"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: Levels
Lesson Comments: What Students Have To Say
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Levels
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.
Levels
For simplicity, all advice on actual swings or drills is provided from a right handed perspective.
One of the tenets of the golf swing that I teach is maintaining your "levels" in your golf swing.
"Early extension" refers to a common swing flaw where the golfer's hips move towards the ball during the downswing, causing the upper body to straighten prematurely (spine in an extended upright position), resulting in a loss of power and consistency.
I would say that a vast majority of my students exhibit "early extension", manifested by the head rising in the backswing, and through impact. In other words, they lose their "levels". You could also think of this as standing up through your swing, where your head gets higher than where it was at address.
When I identify that flaw, I hold a pool noodle alongside a student's head while they swing. Then I can see - and they can feel - when they sway away from it or rise up from it on their backswing, downswing, and finish.
This training method helps them learn to:
- Keep from shifting their weight excessively to their rear side on their backswing.
- Keep their head relatively still (laterally speaking) in their backswing.
- Feel the left shoulder going low in the backswing.
- Feel a side tilt (which is facilitated by the left shoulder down with a still head and he rear leg straightening).
- Shift their weight more forward with their hips on their downswing, without moving their head laterally.
- Allow their shoulders to rotate through impact on the tilted axis that they have created as they swing and rotate through impact .
- Finish taller, with a slightly side tilted posture.
The images below represent what the backswing, forward swing, and finish, with side tilt and spine extension look like:
Address - note the level of the head
Backswing - head level does not change
Downswing - head level does not change
Finish - head level gets a bit taller as momentum pulls
the posture upward, but some side tilt remains
The Head on The Wall Drill
There is one tweak to my LEVELS rule that I reserve for advanced players for their driver swing. I teach them to "squat" to initiate their downswing, then to straighten their legs explosively through impact.
Most tour pros do this with their driver swings when they need a little extra yardage. It takes a ton of practice to master, more practice time than most of us would be able to muster simply because life gets in the way.
This technique leverages ground forces for faster swing speed and more power. However, often I see so much enthusiasm for generating this type of power that the side tilt orientation gets lost in transition, and a wild shot results. As I said before, it takes a lot of practice to master, which is why I reserve this tweak for better players only.
The rest of us mere mortals (myself included) can still play to a very high level without it. I must admit however, that if I am facing a wide open par five I'll usually give it a shot - with mixed results 😄 .
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
I am now conducting lessons at The Batavia Country Club
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:
Outdoor Lessons Details and Rates
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Indoor Lessons Details and Rates
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Sponsors and Affiliates
Buying a sponsored product through any of my affiliate links helps support this free newsletter, and I only affiliate with excellent products that I use myself. Thanks, Tom
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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. And make sure to check out their new turf mats, I think they copied what I did - but in a better way!
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.
Click here SuperSpeedGolf.com to buy this swing speed training aid and increase your distance off the tee.
SuperSpeedGolf.com Buy now and get to work on increasing your swing speed now.
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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