TomTuckerGolf.com
 
Golf Tips Newsletter - Issue 329 - Wed. December 24th, 2014
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MERRY CHRISTMAS

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: Divots
- Health, Wellness, Fitness: Never Too Old To Train
- Nutrition: Get Your Daily Essentials
- Tom's Bonus Tip: Rules - Mental Interference
- 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: Divots

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!

Divots from your iron swings can provide a wealth of information if you know what to look for.

One of the greatest golfers of all time - Ben Hogan - used his divot patterns to groove his swing. He didn't have the advantage of simulators or launch monitors for feedback, so he "dug it out of the dirt". In fact, he famously said "the secret is in the dirt", and in fact there are quite a few books and DVD's that have capitalized on that phrase.

Almost all professionals and good players hit the ball first, then the ground with their irons, taking a divot. Some take deeper divots than others, but almost all of them take divots.

Your divot can give you feedback, and when you consider it in conjunction with your ball flight it helps you determine if your swing path, angle of attack, and clubface alignment are consistent with the desired result for your swing.

If you are at a driving range you should be able to see where your divots are pointing (and flying). Generally speaking,
  • If they are pointing left of your target, your swingpath is outside to inside.
  • If they are pointing right of your target, your swingpath is inside to outside.
When you observe the curvature of your shot in relation to your swingpath, you can determine what position your clubface was in at impact:
  • If your divot pointed left but the ball curved right, the face was open to the swingpath at impact.
  • If your divot pointed right but the ball curved left, the face was closed to the swingpath at impact.
If you check your divots and watch your ball flight, you should be able to decipher enough swingpath and clubface information to allow you to develop a repeatable swing and a repeatable ball flight. Technical feedback is great, but a good swing can be grooved without it if you are observant and able to interpret the information correctly.

Newsletter Issue 276 contains more detailed information on Ball Flight Laws. Study it and use the information next time you are at an outdoor range to help you figure things out.

Comments: ttucker@rochester.rr.com

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

Tom




Health, Wellness, Fitness: Too Old To Workout

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

You are never too old to get started on a good progressive resistance weight workout program.

If you are in the older category - I hate to define that in years because I truly believe that you are as old as you feel - here are a few quick caveats to keep in mind if you decide to begin a progressive resistance weight training program. By the way, it's one of the most important things an older person can do to regain or maintain your independence and a high quality of life. :
  • Check with your doctor before you start weight training, and when you start use very manageable weight, there's no rush.

  • Read a good book or two on how to proceed regarding strength workouts or muscle building workouts - they are different. My all-time favorite for strength building is Progressive Resistance Exercise by Drs. Watkins and DeLorme.

  • Decide on whether you want to emphasize pure strength workouts or a blend of strength and mass building. For those of us that are older, I believe that emphasizing strength is best because your strength fibers react well to stimulus even at an older age, whereas your muscle mass fibers are harder to stimulate as we age. There's research to back this up.

  • Get plenty of rest between workout days. Younger bodies can probably handle a three day per week routine, older bodies can absolutely still make gains with two, three, or even four days rest between workouts on a strength program.

  • Generally add more protein to your diet, and make it a point to consume 20 to 30 grams of quality whey protein within 30 minutes of a strenuous weight workout. My preference is to drink a protein supplement with skim milk right after a weight workout. It's a quick and easy way to get the whey into your system. Here's a link to the shakes that I take regularly, I take the TLS Whey Protein Shakes after a workout and the TLS Nutrition Shakes as a snack or meal substitute.  TomsHealthEssentials.com

  • Get an adequate amount of sleep every night
All of the above will be great for your golf game in addition to being great for your health.

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: Rules - Mental Interference

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!

Q:  A right handed player's ball is close to a sprinkler head. Although they can take their stance on one side and can make a stroke at their ball on the other side without interference from it, there is mental interference, so they may still take relief. True or False?

A:  False. There is no relief for mental interference by an immovable obstruction, Decision 24-2a/1.

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