TomTuckerGolf.com
 
Golf Tips Newsletter - Issue 253 - July 10th, 2013

 

Prepare to play your best golf by doing something now!

To comment or respond to this newsletter, please click here ttucker@rochester.rr.com


In This Issue  

- Tom's Featured Tip: Staying Down and Through
- Tom's Bonus Tip: Words of Wisdom
- Equipment Review: Discount Offer - The RukkNet Golf Net
- Lesson Comments: What Students Have To Say
- Sponsors: Batavia Country Club   Chestnut Hill Country Club 
Plum Creek Driving Range and PGA AboutGolf.com Golf Simulator 
GCC Golf Management Program
  Provoto Putting Systems


PLUM CREEK DRIVING RANGE IN BATAVIA, NY, IS OPEN ALL YEAR Outdoors in season; Indoors - simulator available for play or practice. Call 585-993-0930 or email Mark at plumcreek4@rochester.rr.com to reserve your simulator time! Great money saving monthly specials, check them out here: http://www.plumcreekdrivingrange.com

Buy Gift Certificates for Lessons   Sample Gift Certificate

Golf lessons - Outdoor and Indoor - are available 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/lessonrates.html   for details.

Indoor or Outdoor Driver Fitting Get the most bang for your buck when you buy a new driver by getting professionally fitted first. Click for details:
http://www.tomtuckergolf.com/indoor.html

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Tom's Featured Tip:
Staying Down and Through

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!

When you maintain your Angle of Inclination  properly through your swing, it's commonly called "staying down and through" your shot.

When you lose that angle prematurely, it's called "coming up and out" of your shot.

Good players often save their shots when they "come up and out" of their swing by vertically hinging the club at impact - rolling the clubface open a bit - so that they don't jerk the shot left. That's your brain making a correction on your behalf.

I was giving a lesson to a good player that was striking his 5 iron this way, and it was dropping off to the right a bit at the end of it's flight. He was getting about 180 to 190 yards out of the swing, and if we were trying to intentionally hit a little fade that would have been fine, but we weren't. I prefer a penetrating flight as a default ball flight, then intentional curvature adjustments can be made after that is mastered.

He was "coming up and out" of the swing early, and after we corrected that his ball flight was much more penetrating PLUS he picked up some yardage.

If coming "up and out" is your problem, first you have to train your hands to hinge correctly through impact, then you need to acquire the feeling of staying "down and through" at impact.

Practicing slow swings with a horizontal hinging action takes care of the hands, and this simple drill will take care of your body action:
  • Stand and face a wall about a foot or so away from the wall.
  • Flex into golf posture so that your forehead just touches the wall.
  • Take a folded up towel and place it between the wall and your forehead, so that your forehead now rests on the towel, not directly on the wall.
  • Fold your arms across your chest and rest your hands on your shoulders.
  • Now make short swings, turn your body back, lateral hipslide to start your downswing, then turn through to a 3/4 finish position, keeping your head on the wall.
  • Allow your head to rotate but not to move laterally.
You'll finish with your angle of inclination to the ground maintained, and your eyes will be angled slightly also, not parallel to the ground. That's how your body and eyes should be positioned when you actually finish your swing. For short swings there will be more angle in the finish than for a longer swing.

Love your practice, enjoy your golf,

Tom


Tom's Bonus Tip:
Words of Wisdom


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!

Every now and then, one of my students says something that really captures a thought that I am trying to convey.

When this happens, they usually say it better than me.

This happened last week when a student was really crushing his drives - much better than he normally does - after we worked on a new technique.

Clarence W. said " I've got it in me, now I've got to get it out of me."

That was well said, and the key to "getting it out of you" is practice, practice, practice.

The big secret in golf is practice.

Love your practice, enjoy your golf,

Tom


Product Review:
RukkNet Golf Net


Below is the review from last week. This week the manufacturer contacted me and offered a 15% discount to any of my readers that order any RUKKET product and use "TOMT" as the promo code on
RukkNet Golf Net ..... Enjoy, Tom


==================================

Earlier in June I received a RukkNet Golf Net that I ordered from Rukket.com to test out for working on chipping stroke mechanics.

My thoughts for using the net were for chipping lessons, as well as for indoor practice for my students.

In my fundamental chipping lesson, the first portion of the lesson is dedicated to developing good stroke mechanics. The student usually executes around 50 or more short chips, and I'd rather have a student concentrate on good mechanics than worry too much about where the ball is going. I thought the RukkNet could serve a good purpose for that - if it was quick and easy to set up and break down.

I also like my more serious students to set up practice stations at home, and this looked like an interesting component for a home ball striking station.

Here is a page with all you need to know about setting it up and breaking it down:
RukkNet Golf Net

After my RukkNet with the ChipIt chipping target arrived, I unpacked it, took it to my backyard and set it up and broke it down ten times. It's truly as quick and easy to set up and breakdown as they claim, and the portability is a plus.

Then I set it up and hit about 80 ball striking shots into the net with real golf balls. These are short but firm swings, like long chips or short pitch shots. It worked like a charm for these short swings, and worked just as well for driver swings.

Then I took it into my basement, which is a normal sized basement, moved a few things around, and set it up. After re-arranging it a few times, I was able to conduct my short swing ball striking practice off a stance and hitting mat without any problem. I don't have the ceiling space to swing a driver in my basement, but if your garage is big enough, it would work great in that space too.

I give this product two thumbs up for quality and value. This product is designed for using real golf balls, and I would heartily recommend that for short swing ball striking practice. However, for nets like these I usually use AlmostGolf Balls for driver swings - only because it is possible to miss the net with a full swing. That's not the net's fault, it the players fault, but it's better to err on the safe side if you are in a populated area.

You can order your RukkNet Golf Net here: RukkNet Golf Net

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 email me at ttucker@rochester.rr.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

Driver Fitting Rates:
http://www.tomtuckergolf.com/indoor.html

Testimonials:
http://www.tomtuckergolf.com/testimonials.html


Sponsors

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!

Provoto Putting Systems   readers get a 30% discount on putting greens. Click on their catalog link, and select the green you want to purchase. After you decide on features, add it to your cart. You'll find the field for "Discount Coupon" near the bottom of the page. Enter PGApro in that field and your product cost will be discounted 30%.

Batavia Country Club   Best greens in WNY, great rates. Back by popular demand: Friday Night Golf and Dinner at BCC 18 holes of golf, cart, dinner, tax and gratuity - $35. 9 hole package - $27. Choose from 4 entrees' with side and salad bar. Dinner served from 4:30 pm - 9:15 pm. Dinner available for non-golfers also. Menu and band schedule posted at www.bataviacc.com

Chestnut Hill CC   Great rates, 20 minutes East of Buffalo, NY .

GCC Golf Management Program   click for information on GCC's degree program for anyone interested in a career in the golf industry or teaching golf.

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

"There are no substitutes in the quest for perfection!"
~ Ben Hogan