==================================================== Newsletter - Issue 175 Date 08/26/11 ==================================================== ==================================================== Equipment - Books - DVD's - Instruction ==================================================== This information may or may not fit in this section, but I wanted to mention a golf movie that's releasing next week called "Seven Days in Utopia" with Robert Duvall and Lucas Black.. Here's a trailer: http://www.sevendaysinutopia.com/video I bought a Reeso Putter http://www.reesoputters.com/ - a very long shafted (52") "face on" style putter - a few years ago, and with the purchase I received a copy of a book called "Golf's Sacred Journey" which is the basis for the movie. It was a great book, and hopefully the movie will follow suit. I'll be one of the first to see it, I can't wait actually .... Hearing about the movie inspired me to put the putter into play again, and coincidentally I saw an ad for a putter called the "Krutch" putter http://www.rosemarkgolf.com/ They call it revolutionary, but the only revolutionary aspect is that your putter handle will probably smell like your armpit for a while ... other than that the "face on" style has been around for a long time. They definitely took a page out of the Reeso putter book, and I'm not a fan of sticking the shaft into my armpit and swinging it like a crutch - however when I watched the video it gave me a great idea for a better grip. I had been using a modified claw grip, and when I tried the grip that the "Krutch" putter recommended, it worked much better. I'm going to give it a shot this weekend, my practice went great with it - now I'll see how it does under actual play. BTW I am a fitter and distributor for Reeso Putters if anyone's interested in obtaining one. ==================================================== TCT Quick Tip - Never Give Up ==================================================== It's important to never give up on the golf course. Take a lesson from Keegan Bradley...even after a triple bogey he came back with 2 superb birdies to eventually win the PGA Championship. Winners never quit, and quitters never win. Enjoy, Tom ==================================================== Golf Tip: Hear the "Swoosh" ==================================================== I picked up a pretty cool training aid from Momentus Golf a week or two ago called the Momentus Speed Woosh. http://www.momentusgolf.com/products/index.asp?id=27740 Note that I prefer to call the sound a "swoosh" - but in any event it has worked out well with my students. At around $80 it is a bit pricey, but I spare no expense for my students :-) However, I did conjure up ideas for less expensive alternatives for all of you. The training aid offers two benefits - speed training and release training. The Woosh helps feeling a delayed release, and it works well for that. Here's a $2 alternative: get a paint brush roller and slide it down the handle of an 8 iron. Now position the club in the delivery position with your wrists still well hinged and the roller near the grip of your club. Then, simply swing and release. The paint brush roller will slide down the shaft and make a clicking sound as it hits the bottom of the club. You simply need to time your release so that the sound occurs at or near impact. BTW, I also found that an old plastic golf bag shaft tube, cut it to 10" and fitted it into a foam pipe insulation sleeve, and it works even better - but then you're investing about $3.00. Here's a $0 cost alternative for speed development - simply turn your driver upside down, grip it on the shaft near the hosel, and make fast golf swings with it. The interesting thing is that you have to swing fast, not hard, to hear the swoosh at or beyond impact, it's really great training for that. I actually take a few swings like that on the tee before I hit my driver to plant that seed if I feel like I'm not swinging with enough velocity - or swinging "hard" not "fast". In fact, I developed a drill for my new Maximum Carry Driver Swing Lesson, where the student does quite a few reps of my inverted driver "swoosh" drill, Inverted Driver Swoosh Drill To hit the golf ball further you need to swing faster right where it matters - at impact, while still maintaining your balance and timing. Here's a great drill to do just that, the inverted driver "swoosh" drill. 1 - Get your driver and turn it upside down, so that you’re gripping it near the head with the golf grip pointing down at the ground. 2 - Now simply swing the driver for 20 repetitions, slow for the first few reps, then increasingly faster,accelerating through impact with each swing while maintaining perfect balance. 3 - Listen for the "swoosh" sound at, or just past, impact. Here's what you should learn and feel during this drill: - a good inside to outside swingpath, which feels like you are extending out a bit after impact - a fast, accelerating swing that produces a good "swoosh" sound at or just past impact - a gentle but definite crossover release of your hands A modification of the drill for those of you that have trouble with a swingpath that comes a bit over the top (outside to inside), is to do the drill with your left hand only for twenty separate repetitions. (Do these repetitions before the two handed repetitions.) Concentrate on inside to outside swingpath, scratch lines in the ground if it helps you learn the movement. I like to do a total of 100 repetitions for a drill like this, so try and do five sets of 20 reps when you do the drill. In fact, for my students I recommend 100 reps for any movement being practiced. Enjoy, Tom