Featured Tip: Best Winter Swing Drill
For simplicity, all advice on actual swings or drills is provided from a right handed perspective.
This drill can be done indoors in the winter, and it will improve your full swing ball striking dramatically: short swing punch shots.
What you need is some space, an average height basement or garage will do, and some equipment:
24 AlmostGolf balls, a hitting net , a tarp, or a blanket or sheet, a chunk of carpet remnant or a hitting mat
Hang the hitting net with a little space behind it, then simply hit short but crisp punch shots repeatedly off the carpet remnant or hitting mat into the target with your pitching wedge.
Use good technique on the short swing strikes – flat left wrist and cupped right wrist (still bent back) at impact and into your abbreviated follow through.
Weight about 90% on the left side. Finish with the angle between the right arm and the shaft transported through impact and into an abbreviated follow through, with both arms completely extended. Do not allow the right wrist to straighten on these short punch shot strikes.
Do four sets of 24 strikes, rest a minute or two between sets – the time it will take you to gather up the balls and set up again.
I mention that this is a great winter drill – which it absolutely is – and it’s also a great drill to do any time that your ball striking seems to be getting shabby.
Try this and you’ll love the results.
Love your practice, own your swing, own your health,
Tom
Bonus Tip: Intriguing Golf Ball Test
For simplicity, all advice on actual swings or drills is provided from a right handed perspective.
I prefer to be the sole originator of my tips, but when somebody else offers something too interesting to resist, I like to share it with my readers.
I recently decided to change the ball that I’ve been using for the past 15 years from the Titelist ProV1 to the Bridgestone Tour B330RXS. I played several rounds with it in Florida over the Thanksgiving holidays, shot some very good numbers, and bought three boxes for next season. That amount of balls will last me more than one season, so I’ve committed to it.
One of the newsletters that I get in my email on a regular basis is called MyGolfSpy. They did a test with humans that compared Kirkland golf balls to the ProV1, and then Hank Haney and Michael Breed criticized the results because they felt that human testing was sub-par to robotic testing.
Here’s what MyGolfSpy said.
“They (Haney and Breed) had a few issues with our test protocols. We trust the test protocols we have refined over the past 6 years but understand it’s hard for many to believe a $15 (per box) ball could outperform the #1 Ball in Golf that cost $50 (per box).
So, they (Haney and Breed) claimed:
All balls go the same distance
Player testing was not as good as robots (not true)
And the quality control was poor with the Kirkland ball (FYI Breed is a Titelist guy, Haney a Callaway guy, we are a YOU guy)
They tried to find just about anything to discredit the test. Once again understandable. Breed went on to ask if there was any robot data to support our data and if we could publish it.
So, here is a robot test performed by GolfLabs for another ball company Vice Golf.
It is a test that shows that not only do balls not go the same distance it shows yet another ball going farther than a Titelist Pro V1. And not a ball many recognize as a leader in golf ball tech either.”
Here’s a .pdf of the test, ProV1 vs. Vice, check it out – it’s very interesting.
Also very interesting is how some famous names in golf broadcasting are unwilling to be open minded about lesser known brands, even in the face of scientific evidence.
By the way, I have no financial interest or benefit attached to any of this, I just like to see innovations in golf get a fair shake if it’s merited.
And I’m sticking with the Bridgestone ball because I love the feel.
Comments: ttucker@rochester.rr.com
Love your practice, own your swing, own your health,
Tom
Tom Tucker’s Bio
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 AT 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
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