TomTuckerGolf.com
Golf Tips Newsletter
Issue 556 - Wed. May 8th, 2019
Website     Newsletters Archive

 
USGTF Class "A" Teaching Professional
WGTF "Top 100" Teacher
IGPA Certified Golf Psychology Coach

 

If you don't take action, you'll never improve.
Prepare to play your best golf by doing something now!

Tom's Featured Tip: Identify Your Swing Problems
Lesson Comments: What Students Have To Say
 Sponsors: Plum Creek Driving Range
Batavia Country Club Ping Club Fitting Day, Thursday May 23rd. 3pm - 6pm, no obligation to buy. Appointments appreciated, open to the public.
Chestnut Hill Country Club


Click here:  INDOOR GOLF LESSONS  for details on how to improve your game over the winter.

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Golf lessons - Outdoor and Indoor - are available at Plum Creek. Please call me (Tom Tucker) 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: Identify Your Swing Problems

For simplicity, all advice on actual swings or drills is provided from a right handed perspective.

Today I want to give you an example of the process I went through to identify some swing problems I experienced while playing my first few rounds of golf since last September.

I got back from my annual Florida vacation on Monday. While I was there, I played golf for four days in a row with one of my sons and one of my brothers. I scored decently for the most part, but my ball striking was raggedy.

The good news was that I didn't have any back pain, which has been a recurring problem for the past several years.

Based on my erratic ball flight patterns, I tried a few on course corrections but they didn't fix anything. I wasn't making solid contact and my normal draw curvature wasn't consistent.

I can normally figure out the problem based on my ball flight results almost immediately. It felt like I was doing what I was trying to do with my swing to correct the problems, but the ball flight results weren't supporting the corrections.

After my son and my brother left Florida, I went to the range and had my wife video a few swings with my iPhone, and as the saying goes, "sometimes feel ain't real".

My swing didn't look anything like what I thought I was doing.
  1. I was coming up and out of most swings (not staying in angled posture through impact).

      This fault usually makes a player fight the natural release of the clubface, and normally manifests itself with fade curvature and/or poor contact. It's an egregious swing fault, but in my own defense, it's what players with back problems tend to do to protect their backs.


  2. My left elbow was buckling right after impact.

      This indicated that I was stopping my rotation through the ball, I was "quitting at the hit". This also can cause a fade.


  3. My rear foot was not mirroring the same slightly flared open position at address as my forward foot.

      This promotes an outside to inside downswing, rather than a preferred inside to outside downswing path. This fault also causes a fade or a pull, and a severe loss of swing speed.
I worked on a few drills to correct each problem, and also gripped the club with more fluid wrists. My ball striking improved immediately. I played one more time with an old buddy and everything clicked, plus no back issues.

Here's your takeaway.

What was essential for the corrections that I made was not only the video, but also knowing my own swing. That also means understanding ball striking and the swing elements that cause a ball to curve one way or the other.

It's impossible to make corrections without a base point reference. That means knowing how you want to swing the club to produce your preferred curvature.

If you don't know your own swing, either take a few lessons to understand and develop your own personal swing, or study video of your swing and go from there based on your ball flight.

Most of the time I tell people to trust their swings. You've got to have one to trust it. For me, I know my own swing and committing to trusting my back is key.

Everyone is different, and you need to know your own nuances.

Know what you need to trust.

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

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

Ping Club Fitting Day, Thursday May 23rd. 3pm - 6pm, no obligation to buy. Appointments appreciated, open to the public.

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.

FISH FRYS AT BCC and other delicious dinner specials with soup and salad bar - Fridays, 4pm - 9pm

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