"Everybody can get better on 15 minutes per day."
"You can even get better on 5 minutes per day."
Tom Tucker, Unrenowned Golf Coach 😄
Tom's Featured Tip: 60 Yards And In
Lesson Comments: What Students Have To Say
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60 Yards And In
The Best Training Aid For Indoor or Outdoor Practice
The Divot Board
This is the most useful ball striking development training aid that I own.
60 Yards And In
For simplicity, all advice on actual swings or drills is provided from a right handed perspective.
I coach a low handicap golfer who called me last week to tell me that he was practicing his 60 yard wedge shots, and that he was digging the leading edge of his wedge into the ground before impact. In other words he was hitting it fat consistently.
He told me that he was practicing on wet grass, and other than that everything else was normal.
His preference is a compression chip technique, rather than a bounce chip technique.
Keeping that in mind, 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:
- Set up with some forward shaft lean in your club.
- Put about 70% of your weight on your forward side foot prior to your takeaway and backswing.
- Even though the swing will be shorter than normal, maintain your swing sequence and speed
and be sure to use a tiny lateral weight shift
"bump" to initiate your downswing, and to put more weight on your forward side foot.
- Hold the angle of your right hand wrist until your are past impact.
- Practice, practice, practice until you nail down your backswing length stopping points for various length shots with your half or three quarter wedge swings.
- Weight left
- Swing at the target
- Maintain forward shaft lean
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.
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
Golf Lessons
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Lessons are available for all ages and skill levels, please contact
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for more information.
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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
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BONUS: when you buy through the newsletter link above, you'll also receive free access to my Putting Lesson Videos ($60 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 to buy your Fiberbuilt Golf Flight Deck Practice Station. (Editor's note: Order through Amazon Prime instead of through the manufacturer's site and you'll save around $100)
If you are looking for the most robust portable hitting station that money can buy, the Fiberbuilt Golf Flight Deck Practice Station fits the bill.
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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.
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.
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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.
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