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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: Q&A Do It Yourself Re-Gripping - Tom's Bonus Tip: Or ... Get Them Re-Gripped - 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 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: Q&A Do It Yourself Re-Gripping 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! A couple months back, a student of mine asked me some questions about re-gripping his clubs that I thought would make a good newsletter topic, enjoy. Q: Hi Tom, When I took a scoring shot lesson from you over the summer, you mentioned it looked like my grips were in need of replacement. I currently have Callaway clubs with their stock standard size grips installed. I hope you can steer me in the right direction. I've been to a couple websites and Golf Galaxy to try to figure this out for myself but have ended up no closer to a decision than when I started. The websites say my hand size is "standard+++" (Lamkin) and "oversize" (Winn). Golf Galaxy has many grips installed on shafts to try for feel. I can see virtues for several of them. The websites say new grips will save 3 to 4 shots per round. If that is truly the case I will be a a solid single digit handicap. Can grips make that much difference? Steve T. A: Hi Steve, first of all great hearing from you and thanks for the question. Yes grips can make a difference in two ways, one is physical and one is psychological. Either way, don't expect to shave 3 to 4 shots per round off your true handicap - that's a stretch in my opinion. However, I probably would say that badly worn grips could add a stroke or two - so in that sense you might get those back. In the physical sense, worn grips make you grip the club too tightly, and as such inhibit swing speed and proper technique. In the psychological sense, new grips are a pleasure to play with. They make your clubs feel new, and that actually seems to give most players a little mental refreshment. Most of the time, you should replace your grips before they feel real slick. You should note that some irons get more wear than others, so it may well work out that some grips need to be replaced when others are still serviceable for quite awhile due to infrequent use.. You don't need to be a skilled craftsman to replace your own grips, so you should learn how to replace grips yourself and always keep a few on hand. By the way, the big killer of grip longevity in storage is light, so keep them in a drawer or cabinet and your inventory will be fine when you need it. I use GolfWorks.com to buy my grips, and they often have sales, so look for sales and stock up. The Golfworks grip replacement accessories link is here: http://www.golfworks.com/search.asp_Q_ipp_E_5000_A_t_E_c_A_c_E_17 Here's what you need to repair grips:
FYI I don't use the heat gun, I either scrape tape off with the tape stripper or my fingers, or if there's only one layer on and it's still smooth I just tape over it like Michael Breed did in the first video. One layer is pretty unobtrusive. Q: (in response to first answer) I'm going to try to extract some more specific information from you if I can. First is grip size. The difference in feel between standard and oversize is negligible to me. How does grip size affect swing mechanics/shot shape/ball flight? A: way too small of a grip size generates too much hand action, usually resulting in a hook. Way too large inhibits it, usually resulting in a block or a slice. Q: Second is grip material. I tend to grip the club pretty tightly. Corded grips feel hard and unforgiving. Do they give more shot feedback as a trade off? Tacky/rubber (Winn in particular) style grips range from firm to padded. Does more padding = less shot feel or less playability? A: I don't like either corded, hard, or padded, I prefer a tacky rubber grip that is firm but not hard. If you tend to grip tightly, avoid the padded spongy feeling grips. My only knock on the Winn grips is that they seem to wear out quickly. I really like the Golf Pride multi compound grips. They are pricey, but it is what it is. Q: I've re-gripped my own clubs in the past. It's not particularly difficult. I put Tacki-Macs on a set of Hogan Edge irons I had, and liked the tacky feel. Thanks for all the links. I'll do it myself again. Q:I also wanted to get your opinion on the rise of the oversized putter grip. My girlfriend tends to get very wristy on her putts. I hit some putts at the golf store with one, but I didn't see a whole lot of difference. Steve P.S. I should say thank you for pointing me in the right direction to improve my game. I put in a lot of practice time as well, the difference was my practice was actually doing things to groove good habits and swing mechanics. I dropped 4 strokes and 5 strokes for 9 holes in 2 different leagues this past year - dropping my 9 hole handicaps to 4 and 5 - it's been a long time sice I was that low. A: An oversized putting grip should help Lynn's "wristy" problem, providing that she pays attention to the fundamentals we covered at her putting lesson. I love the oversized extra long grip on a shaft length that is about 6 inches longer than your normal length putter shaft. It lends stability to your stroke, and also allows you to crouch a little lower and grip a little lower for very short putts to enable a pure straight back and straight through stroke. I have them on most of my putters, I should have bought stock in Super Stroke Grips :-) - and well done on the practice time you put in! Love your practice, enjoy your golf, own your swing, Tom Tom's Bonus Tip: Or ... Get Them Re-Gripped 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 aren't handy, don't want to buy re-gripping supplies, or only need your clubs re-gripped infrequently because you don't play much, then have then re-gripped professionally instead of doing it yourself. The only place I'll recommend for this is the Plum Creek Driving Range. Mark carries a good supply of grips in inventory, and he just became a distributor for "Pure Grips" which carry a one year guarantee, which I've never seen before for a golf grip. With a one year guarantee, it's kind of a no brainer - PLUS Mark re-grips less expensively than anyplace else and does a superb job.. Give him a shot if you don't want to bother with re-gripping on your own. 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! Batavia Country Club Pro Shop at Batavia CC open 9am - 4pm daily for memberships, gift certificates, merchandise, apparel, and equipment. Phone orders accepted as well. www.bataviacc.com 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 |
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