Prepare to play your best golf by doing something now!
Tour Greens: Tour Quality Synthetic Greens
Tom's Bonus Tip: Putting - Backswing Length
Lesson Comments: What Students Have To Say
Sponsors: Plum Creek Driving Range
Batavia Country Club
Tour Greens Western New York
Chestnut Hill Country Club
Click here: INDOOR GOLF LESSONS for details on how to improve your game over the winter.
Plum Creek Driving Range, Batavia, NY, Open All Year
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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: More GIR Through Better Ball Striking
For simplicity, all advice on actual swings or drills is provided from a right handed perspective.
A couple of newsletters back I talked about the importance of hitting greens in regulation - GIR.
Today I want to talk a little bit about how you can actually get that done with better ball striking.
Poor ball striking is perhaps the number one swing fault that I see in my students.
Good ball striking is a main tenet of all of my lessons, which is why I put the Ball Striking lesson first in my lesson package sequencing.
All good ball strikes have these components:
- Good Sweet Spot Contact.
This means hitting the center of the ball with the center of the clubface. (generally speaking).
This requires that you get the correct spacing of the ball in relation to the distance it sits away from your feet. You can monitor good contact by spraying Dr. Scholl's Foot Powder on the face of your club and observing where the imprint of the ball lies after each swing, or by marking a big dot on the back of each ball you hit with a dry erase marker, then seeing where the dot appears on the clubface after each strike.
- Swing Lowpoint Awareness and Control
With all clubs except your driver, we need to hit the ball first and the ground second. Expert players may have their divot and low point of their swing located about three to four inches on the target side of where the ball was struck:
Target to the right
Less skilled players may end up with the divot and low point closer to the ball:
Target to the right
And poor players may have their divot actually starting before the strike of the ball:
Target to the right
Either of the first two scenarios will produce a good strike, and the last scenario where the ground is struck first usually produces a disastrous result. There are actually two scenarios where you can get away with an acceptable result with the last ball striking scenario - when you have perfect fairway conditions and a shallow angle of attack you could get away with a poorly executed strike, or when the ball is teed up. Otherwise, it's not advisable to swing on an angle where you hit the ground first.
- Controlling The Height of Your Swing Circle
You can't have too much body angle/height change in your swing or you lose the swing radius relationship to the ground established at address.
If you don't have paint to set up like the image above, simply scratch a line on the ground with a tee. After you are set up, place a ball on the line and practice making swings and observing where the divot falls in relation to the line. Make adjustments until you are able to produce strikes with divots that start at the line, or even better - on the target side of the line.
Train yourself (or let me train you) to become a good ball striker and you'll reap the benefits with better scores.
Try it, you'll like it
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
Our customers love their practice greens, here's what they have to say: Testimonials
Click on the image below for a video demonstration of how well golf shots hold on our Tour Greens synthetic putting greens.
If you would like a free, no obligation quote for getting a beautiful practice area or putting green installed on your property - indoors or outdoors - give me (Tom Tucker) a call at (716) 474-3005, or email at at ttucker@rochester.rr.com
For more information please click here: TourGreensWNY.com
Comments: ttucker@rochester.rr.com
Love your practice, own your swing, own your health,
Tom
Tom's Bonus Tip: Putting - Backswing Length
For simplicity, all advice on actual swings or drills is provided from a right handed perspective.
The most inexpensive and effective way to gain confidence on the green is to understand your putting stroke - to own your putting stroke.
Because a good putting stroke has a pendulum motion, don't be afraid to take the putter back a little farther than you may be inclined to do. We resist a long back-stroke because we think we are going to hit the ball too hard.
As a result, we truncate the back stroke and then force the forward stroke with a right arm push. This contributes to inconsistent distance control.
The primary force moving the putter head forward should be gravity, controlled in length by the shoulders rocking back. Not arms, not hands, not wrists, SHOULDERS. That's how a pendulum stroke works, and it will help you to control your distance better than any other method.
So, don’t be reluctant to swing your backstroke back a little farther with a shoulder rocking motion for longer putts, then just let gravity play its part on the downswing.
Try it, you'll like it.
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 (585) 343-7600 www.bataviacc.com
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.
BCC RED HOT SPECIALS
Seniors 58 and older, weekdays or weekends after 1pm, $100 for a Foursome, includes cart AND lunch, must have four players!
Prepaid Golf Discounts available in shop or over the phone when secured by a credit card - up to 50% savings!
Call (585) 343-7600 or visit our website for details.
Tour Greens Western New York Practice with purpose in your own back yard on your own synthetic practice green. Our greens LOVE Western New York weather!
Chestnut Hill Country Club (585)-547-3613 www.chestnuthillgolf.com
THE WESTERN NEW YORK LEADER IN GOLF OUTINGS!
Only minutes from Buffalo, open to the public. Tee times online or by phone in season.
All the best,
Tom Tucker
Teaching Pro, Plum Creek Driving Range & Practice Facility
WGTF ' "Top 100 Golf Teacher"
USGTF Class "A" Teaching Professional
IGPA Certified Golf Psychology Coach
Cell: (716) 474-3005
Email: ttucker@rochester.rr.com
http://www.TomTuckerGolf.com
"There are no substitutes in the quest for perfection!"
~ Ben Hogan