TomTuckerGolf.com
 
Golf Tips Newsletter - Issue 289 - March 19th, 2014
To View In Your Browser   Click Here


 

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: Long Iron Hang Time
- Tom's Bonus Tip: Great Training Aid
- 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:
Long Iron Hang Time


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 lot of my students - especially my aging students - often have trouble hitting their long irons high enough to get the carry distance that they should out of the club.

One of the first things you can do to solve this problem is to do what another aging golfer (me) did. Take your three iron our of your bag and replace it with a hybrid. I still carry a four iron, but I also carry a four hybrid. I carry the iron for when I need it for a long, low, into the wind shot. Otherwise, I hit the hybrid given the choice.

For those of you that still carry and use long irons, here are a few tips on how to get sufficient hang time on those shots.

I teach that the shaft has to be in a forward leaning position at impact, which means that the hands are positioned ahead of the ball at impact. This works great for shorter irons, but for many amateurs that have relatively low swing speed, this position won't allow the ball to be launched high enough with their longer irons to get enough carry distance from the club.

If the shaft gets more vertical at impact, the ball flies higher, which for long irons may be desirable for slower swing speeds. So, another solution would be ball position a little more forward in your stance so that there's less forward shaft lean at impact.

Another solution would be to first build up your strength, then to build up your swing speed, so that you can produce enough power to launch the ball higher with a normal ball position.

In summary, here are three doable solutions - in the sequence that they should be considered - to be able to get sufficient carry with a long iron:
  1. Replace your three and four irons with hybrids; many pros carry hybrids in place of a three iron on the PGA Tour, and on the Senior Tour, one or two hybrids are found in every bag.

  2. Move the ball position forward for a swing that produces less forward shaft lean at impact.

  3. Get stronger and develop a faster swing.

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

Tom



Tom's Bonus Tip:
Great Training Aid

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 reviewing the short swing ball striking drill with a student before the start of a lesson, and he had shown marked improvement from his first ball striking lesson.

I had suggested that to combat his problem - flipping the club at impact - that he should stick a comb in the back of his glove to force the left wrist to stay straight.

He said that he did me one better. He took one of those paint stirring sticks - like a wooden ruler but longer and a bit thicker - stuck that in the back of his glove then up his forearm and secured it near his elbow. I can't actually recall what he said he secured it with, but a wristband, a velcro strap, or even an ace bandage would do the trick.

Necessity is the mother of invention, and it played out here. I'll probably recommend this to all of my students to use as an anti-flipping reminder for ball striking practice as well as for putting practice. Well done Dean K., and thanks for the training aid idea!

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