• BUYER BEWARE...
• TEE TIME PRO: MICHAEL WOLSLEY...
  PRACTICE WITH A PLAN
• TEE TIME PRO BOB SMITH: KEEP CLUB HEAD OUTSIDE HANDS FOR BETTER SWING

MARCH HIGHLIGHTS

Greetings! 

Spring is here and that means warmer days for rounds of golf- and longer daylight hours for practice. For the second year in a row, Tee Time is sponsoring a tee at the KTYD golf tournament on Friday, April 18 at Glen Annie Golf Course. If you play, be sure to tell us you've read the newsletter and we'll give you some practice time-free! In this issue we have tips from two Tee Time pros and one of our custom club fitters. Happy reading!

Practice hard,
Blake Johnson
Owner

BUYER BEWARE...
The most exciting news at Orlando PGA show this year was interchangeable shafts. Most of the major golf equipment companies will introduce a driver that will allow a golfer to change shafts in his driver by unscrewing the existing one and screwing another in its place.

Well, better beware. A lot of golfers are about to spend somewhere in the neighborhood of $900.00 for a driver with 3 shafts-2 of which will likely share a corner of the garage with the spiders. And the shaft which stays in the driver may not be the best fit. It's only the best of the three. By the middle of the golf season none of the combinations really satisfies the buyers so they think about replacing what they just bought for the $900.

Gimmicks are fun and they make for great conversation at trade shows, but they don't replace common sense.  Find a professional fitter and get a driver that has the correct loft, length, shaft weight and flex.  Most professional fitters fit you into the correct shaft flex that has the correct butt flex, mid flex and tip flex for your swing. That is because using a launch monitor and video they have defined your swing speed, tempo and release point and know how to pick a shaft that matches your swing speed, tempo and release. Start by asking this fitter a simple question, "Tell me how you will pick a shaft for my driver that has the best butt, mid and tip flex for me?" The short answer? Swing speed determines the butt, tempo the mid, and release the tip!

TEE TIME PRO: MICHAEL WOLSLEY
PRACTICE WITH A PLAN
Good golf is two things: technique and timing. It doesn't matter how good your technique is if you can't find the middle of the ball with the sweet spot of the clubface and you won't be able to do that if you are swinging the club in the wrong way.

Therein lies the dilemma. If better technique is your focus then I recommend you do that with a video camera or an instructor. If, on the other hand, your goal is to hit the ball better and more consistently with your swing then you need to have a plan which will promote better timing and that plan must incorporate three things: rhythm; balance; and precision.
For better rhythm use the "one, two, three..hit and through" rhythm cue as you hit shots. Think "one" as the club starts back. Make sure the club transitions from the backswing to the downswing at "three" and similarly time the impact to coincide with the "hit" part of the phrase.

"A good finish is the sign of a job well done" is the old adage and it was never more true for golfers. Ingrain a balanced relaxed finish on the range and employ it on the course and see your handicap drop.

Finally, a much overlooked aspect, precision. Develop this by hitting balls off different parts of the clubface, slightly off the toe, slightly towards the heel, etc. to enhance the hand eye coordination you need to hit the ball on the sweet spot.

TEE TIME PRO BOB SMITH: KEEP CLUB HEAD OUTSIDE HANDS
FOR BETTER SWING
Most amateurs are way too active with their hands on the backswing. They want to swing the club head first, getting the club too far behind them. Others may have excessive rotation of the left arm, possibly leading to a flat swing plane. Here are two possible ways to help players solve these problems. One is to keep the club head outside the hands on the takeaway and the other is to encourage the arms and body to turn in unison.

As you pull the club back during the first six to eight inches of the backswing, pull with the right hand straight back and low. Also, move the butt of the club past the right thigh (left for lefties) as you turn your body.

Keeping the club head more outside the hands in these two drills will lead to better balance of the club on the backswing. By having better balance of the club and having it more in front of your body, you will be able to use your legs in a powerful movement, increasing distance.