Classic Golf Books

Is there a 'correct' arm action in golf?

mfoster13@yahoo.com (michael foster) — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:37:00 +0000

Thinking of a coherent system where your arms are part of the whole is maybe the best way to approach arm action.

In terms of golf books, there are two main systems (big muscle and small) and then there are the individual styles of the great players.

The Great Players

The great players never agree on many things. Jack Nicklaus said his arms worked automatically as a hinged lever “entirely as a result of other forces being exerted by the rest of my body”. Ben Hogan said the right arm action was like throwing a ball baseballer style, half sidearm, half underhand. Tommy Armour said he got a lot of his power by hitting with his hands, and so uncocking his wrists late.

Looking at somebody's arms when they swing is a good way to tell whether they are a small muscle type player or a big muscle type.

Big Muscle Swing

1. Your arms should have little active involvement in the swing.

2. Your arms should maintain the triangle shape they start in all the way through the swing. Percy Boomer said you should be able to hold a snooker triangle betwen your arms “without impeding the swing back or through”.

3. Your arms should not move away from your chest. Boomer said the “thorax and biceps should become one in movement.” Jimmy Ballard has a drill where you swing short irons holding something like a glove under your left armpit so your left arm and chest don't seperate.

Small Muscle Swing

Originally, the only point of the small muscle swing was to get the clubhead moving like a pendulum. What you did with your body and your arms wasn't something to consider - just concentrate on getting the pendulum swinging. If anything, just keep your arms relaxed. Ernest Jones taught students to hold a club and a pendulum at the same time and then make half swings so the club swung in sync with the pendulum.

Later small swing teachers like Jim Flick or Bob Toski got more detailed, describing the swing paths and resulting arm actions that were part of swinging the pendulum properly.

Best Blades Ever?

mfoster13@yahoo.com (michael foster) — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 04:55:00 +0000

Mizuno MP-33's are the best blades ever made, according to an Internet survey.
A golfWRX.com forum on the subject "Best Blade Ever" voted the top three blades ever made all came from the Mizuno MP series.

"Best Blades Ever"

Mizuno MP-33	9.7% of vote
Mizuno MP-29	5.3%
Mizuno -MP14	4.6%
Hogan Apex	4.6%
MacGregor VIP	4.1%
Mizuno MP-32	3.4%
Maxfli Australian Blade	3.2%
Titleist 681	2.9%
Miura Blade	2.4%
Nike Blade	2.4%
Mizuno TN-87	2.1%
RAM Golden Ram Tour Grind	2.1%
Cleveland TA1	1.9%
Titleist 680	1.9%
Titleist 690	1.9%

Organised by brand, the favourites were:

Mizuno	29.9% of vote
Titleist	12.1%
Hogan	8.7%
MacGregor	8.0%
Wilson	5.6%
Cleveland	3.6%
Maxfli	3.4%
Miura	2.4%
Nike	2.4%
RAM	2.2%

Only forum members were allowed to vote and at the time of counting there had been 412 votes.

These are basically the blades forum members had used and would recommend. You can probably buy any of the clubs mentioned above second-hand and still use them.

"Accuracy":
I can only claim rough accuracy in the counting of the results. I don't know the difference between a 1976 Hogan Apex and an Apex PT - I just put them in the same "Apex" category. Similarly, Miura clubs all got clumped into the one category. Also, some Mizuno clubs have different names in different countries. There were lots of complications and I'm not an expert, so I guessed at times.

Incidentally, "blades" refers to the oldest and simplest design of iron head - basically a flat slab of steel with grooves on the front. The other, more recently invented type of clubs are interchangeably called cavity backed, game improvement or perimeter weighted irons. I think blades are generally tougher, cooler and prettier than perimeter weighted clubs, but they're also generally more difficult to hit and they give you more ability to shape your ball-flight.

REVIEW: The Golf Swing by David Leadbetter

mfoster13@yahoo.com (michael foster) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 00:10:00 +0000

The swing taught in this book:

“it is the efficient coiling and uncoiling of your torso in a rotary or circular motion which maximises centrifugal force.” p.44.

Also,

“... the gist of the athletic swing: correct linkage of the various components of your body with your hands, arms and club produces a dynamic motion.” p.11

Basically, you need to get your body angles right in your setup, make your pivot control your swing, and keep your arms and hands passive. A 'big muscle' swing.

Leadbetter is a modern instructor who works with tour players like Ernie Els and, earlier, Nick Faldo. His teachings have apparently had a huge influence on the modern game.

A lot of these teachings seem to derive from Percy Boomer, but without the brilliance or insight of Boomer. In fact, Leadbetter's book is a bit mechanical and stodgy. Where Boomer avoided swing dissection and taught a whole swing in the first lesson, Leadbetter chops the swing into 11 stop-motion sections and 15 key intervals, and you don't hit a ball till you've got all that worked out. Every page of the book has an illustration of some minute detail of the 'athletic' swing he teaches, and all that detail would be a bit too uptight for me if I was trying to work through this book.

