==================================================== Newsletter - Issue 173 Date 07/30/11 ==================================================== ==================================================== TCT Quick Tip - "One Ball" Putting Practice ==================================================== I spend a lot of time on the putting green, either conducting lessons or practicing. That might be a good tip right there - spend a lot of time on the putting green - but that's not the focus for this tip. I see a lot of players putting numerous balls to the same target. This practice method is called "block" practice, which is fine for working on your stroke. If that's why you are on the putting green, it's great practice. However, if you are on the practice green to warm up for your round or to work on your overall putting game, random "one ball" practice is much better. This involves putting one ball to a different hole each time, putting until you hole the putt, then putting the next putt to a hole with a drastic length difference than the previous putt. It's great for developing feel for lag, and of course for holing short putts. The key to "one ball" practice is to not get casual during this type of practice. It's a mistake to step up to those short putts and just "one hand" them in. For each and every putt you take during practice, take two practice strokes next to the ball while staring at the hole, then step in and stroke the putt. No gimmies, not even the two footers, every putt gets holed out that way. This short routine, used with your practice and real putts will pay big dividends: two practice strokes next to the ball while staring at the hole, then step in and stroke a putt. This "one ball" practice method not only gives you great lag and short putt practice for your round, but it also reinforces a brief but very effective pre-shot routine habit. By the way, the new sexy word for pre-shot routine is "process" ... pre-shot routine or "process" notwithstanding, get in the habit of using one. Try "one ball practice", it's quick and easy, and your scoring will improve. Enjoy, Tom ==================================================== Golf Tip: Driving It Left or Right? ==================================================== This problem and tip is described from a right handed perspective, lefties please reverse everything. There can be many reasons for hitting your ball left or right, I'll explain a couple of the most common reasons below. First and foremost, a ball starts in the direction that the clubface is pointing when contact is made. There used to be a concept called the nine rules of ball flight, which erroneously identified the cause of initial ball flight as swingpath direction. Make no mistake, swingpath direction has great influence on how the ball curves, but the direction that the clubface is pointing at impact is the cause of the initial direction of the flight of the ball. However, a ball can - and often does - start left and curve right, or start right and curve left, etc. As a teacher, when I am trying to figure out a cause for a problem, I think of the direction that the ball starts out in relation to the swing path that delivered the club to the ball. Here are examples, please refer to the diagram on this page for definitions: http://www.tomtuckergolf.com/drillIOswingpath.html If your swingpath was square and the clubface was open, your initial direction of ball flight would be to the right. If your swingpath was square and the clubface was square, your initial direction of ball flight would be fairly straight. If your swingpath was square and the clubface was closed, your initial direction of ball flight would be to the left. Keep in mind that in each of the above examples the ball could curve in various ways depending how your hands and wrists release the club at impact. For the record, the swingpath that I prefer for my students is a slight inside to outside swingpath, and here's a great drill that can help you develop that swingpath: http://www.tomtuckergolf.com/drillIOswingpath.html When you swing a golf club your shoulders turn around to the left. In a proper shot this is offset by the arms swinging the club, for all intents and purposes, out to the right. This is because the downswing should start from inside the target line, swing out to the target line, and then crosses the target line due to the momentum of the clubhead. Someone standing behind you would see your club swinging out to the right. In baseball terms it would feel like swinging to right field. Hitting It Left An extremely common error with the driver is trying to hit it too hard. What commonly happens is, in the effort to hit the driver appropriately far, it gets pulled down from the top of the backswing. The upper body turns hard out of sequence, pulling the arms down. Instead of the clubhead moving from in to out it gets pulled from out to in, and the ball goes left. Because the wrists are being dragged to the ball, the angle of attack becomes shallower, causing the ball to fly low. If you drag the clubhead to the ball with the body and fail to use the wrists and arms properly, you will get a low and left ball flight as the body overly dominates the swing. Develop a good inside to outside swing path, and a side benefit is that you will also lag the club better, which in turn promotes a natural feeling release. Hitting It Right The opposite would be using your arms more than your body, but failing to release with the hands and wrists. The clubface will remain open at impact and this will cause the ball to push, fade, or more likely slice to the right. Learning how to properly release your hands and wrists is vital in learning to control ball flight direction and curvature. As I said earlier, developing a slight inside to outside swingpath is very helpful in this regard. Enjoy, Tom