The Anatomy of Greatness: Lessons from the Best Golf Swings in History


Brandel Chamblee - 2016
    While no two are identical, Brandel Chamblee, the highly regarded television analyst and former PGA Tour professional, once noticed that the best players of all time have shared similar positions in each part of the swing, from the grip and setup to the footwork, backswing, and follow-through. Since then, Chamblee, a student of the game’s history, has used scientific precision and thoroughness to make a study of the common swing positions of the greats. Now, in The Anatomy of Greatness, he shares what he has learned, offering hundreds of photographs as proof, to show us how we can easily incorporate his findings into our own swings to hit the ball farther, straighter, and more consistently. What does it tell us that the majority of the greats—from Jack Nicklaus and Byron Nelson to modern masters like Tiger Woods—employ a “strong” grip on the club? How did legends like Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, Mickey Wright, and Gary Player unlock hidden power and control by turning in the right knee at address? Why are some modern teachers preaching quiet footwork when forty-eight of the top fifty golfers of all time lifted their left heels on the backswing, allowing them to build power? At the same time that Chamblee is encouraging certain swing virtues, he also debunks a number of popular—but misguided—swing philosophies that have been hindering golfers for years. The result is perhaps the best and clearest explanation of how to hit a golf ball ever published. Golfers can take The Anatomy of Greatness to the driving range and use Chamblee’s clear explanations to build better swings—and get more speed and consistency into their swings—immediately. This book is like having a series of private lessons from the best golfers of all time, and it will help golfers build swings that make the game easier and more fun.

Every Shot Must Have a Purpose: How Golf54 Can Make You a Better Player


Pia Nilsson - 2005
    and to life.As coaches to some of golf's top players, Pia Nilsson and Lynn Marriott have designed and refined a revolutionary way of teaching the game, with phenomenal results. They don't believe in prescribing the same stance, grip, and swing to everyone, followed by hours of purposeless drilling. They don't even believe in beginning with physical technique. Their success has proven to them that a great game begins with a great vision.Unlike any other golf book, Every Shot Must Have a Purpose offers cutting-edge techniques for integrating the physical, technical, mental, emotional, and social parts of a player's game. The book's revolutionary pre-shot routine will improve your focus, leading to a golf swing that is not only successful but can be repeated under extreme pressure. Emphasizing the individual golfer rather than a rigid set of mechanics, their VISION54 method takes the frustration out of the game. Why 54? Because they believe it's possible to shoot a 54 (making a birdie on every hole of a par-72 course) if you have the right mind-set and well-honed intuitive power.An engaging read for the beginner or the seasoned golfer, Every Shot Must Have a Purpose is inspiration for life, not just the links.

The Art of the Short Game


Stan Utley - 2007
     Veteran golfers know that the secret to a lower score is a solid short game, but mastering those small strokes can be maddening?even for the pros. One of golf?s most revered instructors, Stan Utley now reveals the step-by-step tactics behind his revolutionary short-game techniques in The Art of the Short Game. After introducing readers to his groundbreaking philosophy that explains why most players don?t see all the shots available to them near the green, Utley moves on to shatter conventional wisdom about stance, grip, and ball position. From choosing the right clubs (including a checklist of must-haves that should always be in your bag) to spin reduction during chipping and fearless sand play, The Art of the Short Game demystifies the most aggravating shots on the links. Though Utley?s primer features a full set of drills, accompanied by more than seventy-five photos, his approach is far removed from the monotonous, mechanical instruction of yesteryear. Giving a time-tested secret weapon to every golfer at every level, Utley?s short-game methods turn trouble shots into triumph.

Play Your Best Golf Now: Discover VISION54's 8 Essential Playing Skills


Lynn Marriott - 2011
     "The VISION54 approach is far more than just pure golf technique, it allows an individual to unlock their true potential by opening their mind and believing anything is possible to achieve." - David Leadbetter, David Leadbetter Golf Academy Pia Nilsson and Lynn Marriott are Complete Game Coaches, leaders of a new kind of golf instruction that focuses on more than just the grip, the stance, and the swing. Their VISION54 method targets the complete golfer-the whole person-not just the technical aspects of the game. Their coaching philosophy focuses on possibilities, not limitations, with an end goal of MY54-the idea that any golfer can reach their own personalized version of peak performance, scoring nothing but birdies on a par-72 course. Building on the core concepts introduced in Every Shot Must Have a Purpose and the strategic thinking in The Game Within the Game, Play Your Best Golf Now takes the mystery out of the soft skills of golf and shows golfers how to add these skills to their game for peak performance. Players learn to master the 8 Essential Playing Skills: 1. LEAVE YOUR MIND BEHIND and enter the Play Box 2. DECIDE AND COMMIT to your shots 3. FIND YOUR BALANCE both physically and mentally 4. FEEL YOUR TEMPO on the course and dance to its rhythm 5. TAME TENSION to improve your swing 6. BUILD EMOTIONAL RESILIENCE 7. STORE MEMORIES and learn from the past to make a better present 8. DROWN SELF-TALK IN USEFUL THOUGHTS And the 2 Essential Practice Skills: 1. SIMULATE GOLF on the practice range to maximize your time and effort 2. INTEGRATE SKILLS and practice with a plan These Essentials complement the technical anchors of the game-the grip, the stance, the swing-and give players a foundation for achieving their peak performance. MY54 is the vision, and these are the building blocks for achieving a higher level of play.

