|
TomTuckerGolf.com |
|
|
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: Driver Tips - Tour Greens: - Tour Quality Synthetic Greens - Health, Wellness, Fitness: The Chocolate Milk Diet - Nutrition: Get Healthy With Daily Essentials - Tom's Bonus Tip: Q&A: Regular Flex or Senior Flex - Lesson Comments: What Students Have To Say - Sponsors: Plum Creek Driving Range Batavia Country Club NOW OPEN FOR THE SEASON Genesee Community College Golf Management Program 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. 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. Masters Comments Congratulations to Jordan Speith for an awesome display of shot control, self control, and great putting! It was a great Masters to watch last Sunday even though Jordan Speith took a lot of the drama out of it. It was good to see that Tiger's game face is back, but missing that relatively short birdie putt at number 2 cost him a lot of momentum. Phil still has it, it was good to see him make a run too. But the story line for the tournament for me was threefold: how Speith handled the pressure; how he shakes off a bad shot; and how well he putts. Rare is the pro golfer who can dismiss a bad shot as quickly as Speith does, that's a quality we can all develop. He doesn't bomb it out there with the longest hitters, but his self control and his putting will serve him well for his future. Tom's Featured Tip: Driver Tips For simplicity, all advice on actual swings or drills is provided from a right handed perspective. Most people that come to me for lessons are struggling with their driver. They either have swing speed issues, accuracy issues, or both. On the swing speed front, a player can pick up quite a bit of it fairly easily with this pure swing speed drill. Simply swing a training aid that replicates the length of your driver without the weight. There's an excellent training aid that's made for this called the Momentus Speed Woosh. They cost anywhere from $70 to $130 depending on the model you get. I use them for my lessons so I bought three of them, but there's no need for you to spend more than about $5 to make a training aid that will give you the same swing speed benefits that the Speed Woosh offers. Simply go to Home Depot, Lowes, or Valu and buy a 48" fiberglas driveway marker rod. Then wrap some tape around one end to replicate a golf grip so that it won't fly out of you hands when you swing it. I suppose that you could get fancy by wrapping tape around the handle to build up the circumference then actually put a golf grip on the rod, but that's really unnecessary. Then, during the golf season, simply take 7 really fast swings in each direction three times per week and you'll add a good clump of swing speed to your driver swing. Then when you actually play, on the tee take one practice swing with your driver inverted - like you are swinging the grip end at the ball - to feel speed and to remind yourself to swing fast and smooth with your actual swing. To improve accuracy, simply shortening the driver shaft by an inch or two works wonders. Most players are reluctant to do this because they are afraid that they will lose distance by doing this. Shortening the shaft will decrease the centrifugal swing speed generated, but that doesn't mean that it will diminish the length of your drive. I was working with a player on the simulator who was generating more distance with a shorter driver because he was hitting it squarely more often with the 44" driver than he could with his stock 46 1/2" driver. In an effort to claim that theirs is the longest driver, club manufacturers have been creeping towards the maximum shaft length allowed by the rules of golf - 48". I know a few players that can swing a 48" shaft with accuracy, but not many. I tried it for awhile and hit some bombs, but most were busts. Another benefit of a shorter driver shaft is that it contributes to a proper swing plane. Longer shafts tend to make a player swing on a "too flat" plane. A shorter length shaft will contribute towards a better swing plane angle with your driver swing. I recall reading about a driver called a "thriver" quite awhile ago. I actually googled it and found one. It's a driver with a head weight that's 10g heavier than standard (about 210g) - an inch or two shorter than standard, (about 44"), and more loft than most drivers offer (14 degrees). It's supposed to give almost as much distance as a "normal" driver, with the added benefit of better accuracy. Hireko Golf makes one - Hireko Thriver Driver and I might give it a try, although I'm leaning towards a new Callaway driver this year. Or - I might buy a Thriver and a Callaway. I do my part to contribute to the golf economy. If anyone reading this newsletter has ever tried hitting a "thriver" driver, shoot me an email with your comments, use the Comments email link below. I'd love to hear about it from firsthand experience. Keep practicing. Comments: ttucker@rochester.rr.com Love your practice, own your swing, own your health, Tom Tour Greens: Tour Quality Synthetic Greens For Superb Short Game Practice Would you like to be able to practice with purpose in your own back yard? Would you like your short game to progress from bad to good, or from good to great? Would you like to get the ball up & down with more frequency? Would you like to have a short game practice area in the privacy of your yard for practice and for friendly competition with your kids, your wife, and your friends? Click here TourGreensWNY.com for photo galleries and more information. If the thought of having a beautiful tour quality practice green in your yard appeals to you, you're in luck. In addition to my golf instruction business, I am also the exclusive Western New York sales associate for Tour Greens Western New York. With Tour Greens you can experience the ultimate home short game practice solution. Click here to read what Tour Pro's Fred Couples, Rich Beem, Boo Weekly, Blake Adams, and Chris DiMarco have to say about their Tour Greens. You all know me well enough to know that I don't affiliate with any product that I don't have a passionate belief in. These greens are the real deal. They are extremely durable - they can even withstand our challenging WNY