TomTuckerGolf.com
 
Golf Tips Newsletter - Issue 328 - Wed. December 17th, 2014
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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: Aiming
- Health, Wellness, Fitness: Weight Workout Warmup
- Nutrition: Get Your Daily Essentials
- Tom's Bonus Tip: Walter Jones Quote
- 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
Check out the Equipment & Apparel and 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: Aiming

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!

Aiming is a part of the game that is really hyped up for putting, but I feel not mentioned enough as the swing gets longer.

Today I wanted to bring some awareness to getting yourself and your club aimed correctly on different types of shots, and I also wanted to include a few things you can do during practice to check your starting ball flight to see if everything is copasetic.

Aiming Putts

After you have determined your aimline by adjusting for break and speed, step into the ball and set up with precision as follows:
  • position your right foot
  • place the putter face behind the ball, square to your intended aimline
  • then position your left foot with a little weight feathered onto it (52% - 48% favoring the left)
  • note that I'm not mandating a square, open, or closed stance - your putting stance and alignment are very personal for putting, and you need to experiment to find out what works best for you to get the ball started online
  • make final setup adjustments to your feet
  • ball placement should be precisely where you can strike the ball on a slightly ascending stroke, which is usually at some point forward of center; find that spot for your setup and make sure the ball placement is there EVERY SINGLE TIME YOU PUTT WITHOUT FAIL
  • execute a stroke that squares the putterface to the ball the same way it was at setup
You can practice your setup over the winter by setting up in front of a full length mirror and observing that your setup is precisely the same when you do it 10 times in a row.

Here are a couple of drills for visual practice for squaring up the clubface.

You can practice setting up with a square clubface by aligning a 2"x4" with your aimline (on the flat side), with the rear end of the 2"x4" placed where the back of your ball would be. Then practice setting your putter face flush to the back end of the 2x4 to make sure it's square to your aimline.

If you are practicing in a place where you can make a mark on the floor, draw a straight aimline, put an "X" where the ball would be placed, and draw a line right behind and square to the "X", perpendicular to the aimline, where the putter face would be. Then simply practice setting up with a putter face square to the perpendicular line behind the "X".

Most of my students initially set up with either an open or closed clubface to their aimline when they set up for a putt, and these simple drills done once or twice a week for 10 or 20 reps can correct that fault and help you make more putts.

Aiming Chips, Pitches, and Full Swing Shots

The first step in aiming your chips, pitches, and full swing shots is simply remembering to do so, and to do it with precision. "Remembering to aim" might sound like strange advice, but if you play a lot at the same course, I can guarantee that there are several times during your round that you take your aimline for granted. This is manifested by making a good swing that ends up wide to either side because you were not precise enough (too casual) with your aimpoint.
  • from behind the ball, pick your target aimline, then pick an intermediate target spot two or three feet ahead of the ball
  • approach the ball and position your right foot
  • place the clubhead behind the ball with the face square to your intended aimline
  • then you may or may not feather weight forward depending on your swing method
  • position your left foot in accordance with the alignment you want for the shot you want to play
  • make sure that your shoulders, hips, knees, and feet are aligned equally parallel in your stance regardless of the direction of your alignment
  • make final setup adjustments to your feet
  • ball placement should be precisely the same every time for the club in hand, which may differ for certain shots and clubs, but nonetheless it needs to be precisely the same for each situation and club you intend to use.
Indoors, you can practice actually seeing and hearing that you are starting the ball on it's intended path during practice by hanging pieces of cloth or nylon ribbons that correspond with your aimline in front of a practice net or simulator. When you are set up correctly and strike the ball correctly, the ball will hit the cloth or ribbons, giving you audible and visual feedback that your starting line was correct.

Outdoors, you can stick a couple of 48" fiberglas driveway marker rods in the ground about 6 feet in front of your swing arc and about 2 feet apart for starters, and observe that the ball is starting out between the rods. You can move them closer together for more of a challenge as you gain more control of your ball flight.

