Posts Tagged ‘golf book review’

The Kiss That Caused My Slice

With Father’s Day fast approaching, are you scrambling to find your special golfer a good gift?  Well, you’re in luck!  I was a lucky recipient of The Kiss That Caused My Slice: A Book of Poems by John Ducker.

Okay, when I first heard about this I was like, “A book of golf poems, uhhhhhh, hmmmmm….” [insert weird facial expression].  When I got the book and read through a few of the poems though, I found myself chuckling at the funny parts and relating Ducker’s stories to my own game and my own experiences.  Being an avid reader, reading through this book was a nice change of pace from the usual “how to fix your golf game” book.  Light and refreshing.

Here’s a few lines from “Hole Countdown”:

The first hole is always rough on me, it’s hard to find a groove,
My moving parts stay stationary, whily my steady parts all move.
The second hole is usually wasted in anger over number one,
And by the third hole I’ll quit keeping score and “only play for fun.”

I also found a few interesting reviews on Amazon too:

“A great golf book that captures the spirit of the game.”

“This book is a must gift for any golfer, for anyone who lives with or wants to live with a golfer, perhaps for anyone who wants convincing to move out from a golfer, and for anyone who wants to do a golfer a great favor.”

It’s All About Impact – The 84° Secret

I recently finished reading a new golf instructional book on the market: It’s All About Impact: The Winners of Over 100 Majors Prove It by Andrew Rice.

The main point of the book is the belief that there are multiple ways to swing a golf club, however, there is only one way to strike the golf ball directly.

Rice demonstrates this by analyzing the swings of 25 of the top golfers in history, including Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Ben Hogan, Tom Watson, and Annika Sorenstam.  Although all of these championship-level golfers’ swings fit within the broad terms of the fundamentals, nearly all of them have their unique idiosyncrasies.  What they do have in common, though, is where their bodies are positioned at impact, and that is what Rice clearly defines throughout the book.

One area of It’s All About Impact that I really enjoy is the technical descriptions and logic behind the golf swing in relation to weight distribution, the shoulder plane through impact, and many others swing aspects.  All you other analytical and scientific types will like that too.

On the other hand, there are also a number of real-world examples and golf drills to work on to improve your impact position even if you aren’t a technical person.  I especially like the down slope and the hip press drills to accentuate the weight shift.

All in all, it’s a pretty impressive book identifying key areas for amateurs to improve their games with drills that you can monitor on your own.  Thanks for the read Mr. Rice.

Here’s a couple credible testimonials:

“I have known Andrew Rice since he was a young man growing up in Southern Africa. I have always been thoroughly impressed with Andrew’s dedication and passion to play, teach, and constantly discover the intricacies of our great game. I know you will benefit from his diligent pursuit of finding the most efficient manner in which to play the game and produce results. The quest for improvement at every level of golf is never ending, but I am sure you will find Andrew’s thoughts to be an efficient way for you to achieve your potential.” – Nick Price, Three-time Major Winner

“Even as a youngster, I focused on the strike. I would go down to the beach and practice hitting the ball first and the ground second. Andrew has laid out a solid framework for every golfer to improve their ball-striking.” – Ian Woosnam, Masters Champion

“All of golf’s great players have had different swings, but it is the solid strike that makes the difference. This is a simple concept explained well and will be helpful to golfers of all levels.” – Ian Poulter, Victorious Ryder Cup Member

How to Play “Extraordinary Golf”

I’m reading this golf book right now.  It’s titled Extraordinary Golf: The Art of the Possible, written by Fred Shoemaker.

I’ve read (or thumbed through) a ton of other golf books out there and even bought a few.  Most I’ve seen focus totally on the mechanics of the swing and that sort of thing.

This book focuses more on the mental aspect, but kinda from a different place.  One intriguing point in the beginning is that out of the typical 4 hour round, a golfer is only actually swinging the club or setting up for a shot about 5% of the time.  This book focuses on the other 95%.

The chapter I’m reading now deals with the cultural similarity that all golfers share: “My golf swing is broken and I need to fix it.”

I’m about 4 chapters in and so far, it’s pretty good.  If anyone actually picks it up, let me know what you think.