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Newsletter - Issue 143 Date 07/24/10
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TCT Quick Tips - Putting and Ball Striking
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Putting Practice - Focus on Stroke or Score

To practice your stroke, hit multiple balls to different length targets.
To practice scoring, putt one ball to different holes, and play it down 
to the hole each time.

The 3 L's of Ball Striking 

Straight left arm
Left heel planted on the ground
Rotate around your braced left leg

Enjoy,

Tom


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Golf Tip: Swingpath
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One of the biggest mistakes made by players who struggle with striking the
ball is the inability to control the downswing path of the club. If the path
is not correctly controlled striking the ball is like playing Russian
Roulette. 

Controlling the path correctly makes hitting the ball much easier.

Todays tip is to be sure that you give your legs a chance to work in the
downswing. The body weight shift must be a lateral one as the downswing
starts, not a rotary one. 

The rotation through the hit cannot occur until the body has reestablished
the balance on the left leg. If the turn begins to occur before the weight shifts 
the path of the club is shifted to a plane which will be too vertical.

The fix is fairly simple to do - at the transition point from the backswing to the
downswing, bump then turn. 

The legs and hips must work in harmony to first shift the weight and then turn. 

Do this by a feeling of bumping someone standing to your left and slightly in 
front of you (from the address position) as you start the downswing. Once you 
make the bump your path will automatically shift to a more inside out arc and 
your shots should quickly improve. Few people hit the ball too much from
the inside out, but 95% or more do have the club head approaching the ball on an 
outside in arc. Once this occurs, hitting the ball with power or accuracy can only 
be accomplished by a very skilled player. 

However, hitting from inside out makes even an unskilled striker hit better shots
immediately. 

Two things to watch for: 

1) Don't address the ball with too wide of a stance, your feet should be 
a couple inches wider than your hips. If your stance is too wide, the bump can
turn into a slide - too much of a shift - then accuracy suffers greatly.

2) Although this method will develop an inside out swingpath, try to work it into
an inside to inside swingpath eventually, this path will give you the greatest
margin for error on your shot.

Enjoy,

Tom