You should have noticed that the repeating aiming themes for all swings are
  • awareness,
  • identifying your intended aimline,
  • and precision in your setup and ball placement.
Practice like this over the winter and your accuracy will improve, providing of course that you own your swing and can repeat it consistently.

If you are not really sure if you own your swing or not, take action to make it happen. Either do research and get some good DVD's, or take lessons from an instructor of your choice. The game becomes much more enjoyable and progress is made possible when you have a concept of exactly how you want to swing the club.

Comments: ttucker@rochester.rr.com

Love your practice, own your swing, own your health,

Tom






Health, Wellness, Fitness: Weight Workout Warmup

Disclaimer: DO NOT PERFORM ANY STRENUOUS PHYSICAL EXERCISE LIKE THE ONE LISTED BELOW, WITHOUT CONSULTING YOUR DOCTOR.

I've always been obsessed with getting "bang for my buck", whether that means getting the best deal on a set of clubs, or gauging my energy expenditure during warming up for a workout so that I have an adequate warmup, but still can devote maximum energy to my strength sets.

Here's what has worked very well for me over the years.
  • 2 minutes of light running in place
  • 10 bodyweight squats
  • full arm swing circles, forwards and backwards, 15 reps in each direction
  • then for each weight lifting exercise, I like to take a warmup set of 8 reps with 50% of my heavy lift working weight for that exercise
  • then rest 2 minutes and perform the heavy lift for the exercise for the number of reps planned
  • if you have more sets for the particular exercise planned, do them subsequent to the heavy set
This sequence will give you a decent warmup without sapping your energy or strength for your heavy lift.

Try it, you'll like it.

Comments: ttucker@rochester.rr.com




Nutrition:  Do you lack energy, sleep poorly, or feel generally lousy a lot of the time?

If that describes you, maybe it's time to try the Isotonix Daily Essentials Kit supplements that I personally use daily.

If you haven't tried them yet, why the heck not?

Note that they are called Daily Essentials - not Daily Optionals - for a reason!
Simply said - if our body doesn't make it, we need to take it. These all-natural supplements have made a profound difference in my health. I used to take high blood pressure and cholesterol medication, and I now have normal blood pressure and normal cholesterol levels and take none of those medications anymore.

In fact, all of my blood work is perfect.


The only change I made to get off these medications was taking my Daily Essentials, and that's not even why I started taking them, it was a side benefit. I started taking it to increase my energy, and it did that too!

Why the heck not give it a try?

How to take your Isotonix Daily Essentials

For more information or to buy your Isotonix Daily Essentials Kit, click here. And when you check out, make sure to enter 10OFFMA in the discount code box to get the 10% discount that I offer to family, friends, and newsletter subscribers.

Comments: ttucker@rochester.rr.com

Love your practice, own your swing, own your health,

Tom



Comments: ttucker@rochester.rr.com

Love your practice, own your swing, own your health,

Tom






Tom's Bonus Tip: Walter Jones Quote

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 son Tom, who lives in Florida, and I were corresponding via email and he included a great quote at the end of his email.

The quote is attributed to Walter Jones, a 2014 Hall of Fame left tackle for the Seattle Seahawks, and I think it applies to our quest to get better at the game of golf.

In fact, it has a broader reach than golf, but for now let's consider it in a golf context.

"If better is possible, then good is not enough."

To me this means recognizing our limitations, then figuring out what needs to be done to actualize our maximum potential within those limitations.

How much realistic improvement is possible for you?

Figure out where you can really get "better than good", then plan the work and work the plan.

If your plan includes improving your game over the winter, contact me to schedule indoor lessons and I'll be more than happy to help you plan and accomplish your goals for improvement.

Tom Tucker (716) 474 3005
Email ttucker@rochester.rr.com

Comments: ttucker@rochester.rr.com

Love your practice, own your swing, own your health,

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   Great Rates & The Best Greens in WNY- bar none!
Christmas Specials! BCC Pro Shop will be open from 10am to 4pm Monday thru Friday. Gift certificates, merchandise sale, and big savings on all membership packages purchased before 12/31/14. 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