==================================================== Newsletter - Issue 129 Date 02/26/10 ==================================================== ==================================================== Equipment - Books - DVD's - Instruction ==================================================== I do research on the internet just about daily for new or interesting golf swing methods and equipment, and a few weeks back I ran across some interesting stance and hitting mats at http://www.realfeelgolfmats.com/ . At first glance they seemed to be a bit pricey, but after I read the copy on the website I thought that if they delivered as advertised they would have good value. I talked to the owner of the site, Jay McGrath and had him ship me his Portable Twin Combo System - a 20'' x 36" Country Club Elite Mat with a 20"x 36" Stance Mat. I've been giving the mats a workout at my daily 6 am practices with my GCC Golf team, and I must say that they are the real deal. They allow the ball to sit a little softer than they do on my BirdieBall mats. Some players prefer that type of feel when they practice, especially when they are hitting wedges off a mat because the thicker surface doesn't effect the shot as much - it absorbs the manufactured bounce of the club. It also feels like you are taking a slight divot when you hit your irons correctly, For those who like to use long tees with their drivers when hitting off mats, these mats are great because you just stick the tee right into the mat the same as if you were teeing it up outdoors. If you prefer a shorter tee, the mats also work well with a Dura Launcher receiver and adjustable tee, so you get the absolute best of both worlds! If anyone reading this newsletter decides to buy from Jay's site, he has put together a special offer as follows: The First 10 Golfers to order a mat or mat combination ($99 or more) will receive an 11% discount at checkout by using "TTUCKER" without the quotes in the COUPON CODE box at checkout. And everyone that enters "TTUCKERx2" in the BONUS box at check out will also receive Double Launcher Tee and Birdieball bonuses - that's 2 launcher tees and 6 birdieballs. I give Jay's Portable Twin Combo System two thumbs up for value and function. You can read more about the mats and order here: http://www.realfeelgolfmats.com/ For the record, I do not receive any sort of fee or commission for sales resulting from my recommendations for this product, the recommendation is based purely on performance. Enjoy, Tom ==================================================== TCT Quick Tips - Good Swing, Bad Body ==================================================== Golf tips and swing advice can only take you so far. In order to truly correct a flawed swing, the causes of the problems must be treated, not the symptoms. A bad swing doesn't always mean that you're doing things wrong, sometimes it's just that your body isn't letting you do things right. By understanding and changing your body - stretching and strengthening - you'll be able to correct your mechanics naturally so you can take your game to the next level. Just do it. Enjoy, Tom ==================================================== Golf Tip: Groove Misconceptions ==================================================== Well - it happened again last weekend during the Accenture Match Play Championship. Ian Baker Finch, former pro golfer and current color analyst for CBS, was talking about how the ball rolls up the face of an iron, hits the grooves, and thus get spin on a shot. I hear this a lot on broadcasts, and it drives me nuts. Now, while there is no doubt that these pros turned announcers had a lot of game in their day, I would think that they would do a little more homework before they say things that are simply not 100% true when they are on TV. Pardon this pun, but national TV is not the place to take a "flyer" at a fact. It's a very common misconception is that the grooves on a clubface create backspin when, in reality, nothing could be further from the truth. Sometimes that myth is reinforced when a player sees scuffs on the ball. However, scuffs and abrasions can be caused by the clubface actually striking the ball with the leading edge of a groove, or by an extraordinarily abrasive clubface, or because a clubface has hit so many balls that the surface is smooth and the leading edges of the grooves are sharp, but not because the ball rolled up the clubface. The ball stays on the face of an iron for 4 to 5 ten thousandths of a second, how much time is that for the ball to roll up the face? In fact, a clubface with no grooves would impart the most backspin possible under perfectly dry conditions. Ralph Maltby, the mind behind Golfworks, actually made and played a set of irons like this and proved his point - when he hit them from tight fairway lies. Now I am making a distinction between a ball rolling up the clubface and sliding up the clubface. When there is moisture between the ball and the clubface, the ball will slide instead of spin just before it's launched Grooves on a clubface perform the same task as treads on a tire - to channel away surface moisture. Moisture on a clubface acts as a lubricant allowing the ball to slide rather than spin. If slide exceeds spin you end up with a flyer that has very little backspin and very limited directional or distance control. This is a bad thing. By the same token, if spin exceeds slide you have just the opposite. This is a good thing. Obviously, the deeper and wider the grooves the more moisture can be diverted and the more backspin and control imparted to the shot. Where does moisture come from (on a dry day)? Grass. For shots hit out of the fairway it makes little or no difference what type or size of grooves are involved. The reason is that you are hitting your irons with a descending blow into the ball and making no grass/turf contact until after the ball is gone, therefore you have no moisture to deal with. However, when hitting from the rough it is practically impossible to eliminate blades of grass from getting between the clubface and ball at impact. Even a single blade of grass will produce moisture/lubricant. What the USGA wanted to do was to limit the amount of moisture diversion produced by grooves so that a player could not generate the same degree of backspin and control out of the rough as they could from the fairway. In effect, they wanted to penalize a player for hitting into the rough in the first place, after all it is called the rough, not the easy. The groove ruling is simply the USGA's way of rewarding accurate shot making. Personally, I think it was unnecessary. In any event, I just wish the announcers would get it right! Enjoy, Tom