Golf Book Recomendations

[Dooby]

Hey All,

I am getting ready to go on a few trips this year with long travel times between flights and planes. I was wondering if people have any recommendations for golf books. I’m about to finish The Practice Manual by Adam Young and have enjoyed it as I am a pretty new to actually playing golf (been a fan of the game for years). 
 

A couple others on my list are Paper Tiger by Tom Coyne and The Four Foundations of Golf by Jon Sherman. 
 

Any and all recommendations are welcome. Thanks. 

[DiscipleofPenick]

Anything by Harvey Penick (naturally)

Anything by Bob Rotella - my recommendations are Golf is Not a Game of Perfect & Putting Out Of Your Mind

Every Shot Must Have a Purpose - Pia Nilsson & Lynn Marriott.

 

***hot take*** I don't care for Hogan's Five Lessons. We're not Hogan, most of us aren't trying to fix a hook like Hogan was, and none of us have time to hit 500 balls a day like Hogan did. Don't try to swing like Hogan.

[TSauer]

If you're looking for something with learning material, I recommend Ben Hogan's Five Lessons or Harvey Penick's Little Red Book. Otherwise, if you want something that tells a story, check out The Match by Mark Frost.

[GolfSpy AFG]

46 minutes ago, Dooby said:

Hey All,

I am getting ready to go on a few trips this year with long travel times between flights and planes. I was wondering if people have any recommendations for golf books. I’m about to finish The Practice Manual by Adam Young and have enjoyed it as I am a pretty new to actually playing golf (been a fan of the game for years). 
 

A couple others on my list are Paper Tiger by Tom Coyne and The Four Foundations of Golf by Jon Sherman. 
 

Any and all recommendations are welcome. Thanks. 

The Four Foundations is very very good and will pair nicely with you just having read The Practice Manual.  (Adam Young and Jon Sherman do a podcast together, The Sweet Spot.). If you're looking for simple entertainment versus instruction, John Feinstein is great...A Good Walk Spoiled is great, The First Major (a history of sorts of the Ryder Cup) is also really good.

Regarding Ben Hogan's Five Lessons, I'm not saying it's not worth a read, but know going in that book is not to be universally applied.  It might as well be called "how to not hook the ball."  

[Dooby]

3 hours ago, Getoffmylawn said:

The Four Foundations is very very good and will pair nicely with you just having read The Practice Manual.  (Adam Young and Jon Sherman do a podcast together, The Sweet Spot.). If you're looking for simple entertainment versus instruction, John Feinstein is great...A Good Walk Spoiled is great, The First Major (a history of sorts of the Ryder Cup) is also really good.

Regarding Ben Hogan's Five Lessons, I'm not saying it's not worth a read, but know going in that book is not to be universally applied.  It might as well be called "how to not hook the ball."  

Yeah I need to check out their podcast. I’ve enjoyed Adam’s content and his approach. I’ve caught bits and pieces of Jon on the Chasing Scratch podcast. 

[fritzychacho]

Just started A Course Called America by Tom Coyne and after 100+ pages in, I really want to go on my own golf pilgrimage. He's such a good writer and does such a great job of blending enough golf course description, emotion, and anecdotes to make it almost impossible to put down. Can't wait to check out some of the public courses I've read about so far!

[Dooby]

2 hours ago, fritzychacho said:

Just started A Course Called America by Tom Coyne and after 100+ pages in, I really want to go on my own golf pilgrimage. He's such a good writer and does such a great job of blending enough golf course description, emotion, and anecdotes to make it almost impossible to put down. Can't wait to check out some of the public courses I've read about so far!

Yeah I've been wanting to check out his Paper Tiger book ever since his appearance on Chasing Scratch. Sounds like he's written a few really cool books. Is the A Course Called America just his reviews of courses he plays across the country or is it like recaps of his rounds at them or how does it work?

[MichaelMueller]

On 4/24/2023 at 3:30 PM, Dooby said:

Hey All,

I am getting ready to go on a few trips this year with long travel times between flights and planes. I was wondering if people have any recommendations for golf books. I’m about to finish The Practice Manual by Adam Young and have enjoyed it as I am a pretty new to actually playing golf (been a fan of the game for years). 
 

A couple others on my list are Paper Tiger by Tom Coyne and The Four Foundations of Golf by Jon Sherman. 
 

Any and all recommendations are welcome. Thanks. 
There are many excellent books for all tastes. I also recommend Golf is Not a Game of Perfect by Dr. Bob Rotella. Right now I'm just doing lab report writing and am a bit busy using https://essays.edubirdie.com/lab-report-writing for that. So I would give you even more options. When I get free, I will definitely look for something else for you.

Golf is Not a Game of Perfect & Putting Out Of Your Mind  - is so good!