On the other hand, Leadbetter is always practical and coherent, while Boomer could be a bit odd and convoluted at times. More importantly, though, Leadbetter's book came out 50 years after Boomer's, and uses simplified, evolved versions of the ideas.

While I don't think anything Leadbetter teaches here is his own original thought, that's probably of little interest if you just want to play better golf.

What I do like is Leadbetter's good judgement. This advice works. His instructions are clear and useful. And this is a complete, coherent system, proven in practice and taught with diligence.

This book would appeal to ambitious young players. It's the kind of advice tour professionals rely on. It is up-to-date and ready for the tour. Leadbetter also backs it up with instructional DVD's, teaching schools worldwide and endless merchandise.

I suspect this book would be better for instructors than students, because the level of swing dissection it requires must make swinging fluently a bit of a contradiction.

I think if this book were just the grip, setup and pivot sections, without the stop-motion mechanics, it would be better for players. Better still, add some over-arching ideas so students can think of the swing as a whole, fluent event.

I should also point out: this swing won't suit anybody with a bad back, and Leadbetter's 'athletic' swing also needs some athletic ability. If you have a natural inclination to use your arms and hands when you swing, maybe you should consider studying a small muscle swing.

Related Posts:
Leadbetter's Wii Game
David Leadbetter, The Corporation
Video: Leadbetter on Ball Position
our bookstall * full amazon

What Books Do Readers Recommend?

mfoster13@yahoo.com (michael foster) — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 00:54:00 +0000

Please add your recommendations in the 'comments' section below. Any golf book you think other readers should know about.

I'm not going to review an endless list of books on my blog. Every time I read a new book, I change my swing, and I suspect that can lead to insanity.

* Image from George Eastman House at Flickr.com

Percy Boomer's Connection Voodoo

mfoster13@yahoo.com (michael foster) — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 03:17:00 +0000

I've been surprised lately how cool and smart Percy Boomer's ideas on 'connection' are, once I got my head around them.

To Boomer, 'connection' meant having the clubhead connected to the 'force-center' throughout the swing. To understand that, he said, you have to learn by feel.

First, do what Boomer calls the 'embryo' of a good swing:

“Take up your normal stance before the ball... (being careful this time to keep your left arm and the club shaft in a straight line from shoulder to club head). Now, turn your body aroundfrom the knees only until your club head is a yard back - making no use of any movement above the hips...” p.91

Do that, and it will be the pivot that carries the club head back. You will be passive from the waist up and active from the hips down.

“...once you get the correct feel of the carry back, you will find the rest of the swing flowing from it naturally.” p.92

So, try to swing like that. Start with your knees. Use your lower body. Stay passive from the waist up. Let momentum move your arms back and allow it to bend back your passive wrists (Boomer's definition of 'passive' is to have something “abstain altogether from acting when it might act.” p.171)

Then start the downswing by reversing that knee movement. Your body below the waist must be the source of power and control in the swing. The feeling of the downswing becomes thicker and heavier, in my experience, and your whole body becomes part of the swing.

The odd and interesting 'center'

Now, there's a detail which I find really odd and interesting. That is, that there's a 'center' of the swing, and it is different depending on the length of the shot. If you control the swing from that center, things will hopefully go fabulously well, and you will have a single point from which to feel and control the whole swing.

“...The simpler the swing the better. The ideal is to bring it down to a one point center of feel... Because the correct swing is the application of centrifugal force, the center whirling the periphery around. So we must have a firm center for all shots. The shorter the shot, the lower down in our body do we feel the center to be. Fundamentally, the whirl around is always the same, but while in the drive we feel we whirl mainly from the hips, in chip shots we feel the whirl comes chiefly from the knees...”p.214.

I tried that: I did the embryo-start swing with different clubs and tried to feel where the center of the swing was in my body. It's really surprising. My results were:

lob wedge: top of shins.
9-iron: top of knees.
4-iron: mid thigh.
hybrid: just below hip joints.
driver: hip joints.
a different driver: spine, just above hips.

What you apparently need to do then is to use that center when you swing. So, using my hybrid, for instance, I would feel the force-center just below my hip joints and power and control the swing centered on that feeling. If I was using my 9-iron, I would concentrate on the center sensation just above my knees.

On my first attempt, I rushed down from the top and the swing got disconnected and the problem was really obvious. To me it felt really clear that the club head disconnected from the 'center'.

“Between the club head and the force-center there are a number of connections in the swing (such as the wrists and the shoulders),and should any of these connections be broken, should our swing become disjointed, then the feeling of the club head cannot be transmitted back to the force-center.” p.135

When I managed to swing as I intended, my 'center' dragged the top of my body through the reverse and the downswing. There was a clear feeling of a build up of really thick momentum throughout the downswing. The club head pulled outward and my arms were stretched out by the pull of the club head.

