"It is not the will to win that matters, everyone has that.
It is the will to prepare to win that matters." - Paul "Bear" Bryant
Tom's Featured Tip: Practice Like This To Get Better
Lesson Comments: What Students Have To Say
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Buying a sponsored product through any of my affiliate links helps support this free newsletter, and I only affiliate with excellent products that I use myself. Thanks, Tom
Click here to buy The Divot Board to drastically improve your ball-striking. Combine your Divot Board practice and putting practice with the included putting lesson drills, and watch your scoring improve!.
Use your club or hand to re-set the board after your strike
Click here to buy now for outstanding Ball-Striking practice feedback
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Train with a Rypstick to improve your swing speed and gain more distance off the tee. The versatility of three different swing weights in one club makes the Rypstick your swing speed training aid of choice.
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Practice Like This To Get Better
For simplicity, all advice on actual swings or drills is provided from a right handed perspective.
The Divot Board
This is the most useful ball striking development training aid that I own.
Practice Like This To Get Better
This could well be one of the most useful articles I've ever written for serious players, players who really want to improve.
After reading the title for this newsletter article, I would bet that you are thinking "Tom is going to tell me to get 3,500 reps in to build a solid neural pathway for my swing technique".
While that is true, that's not what this article is about.
My next guess is that you think I'm going to say "practice hitting a club until you are satisfied that you are striking it well, then move on to another club."
Nope, it's not about that either, although that is an acceptable way to practice.
The two methods of practice described above are sometimes called "block" or "calibration" practice, and there's nothing wrong with that type of practice. In fact, that type of practice should probably constitute about 80% of your practice swings because this type of practice does work for building precision.
But the other 20% of your swings are where the treasure lies. Those swings should be of the "variable" or "differential" mode of practice, and they build skills for adaptability and awareness, things that you really need to draw upon when you play..
When you add differential practice to the mix, research has shown that you will learn 20% faster, and that you will retain the information better and longer.
Differential practice means hitting shots that may seem to be counterintuitive to your normal swing patterns, such as:
- Intentional big hooks.
- Intentional big slices.
- Shots blocked to the right.
- Shots pulled to the left.
- Fat shots.
- Topped shots.
- Extremely high shots.
- Extremely low shots.
- Shots where you roll your hands over extremely, closing the face as much as you can through impact.
- Shots where you keep the face square through impact.
- Shots where you roll your hands under extremely, opening the face as much as you can through impact.
- For the next three use a dry erase marker dot on the back of the ball and it will transfer to the clubface and show where you
struck the ball, I use three different colors. You can also use Dr Scholl's foot powder spray, but the dot gives you more
precise feedback
- Shots where you intentionally hit it near the toe of the clubface
- Shots where you intentionally hit it near the center of the clubface
- Shots where you intentionally hit it near the heel of the clubface
Here's one quick story about how this type of practice can be effective, even in the short run.
I did a lesson last week with a teenager who has had a few lessons in the past, but this year he was tied up with another sport that he was concentrating on. That's life.
His technique had gotten pretty shabby, and he had picked up the habit of over-rotating his hands at impact, which produced a shot that started left and hooked to various degrees from bad to horrible.
We made a few alignment adjustments and a ball placement adjustment, but the meat of the practice session was differential practice. I had him over-roll his hands, to close the face even more than he had been doing, then under-roll his hands to present an opening clubface to the ball at impact, then keep the face square to his path.
We gradually went from extreme to subtle, and he observed how the curvature and direction was changing with each sequence of swings.
At the end of the lesson he had an idea of what was causing the problem, and a thought on how much or how little wrist roll was required for him to hit the ball relatively straight without too much curvature.
He's apparently a quick study, because on Monday his dad texted me to tell me that he had a personal best score for nine holes three days after his lesson.
Heck, I wish that I could correct my own swing flaws that fast 😀
The takeaway is that adding some differential practice into the mix will pay long lasting dividends, give it try!
Comments: TomTuckerGolf@gmail.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 TomTuckerGolf@gmail.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 and Affiliates
Buying a sponsored product through any of my affiliate links helps support this free newsletter, and I only affiliate with excellent products that I use myself. Thanks, Tom
Train with a Rypstick to improve your swing speed and gain more distance off the tee. If the versatility of three different swing weights in one club appeals to you, this is your swing speed training aid of choice.
Click here Rypstick.com to buy now, and make sure that you enter TOMTUCKERGOLF (case sensitive) in the Discount code box when you check out to receive a 5% discount.
Click here to buy your Divot Board to drastically improve your ball-striking. Combine your Divot Board practice and putting practice with the included putting lesson drills, and watch your scoring improve!.
Use your club or hand to re-set the board after your strike
Click here to buy now for outstanding Ball-Striking practice feedback
BONUS: when you buy through the newsletter link above, you'll also receive free access to my Putting Lesson Videos ($50 value) which cover: The Elevated Aimline Drill, The Squareness Awareness Drill, The Aimline Accuracy Drill, The Stock Putting Stroke Drill, The Barrier Drill, The Short Putt Channel Drill, and more.
Click here SuperSpeedGolf.com to buy this swing speed training aid and increase your distance off the tee.
SuperSpeedGolf.com Buy now and get to work on increasing your swing speed now.
Club Champion Don't waste another dollar on clubs until you've gone through a fitting at Club Champion, 1669 Pittsford Victor Rd., Suite 400, Victor NY 14564. Call Master Fitter & Builder Jeff St. John. PGA work: (585) 978-8513, cell: (585) 831-2292 to schedule your fitting today! Mention my name and you'll get special attention.
The Crocbox Click through for details on the exclusive TomTuckerGolf discount available only to my newsletter readers.
The perfect choice for a discreet practice net in your yard.
Pop it up in 45 seconds, fold it down and close the weatherproof box lid when you're done. Click Through for the exclusive TomTuckerGolf Crocbox Discount .
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.
FISH FRYS AT BCC and other delicious dinner specials with soup and salad bar - Fridays, 4pm - 9pm
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: TomTuckerGolf@gmail.com
http://www.TomTuckerGolf.com
"There are no substitutes in the quest for perfection!"
~ Ben Hogan