============================================================== [ TomTuckerGolf.com Tips ] Issue 216 - Date 11/07/12 ============================================================== Newsletters Archive: http://www.tomtuckergolf.com/archive.html Hundreds of Great Tips and Articles to help you improve your game. IN THIS ISSUE: - Tom's Featured Tip: Winter Improvement Outline - Tom's Bonus Tip: Q&A Strength and Golf - Lesson Comments: http://www.tomtuckergolf.com/testimonials.html - Sponsors: The Batavia Country Club, Chestnut Hill CC,   Plum Creek Driving Range and PGA Golf Simulator November Indoor Golf Special - Four Play, Three Pay on the Simulator Golf Courses at Plum Creek. Normal cost $25 per player, save $25 Call 585-993-0930 or email Mark at plumcreek4@rochester.rr.com to reserve your tee time! I am conducting indoor lessons this winter in the Simulator bay at Plum Creek, please call me at 716 474 3005, email me at ttucker@rochester.rr.com, or visit my website at http://www.tomtuckergolf.com/indoor.html for rates and details. If you want to respond to this newsletter, PLEASE DO NOT hit reply, email sent via reply gets auto-deleted. Instead, please FORWARD your reply to ttucker@rochester.rr.com and I'll get it directly. Thanks! Tom Tucker http://www.tomtuckergolf.com/ If you like this newsletter, please do me a favor and forward it to your friends so that they may subscribe: Subscribe - http://www.tomtuckergolf.com/signup.html The Unsubscribe link is at the bottom of this newsletter. Congratulations to Destry Mullen on his first hole in one at the Keith Hills Golf Club, White course, Hole # 7 - 170 Yds, 6 iron. Destry is a former student of mine, now taking the PGM course at Campbell University in Buies Creek, NC. Well Done Destry! ============================================================== Tom's Featured Tip: Winter Improvement Outline ============================================================== For the sake of simplicity, all advice on swings and drills is provided from a right handed perspective; lefties .... well, you know what to do :-) Winter is a great time to either improve or maybe even change your swing, providing that you have a clue as to what to do. As the old saying goes "A problem defined is a problem half solved." I believe this saying, but I wonder if the author ever played golf :-) Once things are defined specifically, you can undertake your training by studying and practicing, or through taking lessons. It can be done on your own if you take the time to educate yourself. If you prefer professional guidance, contact me for lessons. Here's an outline of the basic intellectual requirements and training facilities for your winter improvement plan. 1. CLASSIFY YOUR BALL FLIGHT 2. DEFINE THE BASE PROBLEM 3. SET UP A PLAN OF ACTION 1. CLASSIFY YOUR BALL FLIGHT I can't tell you how many times I've been emailed questions like: "Tom my driver keeps going right (or left) , what do I need to do to fix it?" First of all, there's not enough ball flight information to even begin to define the problem. Here's a list of terms that you need to learn to classify your ball flight so that you can begin to define your problem. To identify and name any shot, all you need to know is whether it starts right or left of the target, and which way it curves. Pull Hook: starts left of the target and curves left Pull: Starts left of the target and flies straight Fade: Starts left of the target and curves to it Over-Fade: Starts left of the target and curves across the target Slice: Starts at or right of the target and curves right Straight Shot: starts at the target and flies straight Hook: Starts at or left of the target and curves left Over-Draw: Starts right of the target and curves across the target Draw: Starts right of the target and curves to it Push: Starts right of the target and flies straight Push Slice: Starts right of the target and curves right Reading your ball flight in these terms tells you all you need to know about swing path and face angle at impact. When you know that, you can start making adjustments for corrections. Without it, you're shooting in the dark. You also need to have a representative sample of swings to identify a pattern, I would feel comfortable with around forty swings. Outdoors you simply need some sort of marker to define the ball - target line, then observe where the ball starts and how it curves. Indoors, you need a quality simulator to give you that information. The one we use at Plum Creek, the AboutGolf.com PGA Simulator gives you that information; Flightscope and Trackman are also reliable simulators. Those are the only brands that I've done in depth research on - there may be others that are also decent. Just make sure that the data is reliable before you spend time and money on your practice. Do your homework. 2. DEFINE THE BASE PROBLEM Once you know where the ball starts and how it curves, you can start defining the base problem. I say the base problem, because there are usually multiple problems associated with bad swings. The main problem, or base problem, needs to be identified and addressed first, then branch problems need to be identified and fixed. Here's a real life example. I had a gentleman that came to me because he couldn't self-correct a problem he was having due to his "erratic clubface position at impact" - his definition of the problem not mine - that was causing a pull hook, or a fade. He was confused. After watching him take about ten swings, I saw that the problem was twofold - the base problem was that he was hitting the ball in front of the circle; the branch problem was that he didn't understand the relationship between the clubface and swingpath that causes the ball to curve. He had been making compensating adjustments without any real knowledge about cause and effect. We all swing down and out on our downswing on an angled circle. You can call it whatever you care to call it, but it's still a swing made on an angled circle, and it bottoms out at some point in your swing. If your ball placement is correct for a draw, which is my preferred flight for about 90% of my students, the ball is behind the circle - or back far enough in the stance to hit the ball before the low point of the circle. This particular student was placing the ball too far forward in his stance - in front of the circle - and was swinging across the ball. When he closed the clubface dramatically to avoid a fade, he was hitting pull hooks. When he then over-compensated by opening the clubface, he was hitting fades. We practiced getting the ball placement correct first, the base problem. Then we worked on swingpath, and how to position the clubface in relation to his swingpath and the target line to produce consistent curvature in his ball flight, the branch problem. There is a hierarchy of correction that needs to be followed in sequence, or you'll drive yourself nuts making small compensating tweaks that work for awhile then break down. You need to thoroughly understand the elements of your own swing method in order to make corrections that will withstand the test of time. Do your homework. 