Edited May 3, 2023 by MichaelMueller

[golferguy2727]

Four foundations is an excellent book. The best book for my golf game east at and away “Every stroke counts” by Mark  Broadie - understanding (and using) strokes gained has changed my golfing life more than anything to date.

[fritzychacho]

On 4/12/2023 at 2:42 PM, DRLEONARD58 said:

 

Sorry, don't know how to delete this.

On 4/24/2023 at 4:10 PM, Dooby said:

Yeah I've been wanting to check out his Paper Tiger book ever since his appearance on Chasing Scratch. Sounds like he's written a few really cool books. Is the A Course Called America just his reviews of courses he plays across the country or is it like recaps of his rounds at them or how does it work?

It's written as a narrative where he recaps his rounds, gives succinct descriptive reviews, and he weaves his personal life and interactions with playing partners he meets on the way. It's so well written, makes me want to recreate his trip. He goes to some great sounding courses that I've never even heard of before.

[alfriday101]

I highly recommend Evidence Based Golf by Bob Christina, PHD and Eric Alpenfels.  Subtitled "Improve Your Game Using Scientific Recommendations that Really Work.  It fits in nicely with The Practice Manual.  

 

Christina is an expert in learning and performance of movement sports.  Alpenfels is a master teacher and coaching golf pro at the Pinehurst Academy.  Together, they look at ways golfers can improve their games and examine which approaches, such as drills, work best for most golfers.  

 

It is not a typical instruction manual, in that it doesn't discuss swing positions or specific mechanics.  

 

The book provides results from tests done at the Pinehurst Academy.  For example, Chapter 6 looks at 9 different drills commonly recommended by teaching pros and used by golfers to improve distance.  117 golfers were randomly assigned to do one of the drills, 13 per group.  Each group is pretested, does the drill, and are then post tested to see improvement.  The drills:  1.  Clip the tee, 2. Feet together, 3.Swing the Club Head, 4. Short Finish, 5. Left Foot Up, 6.Miss the head Cover, 7. Weighted Club Head, 8.Swing the Handle and 9.Toe Up.  (Each Drill is descried well.  The results are compared and the most effective drills are ranked.  Spoiler alert, Clip the Tee and Feet Together were best for improving carry distance.  

 

They compare drills for improving impact position, enhancing shoulder turn, correcting a slice, sand shots, chipping drills, putting drills and others areas of the game.  Learning which drills are most effective can really save time and effort in improving your game.  I used to practice putting with a chalk line.  After reading the book, I changed to practicing with a string line above the ball and saw an immediate improvement in my short putting.

Part 6 of the book is "Get the Most Out of Your Practice."  This section applies a lot of the concepts from The Practice Manual into practical advice on how to do almost any drill or how to maximize the effectiveness of training aids.  I wish all teaching pros would read this section and pass the information onto their students.  A lot less time would get wasted on the practice range.  The sections talks about approaches that maximize learning/retention of the new skill and how to practice so that the skill transfers to the course.  Good stuff.    

 

 

 

 

 

 

[MattWillGolf]

I just started reading "Ben Hogan's Short Game Simplified: The Secret to Hogan's Game from 120 yards and In" be Ted Hunt. Its pretty interesting so far.

I was listening to the Rick Shiels podcast and his guest was Dan Grieve a short game coach in the UK. Among is students is Georgia Hall, winner of the Women's Open. He has come out with a book I just picked up for my Kindle, "3 Releases: The Short Game System"

[BobBC78]

I have found the following books REALLY helpful:

"The Four Foundations of Golf" - Jon Sherman

"The Practice Manual" - Adam Young

"Golf State of Mind" - David Mackenzie

"Three Releases" - Daniel Grieve

[danialhermandez]

Here are my favorite books

#1 Every stroke counts (Mark Broadie) - This is my absolute favorite!

#2 A Life Well Played: My Stories (Arnold Palmer)

#3 A Good Walk Spoiled: Days and Nights on the PGA Tour (John Feinstein)

#4 The Big Miss: My Years Coaching Tiger Woods (Hank Haney)

Edited May 15, 2023 by danialhermandez
typo

[MichaelMueller]

On 5/6/2023 at 8:27 PM, alfriday101 said:

I highly recommend Evidence Based Golf by Bob Christina, PHD and Eric Alpenfels.  Subtitled "Improve Your Game Using Scientific Recommendations that Really Work.  It fits in nicely with The Practice Manual.  

 

Christina is an expert in learning and performance of movement sports.  Alpenfels is a master teacher and coaching golf pro at the Pinehurst Academy.  Together, they look at ways golfers can improve their games and examine which approaches, such as drills, work best for most golfers.  

 

It is not a typical instruction manual, in that it doesn't discuss swing positions or specific mechanics.  

