TomTuckerGolf.com

Golf Tips Newsletter
Issue 626 - September 16th, 2020
Website     Newsletters Archive

 
USGTF Class "A" Teaching Professional
WGTF "Top 100" Teacher
IGPA Certified Golf Psychology Coach


 

If you don't take action, you'll never improve.
Prepare to play your best golf by doing something now!


Tom's Featured Tip: Power and Distance

Lesson Comments: What Students Have To Say
Sponsors:
Plum Creek Driving Range
Batavia Country Club
SuperSpeedGolf.com Click on the link to buy this swing speed training aid and increase your distance off the tee.

TourGreens & VersaCourt Click Here To Watch Our Video

If you're interested in an artificial turf outdoor or indoor putting green, bocce court, sport court, tennis court, pet grass, etc., contact me, Tom Tucker, at (716) 474 3005 or email me at TomTuckerGolf@gmail.com for details and pricing. I'm the authorized New York State sales rep for TourGreens and VersaCourt with TourGreensWNY.com. We offer top shelf quality, and even more importantly - the best installers in the Northeast.




Above: Full Sized Outdoor Putting Greens, a beautiful Bocce Court, an awesome VersaCourt sports court, an Indoor Putting Green that we installed for Jerry Hughes of the Buffalo Bills, and a VersaCourt - Putting Green combination. .

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Tom's Featured Tip: Power and Distance

For simplicity, all advice on actual swings or drills is provided from a right handed perspective.


For photos and stories from this year's Junior Golf Camp at BCC, click here: 2020 BCC Junior Golf Camp

There are many thoughts on the fundamentals of golf. Most players think that they are comprised of stance, grip, posture, etc. My thoughts, based on my research and study of the swing method principles that I teach, is that there are three true fundamentals to golf:
  1. The ability to hit the ground in the same place every time and forward of the ball to insure clean contact.

  2. The ability to create enough power or distance to enjoy and play the game.

  3. The ability to match the clubface to the swing path to control the curvature of the ball to keep it in play.
Remember, geometry and physics are the same for everyone; the anatomy of the individual player’s body dictates the actual swing mechanics.

Today's article is about Fundamental Number 2 - Power and Distance.

I'm not talking about smashing 300 yard drives and hitting 185 yard seven irons. If you can do that congratulations, you're an elite class player.

I'm talking about hitting a seven iron about 150 yards and a drive around 250 yards. If you can hit those marks, you have plenty of power to potentially play the game well.

There are several factors that go into being able to create power and distance, but I think one of - if not the most important - is developing speed through angular momentum.

If you understand angular momentum vs. vertical momentum, and if you have a concept of how to generate speed through angular momentum, you are on your way to developing power and swing speed. Getting the power and speed aligned to produce good shots involves adhering to your own swing method principles, but whatever that method is angular momentum needs to be there.

Here's the way that I explain angular momentum to my students at their first lesson.

Many years ago, NFL field goal kickers used a straight through approach to their kicks, and kicked the ball with their toe. Guys like Lou "The Toe" Groza, and Paul Horning kicked with this straight on style, and they even wore kicking foot shoes with a square toe to help with their accuracy and power. They generally produced 40 yard or so kicks with decent accuracy, and in the early days most teams didn't even have field goal specialists. Some of them even had other duties in addition to kicking field goals.

Then in 1964 my beloved Buffalo Bills, a team in the young American Football League, signed Pete Gogolak, the first pro soccer-style kicker. He proved so valuable that in 1966 the New York Giants, a team in the long standing National Football League, "poached" him from the Bills, by offering more money.

Gogolak showed that his soccer style kicks produced about 15 more yards of potential field goal distance.

The reason was - you guessed it - angular momentum.

The straight through kicking style used vertical - up and down - momentum for a power source, whereas the soccer style approach - from the side - used angular momentum as the power source.

The proof was in the pudding.

Here's how all of this relates to the golf swing.

Most of the players that come to me for lessons have too much up and down in their backswing and downswing.

They lift the club up in their backswing because it seems like the right thing to do to produce a downswing that will launch the ball into the air. That's like the straight on approach old field goal kickers used. It's based on vertical momentum for swing speed and it rarely produces enough power or distance to enjoy and play the game of golf.

After I get them into the habit of swinging their hands and arms a little deeper on the backswing rather that higher on the backswing, angular momentum is produced and they pick up as much as 7 mph swing speed, which equates to roughly 20 yards more carry. And they can build on that.

Here's an image of backswings with the hands transported deeper (more inward) rather than upward:




Generally speaking, most of the pros who have maximum angular momentum hit the ball the furthest. This is because coming down into impact their club head is still behind their hands for a much longer period.

Practicing transporting your hands a little more around your body rather than upward in your backswing is something that you should be able to do on your own.

Try it and observe the results, I think you'll like what you see.

Next issue we'll discuss the last of the three true fundamentals: The ability to match the clubface to the swing path to control the curvature of the ball to keep it in play.

Enjoy.

Comments: TomTuckerGolf@gmail.com

Love your practice, own your swing, own your health,

Tom




Golf Lessons

I conduct lessons at The Plum Creek Driving Range & Practice Facility
there's a link for Plum Creek info here: http://www.tomtuckergolf.com/

Lessons are available for all ages and skill levels, please contact
me - Tom Tucker - at (716) 474 3005 or email me at TomTuckerGolf@gmail.com
for more information.

Outdoor Lessons Details and Rates:
http://www.tomtuckergolf.com/lessonrates.html

Indoor Lessons Details and Rates:
http://www.tomtuckergolf.com/indoor.html

Testimonials:
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Sponsors



Click here SuperSpeedGolf.com to buy this swing speed training aid and increase your distance off the tee. I bought the Coaches set and I love them. Browse their site for great FREE swing speed training outlines and great FREE webinars on demand. Buying through my affiliate also helps support this free newsletter. Try 'em, you'll like them.

Plum Creek Driving Range and Simulator  Outdoor range and play indoor golf on any of our 40 Simulator Courses. Call 585-993-0930 or email Mark at plumcreek4@rochester.rr.com to reserve time for simulator play or practice!

Batavia Country Club   (585) 343-7600   www.bataviacc.com
Great rates, the best greens in WNY.
Golf Digest Four Star rating for public courses to play in New York State.
Tee times online or by phone in season.
FISH FRYS AT BCC and other delicious dinner specials with soup and salad bar - Fridays, 4pm - 9pm

All the best,

Tom Tucker
Teaching Pro, Plum Creek Driving Range & Practice Facility
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 perfection!"
~ Ben Hogan