The Making of the Masters: Clifford Roberts, Augusta National, and Golf's Most Prestigious Tournament


David Owen - 1999
    For any golf fan, the words evoke the immortal greats of the game and their quest for the most prized trophy of all -- the green jacket of Augusta National Golf Club. But behind the legendary links and timeless traditions is one of the most overlooked and misunderstood figures in the history of the Masters and Augusta National: Clifford Roberts, the club's chairman from its founding in 1931 until shortly before his death in 1977. Roberts' meticulous attention to detail, his firm authoritarian hand, and his refusal to settle -- even for perfection -- helped build the Masters into the tournament it is today, and Augusta National into every golfer's idea of heaven on earth. David Owen was granted unprecedented access to the archives and records of Augusta National Golf Club. He has produced an honest and affectionate chronicle of the Masters, from its conception to its modern greatness, and a fascinating portrayal of Clifford Roberts -- whose perseverance and pride forged the Augusta National we know today.

Dream Golf: The Making of Bandon Dunes


Stephen Goodwin - 2006
    Golf enthusiast Mike Keiser had the dream of building this British-style "links" course on a stretch of Oregon's rugged coast, and Dream Golf is the first all-inclusive account of how he turned his passion into a reality. Now, in this updated and expanded edition, golf writer Stephen Goodwin revisits Bandon Dunes and introduces readers to Keiser's latest effort there, a new course named Old Macdonald that will present golfers with a more rugged, untamed version of the game. This "new" approach to the sport is, in fact, a return to the game's origins, with a very deep bow to Charles Blair Macdonald (1856 –1939), the father of American golf course architecture and one of the founders of the U.S. Golf Association. This highly anticipated fourth course, designed by renowned golf course architect Tom Doak along with Jim Urbina — as detailed in Dream Golf — will further enhance Bandon Dunes' reputation as a place where golf really does seem to capture the ancient magic of the game.

The Anatomy of a Golf Course: The Art of Golf Architecture


Tom Doak - 1992
    A core book for any golfer--how to read a golf course, through the eyes of a course architect.

Your Short Game Solution: Mastering the Finesse Game from 120 Yards and In


James Sieckmann - 2015
    Since James Sieckmann first revealed his short-game methods two decades ago, he has amassed a cultlike following of more than seventy PGA and LPGA Tour disciples and has been dubbed the “short-game guru to the pros” (GOLF Magazine). Using his system, sev­eral of Sieckmann’s students have become some of the best short-game players of the modern era. A two-time winner on the PGA Tour jumped 117 spots in the Sand Save rankings in one season; another client quickly jumped 81 spots in Scrambling percentage.The benefits of a good short game are undisputed. Unfortunately, players at all levels fail to develop effective short-game skills because instructors teach the exact opposite of the correct technique. Sieckmann studied the greatest short-game players in recent memory—including Seve Ballesteros, Corey Pavin, and Raymond Floyd—to develop a proven and pragmatic way to learn, practice, and perform with each wedge in every situation. His unique observations, which were later verified by motion capture technology, work equally well for amateurs and pros.In his long-awaited first book, Sieckmann opens up his vault of secrets for all golfers. After breaking down the basics, he presents a session-by-session training and practice guide—the same one he creates for his tour clients—to help the reader develop and sustain correct habits, avoid common flaws, and master essential skills. Next, Sieckmann explains how to optimize a player’s wedge swing for every scenario. An easy-to-learn and easy-to-use system, Your Short Game Solution will be the go-to guide anywhere golf is played.

Mastering Golf's Mental Game: Your Ultimate Guide to Better On-Course Performance and Lower Scores


Michael T. Lardon - 2014
    But one thing most players don’t give enough attention to is the mental game. Psychologists aren’t a new phenomenon in golf, but Dr. Michael Lardon is a different breed of performance coach. Instead of sending his players into a losing battle against emotion, indecision, and fear on the golf course, he shows them how to organize their thoughts and use them for maximum performance. His step-by-step Pre-Shot Pyramid provides any player with the ideal blueprint for shot setup. And his revolutionary Mental Scorecard will give you the tools to accurately measure what you really do on the golf course and how to make real, permanent improvements.           You will learn the same techniques that Dr. Lardon shares with Phil Mickelson and dozens of other tour players, including the tools that helped Mickelson right himself after the 2012 U.S. Open to win the British Open a month later with a historic final round. Mastering Golf’s Mental Game will change the way you think about golf, and is a must-read for any player serious about shooting better scores and getting more enjoyment out of the game.