 

The book provides results from tests done at the Pinehurst Academy.  For example, Chapter 6 looks at 9 different drills commonly recommended by teaching pros and used by golfers to improve distance.  117 golfers were randomly assigned to do one of the drills, 13 per group.  Each group is pretested, does the drill, and are then post tested to see improvement.  The drills:  1.  Clip the tee, 2. Feet together, 3.Swing the Club Head, 4. Short Finish, 5. Left Foot Up, 6.Miss the head Cover, 7. Weighted Club Head, 8.Swing the Handle and 9.Toe Up.  (Each Drill is descried well.  The results are compared and the most effective drills are ranked.  Spoiler alert, Clip the Tee and Feet Together were best for improving carry distance.  

 

They compare drills for improving impact position, enhancing shoulder turn, correcting a slice, sand shots, chipping drills, putting drills and others areas of the game.  Learning which drills are most effective can really save time and effort in improving your game.  I used to practice putting with a chalk line.  After reading the book, I changed to practicing with a string line above the ball and saw an immediate improvement in my short putting.

Part 6 of the book is "Get the Most Out of Your Practice."  This section applies a lot of the concepts from The Practice Manual into practical advice on how to do almost any drill or how to maximize the effectiveness of training aids.  I wish all teaching pros would read this section and pass the information onto their students.  A lot less time would get wasted on the practice range.  The sections talks about approaches that maximize learning/retention of the new skill and how to practice so that the skill transfers to the course.  Good stuff.    

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evidence Based Golf by Bob Christina is indeed a great book

Edited May 22, 2023 by MichaelMueller

[hunterjonnes]

On 5/6/2023 at 8:27 PM, alfriday101 said:

I highly recommend Evidence Based Golf by Bob Christina, PHD and Eric Alpenfels.  Subtitled "Improve Your Game Using Scientific Recommendations that Really Work.  It fits in nicely with The Practice Manual.  

 

Christina is an expert in learning and performance of movement sports.  Alpenfels is a master teacher and coaching golf pro at the Pinehurst Academy.  Together, they look at ways golfers can improve their games and examine which approaches, such as drills, work best for most golfers.  

 

It is not a typical instruction manual, in that it doesn't discuss swing positions or specific mechanics.  

 

The book provides results from tests done at the Pinehurst Academy.  For example, Chapter 6 looks at 9 different drills commonly recommended by teaching pros and used by golfers to improve distance.  117 golfers were randomly assigned to do one of the drills, 13 per group.  Each group is pretested, does the drill, and are then post tested to see improvement.  The drills:  1.  Clip the tee, 2. Feet together, 3.Swing the Club Head, 4. Short Finish, 5. Left Foot Up, 6.Miss the head Cover, 7. Weighted Club Head, 8.Swing the Handle and 9.Toe Up.  (Each Drill is descried well.  The results are compared and the most effective drills are ranked.  Spoiler alert, Clip the Tee and Feet Together were best for improving carry distance.  

 

They compare drills for improving impact position, enhancing shoulder turn, correcting a slice, sand shots, chipping drills, putting drills and others areas of the game.  Learning which drills are most effective can really save time and effort in improving your game.  I used to practice putting with a chalk line.  After reading the book, I changed to practicing with a string line above the ball and saw an immediate improvement in my short putting.

Part 6 of the book is "Get the Most Out of Your Practice."  This section applies a lot of the concepts from The Practice Manual into practical advice on how to do almost any drill or how to maximize the effectiveness of training aids.  I wish all teaching pros would read this section and pass the information onto their students.  A lot less time would get wasted on the practice range.  The sections talks about approaches that maximize learning/retention of the new skill and how to practice so that the skill transfers to the course.  Good stuff.    

The College Golfer: Winning strategies for golf and life by James Berry is also a cool one. It's new, and it's a resource for current and prospective college golfers seeking to optimize their experience as collegiate athlete while building skills that translate to success on and off the course. I know how hard it can be to combine those two spheres, and I decided to read it. And I'm also writing a paper on whether should college athletes be paid or not. So when I was looking for info, I found this book and also this external link with should college athletes be paid essay examples, which actually provided me with some ideas. But I still need to finish the book, and I hope to find there something useful too.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the recommendation. I'm not that good at golf yet, but I do my best, and of course, hope books will help.

I was also recommended Dave Pelz’s Short Game Bible: Master the Finesse Swing and Lower Your Score (Dave Pelz Scoring Game Series). Have someone read it?

Edited May 26, 2023 by hunterjonnes

[Mason Richmond]

Paper Tiger: My 40 Days in the Wilderness with Golf's Greatest Teachers by Tom Coyne: This book is a humorous and insightful account of Coyne's quest to improve his golf game by taking lessons from some of the best teachers in the world. It's a great read for beginners and experienced golfers alike.
 

[cschlaak]

Thanks for the recommendation. 

Hello Neighbor

Edited May 8 by cschlaak