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TomTuckerGolf.com Golf Tips Newsletter Issue 506 - Wed. May 16th, 2018 Website Newsletters Archive |
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USGTF Class "A" Teaching Professional
WGTF "Top 100" Teacher IGPA Certified Golf Psychology Coach |
Prepare to play your best golf by doing something now! Lesson Comments: What Students Have To Say Sponsors: Plum Creek Driving Range Batavia Country Club 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 Simulator Course Play Specials: BataviaGolf.com Call 585-993-0930 or Email Mark to reserve 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: Q&A: 60 Yard Wedge Shots; Bonus Tip - RESET For simplicity, all advice on actual swings or drills is provided from a right handed perspective. I coach a professional golfer - Chris C. - who called me last week to tell me that he was practicing his 60 yard wedge shots and was digging the blade edge of his wedge into the ground before impact. In other words he was hitting it a little fat. He told me that he was practicing on wet grass, and other than that everything else was normal. Usually with him it's a very minor tweak and he's back on track. My first bit of advice was simply to tell him to set up with more weight on his forward foot, and to grip down about an eighth of an inch to compensate for any sinking that may have been happening in his stance. Then I said if he was practicing on dry ground just to make sure that he sets up with more weight on his forward foot, and to "bump" his weight laterally forward slightly to initiate his downswing. He then went out and hit 60 balls, and reported back that his contact improved, but that he still was catching the ground slightly before the ball with his strike. The next thing I told him was the solution, but I want to go through my thought process before I tell you, so that you can duplicate it in case you are having the same issue. There are a couple of ways to approach a three quarter or half wedge shot, and they both work. Each of them has one inherent issue that requires a lot of practice: maintaining the same swing sequence as a normal full swing, and maintaining swing acceleration through impact. One method would be to maintain a relatively normal shot swing length and to make the swing slower. The problem with this technique is that most players will end up de-accelerating through impact, and that will cause a host of distance and direction problems - and it won't impart much of spin. Another method - which I prefer - is to shorten the swing and maintain the same sequential pace as your normal swing. My suspicion was that Chris had his swing out of sequence, or that he was making one specific technique mistake. So I asked one more question. I asked him "if you were to hit balls one handed off a tee with an 8 iron - easy, choked down swings - which hand would be easier for you to hit, your forward hand (left) or your dominant hand (right)?" He replied that it would be his right (dominant) hand for sure. That led me to the conclusion that he was probably releasing his right hand wrist position a little too soon prior to impact, causing a slightly fat strike - a "mini flip" move. He has exceptional (Tour Pro level) swing speed, and when he swings full throttle, the angle of his strong hand wrist is maintained through impact. However, with the shorter backswing required for the 60 yard shot his timing was off, and that was causing an early release - flipping. I explained this to him on the phone, then told him to make sure he maintains his setup wrist angles through the strike by consciously holding the angle of his right wrist through impact. He then went out and hit 60 balls, and he told me that 57 of them were absolutely pure strikes. So the advice for pure strikes on less than full swings is this:
Bonus Tip: RESET When you are about to take your shot, but you change your mind about anything - target orientation, curvature, distance, etc. that will change your swing, don't swing until you RESET. It takes your brain about ten seconds to process the new information, so step away, take ten seconds, then go through your pre-shot routine again. 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. Ping Demo Day at BCC Thursday May 24th, 3pm - 6pm 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 |
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