The Impact Zone


Bobby Clampett - 2007
    Ryder Cup team captainImpact has long been called golf's "moment of truth," and great golfers have spent countless hours working on their swings trying to upgrade their impact dynamics as the golf club approaches, contacts, then swings through the ball. For the first time, with The Impact Zone, golfers will have a book that focuses their attention on the very same region of the swing on which professional golfers have always concentrated. The Impact Zone is a unique instructional guide in that everything in it either focuses on or applies to improving a golfer's understanding and execution of impact. Here, acclaimed professional golfer Bobby Clampett concludes that the overwhelming bias and convention of today's contemporary teaching environment is to value swing styles over swing dynamics, and in so doing, the overwhelming majority of golf teachers miss the boat in terms of teaching the game effectively. Ultimately this emphasis on swing style comes at the expense of helping golfers to develop sound swing dynamics, which are the real keys to consistent ball striking and better golf. With the help of CBS's Swing Vision high-speed camera—using images from many of the game's greatest contemporary players (including Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, John Daly, Vijay Singh, Sergio Garcia, and more)—The Impact Zone takes an unprecedented look at the most important six inches in golf, those that immediately precede, contain, and follow impact. To further demonstrate these principles, Clampett presents photos and drills that convey the five essential dynamics golfers need to produce and reproduce solid impact Throughout these instructional pages, Bobby Clampett—teamed with veteran golf writer Andy Brumer—relays his own personal story of straying from swing dynamics and how he found his way back. He recalls memorable stories from the Tour, blending innovative instruction with his colorful, engaging anecdotes. Clampett and Brumer create an essential instructional guide with clear, concise advice—on creating great swing dynamics through the impact zone—the universally acknowledged key to more consistent and better golf.

The Practice Manual: The Ultimate Guide for Golfers


Adam Young - 2015
    The author writes, "[t]his is not a swing instruction book. You are not going to find the latest 'secrets' of golf, it is not going to tell you the 'one magical key' in your backswing, and it is not going to replace your teacher or golf coach. This book deals with something far more important than what to learn; it deals with HOW to learn, and how to transfer that learning to the course."

Paper Tiger: An Obsessed Golfer's Quest to Play with the Pros


Tom Coyne - 2006
    On the cusp of turning thirty, overweight, and saddled with a 14 handicap, Coyne embarked on a yearlong quest to do everything he could to lift his game—and find out if he could make it through the PGA Tour Qualifying School. Paper Tiger takes you on a rollicking ride into the beer-gutted underbelly of semipro golf, into a world of crash diets, punishing workout regimens, high-flying sports shrinks, cutting-edge club technology, and obscure tournaments. With his girlfriend as caddy, Coyne traverses from Miami to Chicago to Toronto to see how he stacks up against the competition. Ultimately he takes his game to a new level—or at least a new continent—on the links of Australian Q-School, where amidst forty-mile-an-hour winds he must choose between the love of a fickle game and the love of the long-suffering woman who has stood by him throughout all the shanks, hooks, yips, and chili dips. Brimming with humor and insight about the world’s most beautiful and maddening game, Paper Tiger will delight golfers and the sane people who love them.

Walking with Jack: A Father's Journey to Become His Son's Caddie


Don J. Snyder - 2013
    . .A poignant diary that chronicles the journeyWhen Don Snyder was teaching the game of golf to his young son, Jack, they made a pact: if one day Jack became good enough to play on a pro golf tour, Don would walk beside him as his caddie. Years later, Jack had developed into a standout college golfer, and Don, at the age of fifty-eight, left the comfort of his Maine home and moved to St. Andrews, Scotland, to learn from the best caddies in the world. He worked loops on famed courses like the Old Course and Kingsbarns, fought his way onto the rotation as a full-time caddie, and recorded the fascinating stories of golfers from every station in life. All the while, he lived like a monk and sent his earnings back home.     A world away, Jack endured his own arduous trials, rising through the ranks and battling within the college golf system. At times, the question for the teenage athlete wasn’t how to continue . . . but whether to continue at all. Finally, Don and Jack approached the moment when they would reunite—and not only tackle an extraordinarily high level of golf competition but also confront the challenges of a father-son relationship that had inevitably changed since the days when their journey began.     Walking with Jack is a truly compelling golf story and a one-of-a-kind narrative that makes you appreciate the lengths to which a father will go to support his son.

Dream On: One Hacker's Challenge to Break Par in a Year


John Richardson - 2009
    He has a full-time job and a wife and child and he's trying to shoot a level par round within the year. When he started the challenge he couldn't break one hundred. So he's trying to take thirty-three strokes off his game in one year and he asked me to find out your opinion on that.' Sam Torrance laughed, then slowly contemplated the question. 'Well, you can tell him from me to dream on.' Meet John Richardson, a regular bloke who enjoys a round of golf in his spare time. That is until he sets himself the challenge of playing a level par round within a year. With no natural talent, precious little time and no fitness level to speak of, can John pull it off? In spite of Sam Torrance's scepticism, John remains resolute and so begins an exhausting but exhilarating year of living, breathing, eating and sleeping golf. A rollercoaster ride from beginning to end, "Dream On" is funny and inspirational, and a must for any golfer who dreams of improving their game.

Hogan


Curt Sampson - 1996
    Included are quotes and tributes from many of golf's greats such as Byron Nelson and a perceptive assessment of the life and legend of the man who may have been the greatest golfer ever-Ben Hogan.