3. SET UP A PLAN OF ACTION This is a piece of cake after you've classified your shots and identified your base problem. You simply need to structure your practice to include drills that reinforce the neural pathways that you want planted in your brain for your correct swing, then you need to practice a few times a week. Much of the practice can be done at home - providing you have room to swing a club. But you should make your way to a simulator or a dome to check your ball starting direction and curvature a couple of times per month to make sure that you are practicing correctly. Here's an unmitigated plug - if you are a self-corrector, it's very inexpensive to hit balls at our simulator, so going there often would help your swing and be easy on your wallet. Whoever is working in the shop will get you set up on the simulator. If you're not into researching your own swing method, or if you would like a total swing makeover, get ahold of me for lessons and we'll get it done together. Make next year your best year. Love your practice, enjoy your golf, Tom ============================================================== Tom's Bonus Tip: Q&A Strength and Golf ============================================================== For the sake of simplicity, all advice on swings and drills is provided from a right handed perspective; lefties .... well, you know what to do :-) Q: from Jeff M.: Does your personal strength relate to how far you hit the ball? A: Thanks for the question Jeff. At first blush the answer to this question seems obvious, but as they say "it ain't necessarily so!" First of all, you can play golf at a very high level without necessarily committing to weight training - although I'm a staunch advocate of fitness. For some, their time might be better spent working on swing technique. Personally, I do believe in progressive resistance training for any gender at any age. The benefits are not only physical, but also mental - in that being fit and strong builds your confidence, and that spills over into your golf game. There are many factors that apply to distance such as squareness of contact, swing path, angle of descent, your equipment, your release, etc. but I'm pretty sure the question relates to the relationship of strength to swing speed, so I'll answer it in that context. I'm also going to mention that the preponderance of fast twitch fibers in your body structure gives anyone a dynamic strength advantage over someone who has a preponderance of slow twitch muscle fibers, but that's as far as I'm going in that direction - but choosing the right parents definitely helps. There are couple of types of strength that apply to this answer, static strength and dynamic strength. If you lift for strength and fitness, using the tried and true Watkins and DeLorme Progressive Resistance Exercise model http://www.superstrengthtraining.com/delorme_watkins.html of 3 sets of 10 reps with slow and steady movements, you would acquire excellent static strength, some dynamic strength, and an improved physique. The only problem is that you would also gain some weight, which would inhibit swing speed purely because of the weight, even though it's "good" weight. You can counter that body weight by implementing a swing speed training program like the one here: http://www.tomtuckergolf.com/newsletter/Issue2.html For your strength training to be most beneficial for golf for the time you will spend at it, I would advise a static strength training program in the early and mid winter, then a dynamic strength training program in the early spring as well as sporadically in season, and sporadic swing speed training in season. You develop dynamic strength by doing exercises plyometrically. Plyometrics is exercise training whose aim is to produce fast and powerful movements, and likewise improve the nervous system involved in these activities. The principle applies to body weight exercises as well as weight training. Here's an example: if you did a standard pushup, lowering yourself down deliberately then pushing up deliberately until your arms were extended, that would be a static pushup. A pretty decent strength builder for a beginner. If, however, you let yourself drop to the floor rapidly, then pushed up so dynamically that you could clap your hands (the old Marine Corps pushup), that pushup would have been done plyometrically. One of my former players, Kyle Harmon, who now plays for Daemen College, actually makes his whole body spring up off the ground when he does plyometric pushups, which is an extremely dynamic movement. It's no coincidence that he beats the cover off the ball. When you train plyometrically you have to be very careful to not injure yourself. Dynamic exercises are by definition more explosive, so the chances for injury are greater if you overdo any aspect. So yes, strength matters, but if you are going to spend time training make it efficient. There are loads of good plyometric exercise sites out there - just google "Plyometric Exercises" - and give it a shot if you are in that frame of mind. It's a great way to train as long as it's done carefully. Love your practice, enjoy your golf, 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 at ttucker@rochester.rr.com for more information. Rates: http://www.tomtuckergolf.com/lessonrates.html Testimonials: http://www.tomtuckergolf.com/testimonials.html If you want to test your putting stroke preference compatibility with various hosel styles and shaft placement options, please contact me to set up an appointment. I have the three basic hosel styles available in a putter head with the ability to adjust the shaft placement from heel to mid to center. Call my cell (716 474 3005) or email me at ttucker@rochester.rr.com for details or to make an appointment. It can be done indoors or outdoors, so weather conditions are not a factor. ============================================================== Sponsors ============================================================== Plum Creek Driving Range - November Indoor Golf Special - Four Play, Three Pay on the Simulator Golf Courses at Plum Creek, Normal cost $25 per player, save $25 - Call 585-993-0930 or email Mark at plumcreek4@rochester.rr.com to reserve your tee time! Batavia Country Club - http://www.bataviacc.com Course will be open Friday through Monday. Free carts Saturday and Sunday for anyone who pre-pays for their 2013 membership. Chestnut Hill CC - http://www.chestnuthillcc.com Low greens fees, great course! ============================================================== All the best, Tom Tucker Teaching Pro, Plum Creek Driving Range & Practice Facility WGTF "Top 100 Golf Teacher" USGTF Class "A" Teaching Professional Cell: (716) 474-3005 Email: ttucker@rochester.rr.com http://www.TomTuckerGolf.com http://www.usgtf.com/top_100_wgtf.html Success Loves Preparation ~ Anonymous