"15 Minutes of Body Action Drills Are More
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Tom's Featured Tip: Gapping Part II - Scoring
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Gapping Part II - Scoring
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Gapping Part II - Scoring
For simplicity, all advice on actual swings or drills is provided from a right handed perspective.
In last week's newsletter gapping the distances between your irons was discussed.
You obviously need to know what club to select for approach shots into the green. That's a basic requirement to play the game reasonably well.
But to take your game and your scoring to the next level, you not only need to know the distance gaps from club to club, you also need to know different distances available from the same club with different swing lengths.
Flighting the ball lower into the wind, shots that you may need to escape from trouble, and the receptiveness of the green, may require a different shot than a stock swing length produces.
What I'm referring to are partial swings, and perhaps swing tempo adjustments, to produce ball flight trajectory and distance adjustments.
I'll use my own swing as an example.
Hole number 2 at The Batavia Country Club is a par 5 that measures 467 yards with a pond right in front of the green.
I'm 77 years old, but on a good day with no wind against me and a good drive, I can go for it in 2. Most days I can not. - especially into the wind.
So I try to hit my 2nd shot to around 100 yards, my stock pitching wedge or hard gap wedge distance, depending on how I feel that day.
If the shot is against a mild wind, I'll punch a 9 iron into the green with a 3/4 swing effort.
If the shot is into a heavy wind, I'll punch an 8 iron with a 3/4 or half swing, depending on where the flag is.
Both of these swings produce a lower flighted ball trajectory that cuts through the wind.
More often than not, these shots leave me with a decent putt for a birdie.
So the skill that needs to be developed to maximize your scoring is precise partial swings.
That sounds easy, but it takes a lot of reps, here's how you do it.
The first thing you need to do is determine how you want to think about these types of swings.
Decide on whether you want to think of your backswing in terms of swing position or feel.
Swing position means that you feel like your backswing is measured in relation to a clockface. 12 o'clock equals a full backsiwng, 10:30 equals three quarters, and 9 o'clock equals halfway back.
Feel means that your backswing feels like either full, three quarters, or half.
For me the "feel" thought process works best, but yours may be the "swing position", to each their own.
Here are some ways that you can practice getting to these positions in your backswing with consistency. Each way takes a lot of reps, and you need to refresh your memory monthly - even when you feel that you have these backswing lengths nailed down.
- If you practice alone, use a constraint like a driveway marker with a pool noodle stuck in the ground to define the distance of your backswing. If you are indoors, rig something up to constrain your swing so that
you can feel when it gets to each of the three positions.
- You can also use video or a mirror (I really like the mirror for immediate feedback) to see and feel the length of your swing.
- The way I did this many years ago was with another player who wanted to develop the same skills.
- I had the other player watch me swing as I went to the halfway, three quarters, and full backswing positions.
- I did 100 backswings for each of the positions, and had my buddy say either yes or no - depending on whether it was a precise swing or not. No's didn't count for the 100 swings total.
Actually I did 100 good swings at a position then he did 100 good swings at that same position.
- Then we each hit a series of ten balls at an outdoor range with partial swing lengths, and wrote down the average distances. This is a lot easier and more precise now with the availability of indoor simulators. What was interesting was the percentage correlations from club to club for the partial swings, they were consistent. We hit gap wedge, PW, 9 iron and 8 iron, but this process is valid for every club in your bag.
- I had the other player watch me swing as I went to the halfway, three quarters, and full backswing positions.
The last step is to take your partial swings to a simulator or range, and to record the average distances produced with three different length partial swings for at least these clubs: gap wedge, PW, 9 iron, 8 iron.
You can also add another variable - adjusting swing tempo - but wait until you have the backswing lengths nailed down before you tinker with that.
Try this, you'll really like it.
My winter lesson schedule will be starting soon, I'll keep you posted.
Email Comments: to TomTuckerGolf@gmail.com
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
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All the best,
Tom Tucker
Teaching Professional, Batavia Country Club
WGTF ' "Top 100 Golf Teacher"
USGTF Class "A" Teaching Professional
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Cell: (716) 474-3005
Email: TomTuckerGolf@gmail.com
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"There are no substitutes in the quest for perfection1"
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