TomTuckerGolf.com

Golf Tips Newsletter
Issue 766 - Wednesday May 31, 2023
Website     Newsletters Archive

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


 

Master The Motion Before You Master The Shot.
"15 Minutes of Body Action Drills Are More
Important Than Hitting 200 Balls"

Tom's Featured Tip: Intentional Focus - Fat Hits

Lesson Comments: What Students Have To Say
Sponsors & Affiliates:
Batavia Country Club
Game of Throws Indoor Simulator
The Divot Board
The Impact Snap
The Rypstick
SuperSpeedGolf.com
Club Champion




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




Buy Gift Certificates for Lessons   Sample Gift Certificate

Outdoor Golf lessons are available at The Batavia Country Club. Please call me (Tom Tucker) at 716 474 3005, email me at TomTuckerGolf@gmail.com, or visit my website at   http://www.tomtuckergolf.com/lessonrates.html   for details.

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For photos and stories from the 2021 Junior Golf Camp at BCC, click here:
2021 BCC Junior Golf Camp

For details on the 2022 Junior Golf Camp at BCC, click here:
2022 BCC Junior Golf Camp The Junior Golf Camp sold out quickly in 2021, so get your junior golfer registered soon. Call BCC at (585) 343-7600




Intentional Focus - Fat Hits




Two Great Training Aids For Indoor or Outdoor Practice

The Divot Board


This is the most useful ball striking development training aid that I own.
Don't have one yet? What's holding you back?
Click here to buy your Divot Board for outstanding Ball-Striking practice.


Click here ImpactSnap.com to buy now. Start using the ImpactSnap training aid indoors or outdoors to make you instantly aware of proper hand and wrist action, which is second only to low point awareness for great ball striking.




Intentional Focus - Fat Hits

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


Intentional Focus - Fat Hits

I recently had a student that was hitting all of his irons fat - striking the ground before he hit the ball.

I explained that the three most common reasons for hitting the ball fat are:
  1. Not enough weight on the forward side at impact.
  2. Releasing the hands too soon, which lengthens the swing arc radius.
  3. Insufficient pivot.
Ordinarily I would then identify the exact reason for his fat hits, then do a few drills to overcome the issue. That does work, but recently I found an easier and better way to solve the problem.

Sometimes we are too quick to rush to technique correction, when a simple shift of focus can do the job.

We used Intentional Focus (closely related to the external focus concept) to resolve his "fat hit" problem.

Intentional focus works by identifying a point of focus before you swing, then your brain and body make technique adjustments automatically to accommodate your thoughts.

It worked like a charm, the student hit about 10 punch shots in a row, and 8 of them were pure "ball first" strikes.

I didn't just jump in and try this out on the student before I proved to myself that it worked. I have played a few rounds of golf this year and my ball striking has not been up to par. At my handicap level I expect a certain percentage of good strikes when I play, and I was falling short.

Then in my normal course of studying golf, I ran across some intentional focus research, and decided to try it on myself.

I did this at the range with a small bucket of balls and various irons, with the objective of producing a shallow divot after impact.:
  1. Just before my backswing takeaway, I focused on a spot on the ground about two inches in front of the ball on the target line (where your divot should be after a good ball-first strike), with the intent of having my club make contact with the ground at that spot after impact.

  2. Before my actual takeaway, I shifted my vision to the ball as usual.

  3. Then I executed a good swing.
After two or three swings I was striking it as pure as ever, with a nice shallow divot occurring after ball contact. And the good ball striking carried over when I played as long as I went through the same brief thought process before every iron swing. On a couple swings, I intentionally did not go through that process to see what happened, and my strikes were not quite as crisp.

So intentional focus is a keeper for me, and it likely will be for my students with that problem too.

Try it, I think you'll really like it.

Email Comments: to TomTuckerGolf@gmail.com

"Clear Intentions Simplify Execution"
Mike Bennett and Andy Plummer, The Stack and Tilt Swing


Love your practice, own your swing, own your health, and remember that golf is a game of discovery. Dont be afraid to experiment when you practice, it's good for your golfing brain.

Tom




Golf Lessons

I am now conducting lessons at The Batavia Country Club

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:
Outdoor Lessons Details and Rates


Indoor Lessons Details and Rates:
Indoor Lessons Details and Rates


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




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




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 improve1.


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.




Train with the Impact Snap training aid to improve your hand and wrist coordination for a powerful strike. A Golf Digest 2021 Editors Choice Training Aid

Click here
ImpactSnap.com to buy now and start using a great training aid that can be used indoors or outdoors.




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 today1 Mention my name and you'll get special attention.




All the best,

Tom Tucker
Teaching Professional, Batavia Country Club
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 perfection1"
~ Ben Hogan