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TomTuckerGolf.com |
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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: Putting - Quiet Lower Body - Tom's Bonus Tip: Whistle While You Work - 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. 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: Putting - Quiet Lower Body 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. For a pure pendulum stroke powered by your shoulders only, it's imperative to maintain a quiet lower body during your putting stroke sequence. I personally have gone through periods where I felt that my stroke was absolutely pure but I was missing putts. After checking everything else, I found that I had developed a little bit of a forward lateral hip sway in my putting stroke, which is very easy to do if you are practicing all aspects of your game regularly. I've always contended that habits developed in the full stroke - both good and bad - can effect the small stroke (putting), and vice versa. And a forward lateral hip sway - which is a valid component of my full stroke method - is not a component of my putting stroke method. Here's how I identified the problem, which was an easy fix after I knew what I was doing wrong. I was practicing at my home putting station, and just for the heck of it I tucked one end of a necktie inside my belt and let the other end drape down between my legs. As I stroked putts, I saw the tie moving from side to side ever so slightly, and I realized that my lower body had developed a bad habit. Armed with that information, I hyper-focused on keeping my lower body still, and putts started falling again. I'm not suggesting that you bring a necktie to the practice green, but a two or three foot length of clothesline will do the trick and it doesn't look too weird. (Don't use the rope when you are playing, it would be a rules violation.) After I identified the problem. I was able to eliminate the sway by pressing slightly outward with my knees, as if I were trying to make them look bow legged. This locked my lower body in place and produced a perfect stroke. Give the rope hanging down drill a shot every now and then just to make sure that bad habits haven't creeped into your putting stroke. Love your practice, enjoy your golf, own your swing, Tom Tom's Bonus Tip: Whistle While You Work 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! I was playing golf just before the season ended with one of my brothers, and he said that he had a "tell" on me. He said that when I was facing a tight situation I would start whistling softly. I am well aware that there are "tells" in poker, but that's the first time I heard of a golf "tell" :-) I have always believed that having confident posture and using a relaxation technique like whistling softly generates a positive effect on your state of mind, and a positive effect on your game. I vividly recall hearing Fuzzy Zoeller whistling away (softly) on the course during his rounds of competitive play. In fact, Dr. Joe Parent, author of Zen Golf has this to say about the subject: "As you walk between shots, whether good or bad, maintain an upright posture, shoulders back, taking full breaths. Humming or whistling softly can make you feel more relaxed and positive. No matter how you've been playing, maintaining a confident posture will make you feel more positive. And that will give you the best state of mind for the next shot you face." It looks like "whistle as you work" has some merit in golf. 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 |
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