What is the BEST Golf Instructional Book Ever?

[Mr. Desmond]

Originally Posted by grubby98

Don't want to hijack the thread, but what about the best book for the short game, specifically putting?

Putting -

Pat O'Brien has a DVD for $20. See the Seemore site. Best Fundamentals I've seen with a setup that is easy on your back and a grip that is left hand low without being left hand low.

Stockton's Book - Unconscious Putting.

Rotella's Books on Putting (mental)

_______

Art of the Short Game

Stan Utley

[cipher]

Originally Posted by mvmac

It's not going to help you improve your game any more than Evovlr or in person lessons from a competent instructor.  In other words we're not keeping any secrets from you.

Had to try... Not quitting Evolvr anytime soon.

Originally Posted by mvmac

Actually I need to adjust my statement a little, Jason Dufner works with Chuck Cook on trying to make the alignments look similar to Hogan which is evident by some of the things he does.  But I was mostly speaking to how a lot of golfers tend to say Five Fundamentals is the best instruction book ever yet I don't see players keeping their upper arms on their bodies, have good golf postures, flaring the left foot enough, functional grip, making a centered shoulder turn.  I tend to see players with a higher arm "plane", no foot flare, if the grip is off it's in the palm, sticking the tailbone out at address and trying to turn the left shoulder over the right foot.  There's more examples but I'm traveling and don't have the book with me.  I'm not saying Hogan's way is better than any other, just sharing my opinion.  If Hogan's book was the blue print everyone used wouldn't we see more of this?

Makes sense, why say you are impacted by something but do very little of it.

[mvmac]

Originally Posted by cipher

Makes sense, why say you are impacted by something but do very little of it.

I think golfers just think it's status quo to say Five Lessons is THE instruction book.  Don't get me wrong, I like it and skim through it every once in a while but it's very much his version of how HE plays golf and what it feels like to him.

[mchepp]

Actually had an online student recommend I buy Sam Snead's book, "How to Play Golf".  Says a lot of info on the grip and interesting stuff with the pivot.  Haven't read it so I'm going to check it out.

I have it Mike if you want to borrow it from my library. It can be tough to find. I do like this book because it gives a number of photos of Snead's swing when he was younger. The actual content is sort of blah, but the photos are priceless. It would be good to know which sections your student thinks are good so I could go back and review those.

[cipher]

Originally Posted by mvmac

I think golfers just think it's status quo to say Five Lessons is THE instruction book.  Don't get me wrong, I like it and skim through it every once in a while but it's very much his version of how HE plays golf and what it feels like to him.

I agree with that fully. It is probably my favorite full swing book just because of the context, but again I actually don't really think books work very well as tools for learning a full swing.

[boogielicious]

It would be tough for me to pick a "best book".  I have read a lot of them.  Many have very good sections and other sections that are confusing, including Five Lessons.  I would add Stan Utley as another candidate author.

[Rick Martin]

Originally Posted by grubby98

Don't want to hijack the thread, but what about the best book for the short game, specifically putting?

Stan Utley has several short game books, one specifically on putting. Short and sweet. The Art of Putting. Stockton put out a book called Unconscious Putting -along w/ a new book called Unconcious Scoring (includes putting and short game).

I have a huge library of books from over the years starting with a couple by Jack Nicklaus, but my favorite all-around instruction book is Tom Watson's A Timeless Swing - and he incorporates those "tag" scanning technology app that allows you to see video clips of what he's discussing in the book. Faldo just did that in his new book "A Swing for Life"?? -

[UncleRobot]

I bought this book three years ago and it changed my game:

(The 50 75 and 100 yard shots specifically, were the gold in this book.)

[Rick Martin]

agree - that's a pretty practical, useful book - good illustrations/pictures - has a DVD included, if I recall. Golf Digest has several similar books.

[Mr. Desmond]

Originally Posted by cipher

Makes sense, why say you are impacted by something but do very little of it.

It's apparent few people understood Hogan's book but think they did ... or they think it's cool to say they follow Hogan ... when they don't.

I didn't care for the Hogan book because it didn't get through to me - I need to watch Hogan, not read Hogan.

[cipher]

Originally Posted by Mr. Desmond

It's apparent few people understood Hogan's book but think they did ... or they think it's cool to say they follow Hogan ... when they don't.

I didn't care for the Hogan book because it didn't get through to me - I need to watch Hogan, not read Hogan.

In regards to watching Hogan the coolest thing I have seen on that, you are probably familiar with.  It is the Shells WWOG with him and I think Snead.  He essentially hits every fairway and every green, just an incredible display of course management.  I have only seen it once(borrowed it from a friend), but could watch it a million times.

[newtogolf]

Originally Posted by Mr. Desmond

It's apparent few people understood Hogan's book but think they did ... or they think it's cool to say they follow Hogan ... when they don't.

I didn't care for the Hogan book because it didn't get through to me - I need to watch Hogan, not read Hogan.

I agree, watching Hogan is much better than reading.  Even when watching Hogan, it's better to watch his play during a tournament rather than his tutorials.

I have found over the last few years researching him that his books and instructional videos weren't a true reflection of what he did during tournament play.  I'm not sure if it was a "feel isn't real" thing or if he was intentionally misleading in his books and videos to protect his secret.

[link3220]

My favorite golf book is one I found at a rummage sale and paid a whopping 25 cents for, "Play Better Golf" by Jack Nicklaus. It's a small book, with hand drawn black and white pictures that aren't always easy to see, but Jack explains what he's teaching in such an uncomplicated way, you might have heard the same advice 10 times before, but this time it sinks in. I loaned this book to my son, who of course lost it, so I found a copy of my 25 cent treasure on Amazon and replaced it.

[Snyperx]

I am going to put my vote for Ben Hogan's Five Lessons. Great book, especially the "on plane" visual.

[saevel25]

Short game - stan utley's book

Putting - dave stockton's unconcious putting

Full swing - This forum :p, i'll just say its a book, this forum has done more for my swing than any book i read

[joshray]

Take this with a grain of salt, because I'm a high handicapper, but I really liked Dave Pelz's Putting Bible. I was killing myself on and around the greens, and that book helped me start correcting that.

[tkahlm]

It depends on what you are looking for I'd say overall Clampetts Impact Zone

[mheiser]

Originally Posted by 14ledo81

Erik, when does 5SK come out with a book?

Is this yours: http://www.amazon.com/ (URL modified - it's not ours, no, Ed.)