winters. For more information please click here: TourGreensWNY.com, or feel free to call, text, or email me to discuss your needs. Comments: ttucker@rochester.rr.com Love your practice, own your swing, own your health, Tom Health, Wellness, Fitness: The Chocolate Milk Diet Disclaimer: DO NOT PERFORM ANY STRENUOUS PHYSICAL EXERCISE LIKE THE ONE LISTED BELOW, WITHOUT CONSULTING YOUR DOCTOR. Here's a link to an interesting article about the benefits of chocolate milk. One point that you will read is about pre-loading protein from chocolate milk prior to your weight workout, and the post weight workout protein boost. Most of my personal research says that pre-loading protein prior to a weight workout is unnecessary, and that the post weight workout consumption of whey protein should be within 30 minutes of the end of the workout in the amount of 30g of whey protein. One great adjustment to the article's recommendation would be for the post weight workout protein boost: mix a scoop of whey protein powder with 10 oz. of chocolate milk, that would give you about 30g of whey protein with most whey protein powders. Here's the article, enjoy! The Chocolate Milk Diet Comments: ttucker@rochester.rr.com Love your practice, own your swing, own your health, Tom Nutrition: Get Healthy With Daily Essentials Why am I promoting these particular vitamins and supplements in a golf newsletter? Because I use them daily and I passionately believe that everyone would be better off drinking their vitamins in a liquid form rather than taking them via pills or capsules. Why do I say that? Because with liquid delivery, you have faster and more efficient absorption of the nutrients contained in the vitamins and supplements. Isotonix (liquid) vs. Pill and Tablet delvery systems. These all-natural supplements have made a profound difference in my health. I used to take high blood pressure and cholesterol medication. Since taking the vitamins and supplements in the Isotonix Daily Essentials Kit, I now have normal blood pressure and normal cholesterol levels and take none of those medications anymore. The only change I made to get off those prescription medications was taking my Daily Essentials, and the funny thing is that's not even why I started taking them, it was a side benefit. I started taking them to increase my energy, and it did that too! If you lack energy, sleep poorly, or feel generally lousy a lot of the time maybe it's time to try the Isotonix Daily Essentials Kit supplements that I take every day. If you haven't tried them yet, why the heck not? Buy Now Isotonix Daily Essentials Kit Customer Reviews Why the heck not give it a try? Buy Now How to take your Isotonix Daily Essentials Isotonix Daily Essentials Kit Customer Reviews For more information or to buy your Isotonix Daily Essentials Kit, click here. Comments: ttucker@rochester.rr.com Love your practice, own your swing, own your health, Tom Tom's Bonus Tip: Q&A: Regular Flex or Senior Flex For simplicity, all advice on actual swings or drills is provided from a right handed perspective. I'm including this email exchange I had with a senior student because I thought it might resonate with many of my readers, enjoy! I've added some additional italicized comments to broaden the answer a bit. Q: Hi Tom, I'm been looking at the new AeroBurner driver. I see they have a TP model and a standard model. Along with regular shaft or a senior shaft. Is there a rule of thumb to decipher the differences? I've always used a 10.5 loft and liked the results. Thanks, Rich B., Clarence, NY. A: Thanks for the question Rich. I wish there were a rule of thumb to decipher if a player should use a certain flex shaft, but there are too many variables involved. I would recommend the standard model, the TP (Tour Preferred) models are usually set up for high swing speed players. 10.5 or higher would be my loft recommendation, and from what I remember of your swing, I think an "R" flex shaft would work for you. Your driver swing was pretty strong as I recall, and I would think that the senior flex might be too soft for you. Having said that, not all "R" flexes are equal, so your best bet would be to go to Dicks and swing that particular club on their simulator with different flex shafts. I believe they have demo clubs there that they let you try out that way for free. If the ball contact feels hard and the ball flight is low, the shaft flex is probably too stiff. The direction aspect is where it can get dicey, because a ball that starts right could be either a flex and torque that is too stiff (to allow the head to square up at impact), or a head that's not squaring up because the shaft is too flexible, or a swing path error. The feel and trajectory are better indicators. Rich owns his swing. If I were dealing with someone that I had not taught, I would have recommended a driver fitting session to check out technique before I made any flex recommendations. It's not just about swing speed. Observing how a student attacks the ball and how he or she releases the club are also important factors in determining the correct shaft flex. If a player is totally satisfied with their swing technique, then that player could simply go to a place that offered a variety of demo club and shaft options and a simulator bay, and they could test them until they had good results. One word of caution, after you find out what you need for specs in a driver, ask the salesperson to bring that club in a new model for some swings. If that club brings the same good results that were obtained with the demo club, buy it. I've mentioned before that there could be a lot of discrepancy between flexes labeled the same, even within the same brand. So if you find a club that's working well, buy it. Hope this helps! All the best, Tom 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, Golf Digest Four Star rating for public courses to play in New York State. Tee times online or by phone in season. www.bataviacc.com (585) 343-7600 NOW OPEN FOR THE SEASON Genesee Community College Golf Management Program Click on link for more information if you or anyone you know is interested in a dynamic career in the golf industry, or in 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 |
|