addition to the swing work. If you are training with weights as part of your conditioning, always do the weight work prior to cardio training or swing training to get the most benefit from it.

  • Monday - Wednesday - Friday, swing work.

    • If you don't have a place to swing a full length club, pick up a short swing training club from just about any store that has golf training aids in their sporting goods section. You should be able to position yourself carefully in any normal height basement and be able to make swings with a short club. If you don't have the space for that, buy an old club at a garage or rummage sale, cut it right below the grip, and just swing the handle.

    • Practice partial swings in slow motion.

      • Setup to the top of your backswing - 20 repetitions, slow motion.
      • Top of your swing to impact - 20 repetitions, slow motion.
      • Impact to full finish and hold for three seconds - 20 repetitions, slow motion.

    • Practice full swings in slow motion, and pay close attention to good technique and precision, especially your weight distribution and your wrist positions at impact. Practice face-on in front of a mirror if possible, and observe yourself. Full backswing, full forward swing, and hold your full finish for three seconds. 20 repetitions each session.

    • Practice full swings at 90% of your full speed if you have space, and pay close attention to good technique and precision, especially your weight distribution and your wrist positions at impact. Hold your full finish for three seconds after every swing. 20 repetitions each session.

    • Practice fast swings with an inverted club, a shaft with no head attached, or wooden dowel. Upright posture with a baseball swing. The speed you develop will translate to your golf posture swing, and you should be able to position yourself to do these swings fairly easily in your basement. 20 repetitions swinging right handed, then 20 repetitions swinging left handed each session.

    • Finish with 5 minutes of light stretching - back and legs.


  • Tuesday - Thursday, putting stroke practice.

    • You'll need a putting ramp, or a place to practice on indoor - outdoor type carpet with one of those portable putting cups for this routine. For every putt, make sure that nothing moves but your shoulders, and that you stay "down and through" for every stroke.

    • "Core" length putting stroke - 50 repetitions, with a ball, stretch after 25 strokes.

    • 9 foot putts - 20 repetitions with a ball, then stretch.

    • 6 foot putts - 20 repetitions with a ball , then stretch.

    • 4 foot putts - 20 repetitions with a ball, then stretch.

    • Finish with 5 minutes of light stretching - back and legs.

If you need help with your swing, you can always schedule lessons with me at Plum Creek, or you can reserve private time on the simulator to either work on your own game or play one of the 41 different courses available on the simulator. Someone will be there to walk you through how the simulator works if you opt for the private simulator time.

Love your practice, enjoy your golf, own your swing,

Tom


Tom's Bonus Tip:
Reading Greens - Go Low

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!

My outdoor lesson season is done until next spring, but that doesn't mean that you can't improve any and all aspects of your swing - including putting - between now and then. You can keep moving forward with indoor lessons.

When reading greens, don't be afraid to go low. I don't mean your score, I mean getting down.

When you are determining the aimline for your putt, either squat or get down on one knee behind the ball as you look towards the hole. If you are proficient at pushups or planks, drop into the down position and take a look. To heck with what anyone thinks, it will definitely give you a better line than if you get lazy or feel too embarassed to get down.

The break will be a lot more apparent than if you just stand tall and eyeball the line - as will any undulations or bumpy areas.

Try this, you"ll like it!

Love your practice, enjoy your golf, own your swing,

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. 2014 Season Pass Discounts   Annual memberships - pay for 2014 before December 31st, 2013 and get huge discounts. Details at www.bataviacc.com

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