It feels like a really powerful and coordinated way to swing.

* In the past, however, I've found this Boomer stuff too complicated. I never did manage to ingrain it into my swing. Now that I understand a bit more about it, I'll try it again.

* Boomer said a few times in his book that the 'force center' is in the pit of the back and at other times he said it moves depending on the length of the shot you're playing. That confused me a bit. I've decided the center moves according to the length of the shot. I can feel it. I guess, if you're interested, you should experiment and decide for yourself.

(All the quotes in the article are from On Learning Golf by Percy Boomer.)

A related article: What is connection?

Link: Bobby Jones Drama set to The Moonlight Sonata

mfoster13@yahoo.com (michael foster) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 04:42:00 +0000

If there is no video above here, click here to view the video at youtube.

This is a silly video - amateurish and apparently factually inaccurate. It will do nothing to improve your golf game. I still like it very much. It has some amateur actors portraying Bobby Jones insisting he has broken a rule, accepting the penalty and subsequently losing the US Open. The music is Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata.

LINK: Bobby Jones' Swing

mfoster13@yahoo.com (michael foster) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 01:43:00 +0000

(If there is no video above here, click here to view the video at youtube.)

This is just a 6 second video of Bobby Jones hitting a tee shot.

His swing was once described as having "all the drowsy beauty of a summer's day". This might not be the best example, but his swing does have a loopy sort of gracefulness to it.

LINK: Harvey Penick - 'Take Dead Aim'

mfoster13@yahoo.com (michael foster) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 04:25:00 +0000

(If there is no video above here, click here to see it at youtube.)

Here's a snippet from (I guess) Harvey Penick's Little Red Video. In it Harvey and his son Tinsley and their guests describe setup and aim and the Mythical Perfect Swing.

In the video Harvey mentions his catch-phrase "take dead aim!" a couple of times. He said in his Little Red Book that that phrase was the most important advice he had to offer. In what surely must have been one of the last opportunities in his lifetime to help his students, it was "take dead aim" he gave the most attention to.

"Once you address the golf ball, hitting it has got to be the most important thing in your life at that moment. Shut out all thoughts other than picking out a target and taking dead aim at it." - Harvey Penick's Little Red Book, p.45.

LINK: Ben Hogan's Hip Slide

mfoster13@yahoo.com (michael foster) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 01:41:00 +0000

(If there is no video above here, click here to view the video at youtube.)

This video has modern-day coach Jim McLean (or I think it's him) pointing out that Ben Hogan moved his hips towards the target when he hit the ball. Hogan didn't really explain that in his book Five Lessons. Possibly Hogan never really gave it much thought. He wrote:

"After you have initiated the downswing with the hips, you want to think of only one thing: hitting the ball." - p.96.

So Hogan wasn't observing himself when he hit balls: he started the downswing with his hips and he applied what looks like tremendous concentration to just getting the ball hit.
Here is one quote from Five Lessons that touches on the subject of lateral hip movement without mentioning it directly:

"THE HIPS INITIATE THE DOWNSWING. They are the pivotal element in the chain reaction. Starting them first and moving them correctly - this one action practically makes the downswing. It creates early speed. It transfers the weight from the right foot to the left foot. It takes the hips out of the way and gives the arms plenty of room to pass. It funnels your force toward your objective. It puts you in a strong hitting position where the big muscles in the back and the muscles in the shoulders, arms and hands are properly delayed so that they can produce their maximum performance at the right time and place.
"To begin the backswing, TURN YOUR HIP BACK TO THE LEFT. THERE MUST BE ENOUGH LATERAL MOTION FORWARD TO TRANSFER THE WEIGHT TO THE LEFT FOOT" - p.90.

LINK: Tommy Armour's Swing

mfoster13@yahoo.com (michael foster) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 04:47:00 +0000

(If there is no video above here, click here to view the video at youtube.)

Download:

FLV MP4 3GP

Here is some footage of Tommy Armour, including him hitting some tee shots. And below is a shortened list of Tommy's instructions on how to swing a golf club.

"The Simple Routine Of An Orderly Golf Shot

4. Take the correct stance for the shot to be played.
5. Keep your head steady.
6. See that your left knee points behind the ball on the backswing.
7. Have your wrists broken to the fullest extent at the top of the backswing, without loosening the left hand. The right hand grip is firm, but not tight.
8. Pause at the top of the swing.
9. Don't rush as you start down, but get your right knee in toward the ball.
10. Keep your head steady.
11. Keep your hands ahead of the clubhead by keeping your wrists cocked, and whip your right hand into the shot at the last second.
12. Keep your head steady."
From How To Play Your Best Golf All The Time by Tommy Armour.

LINK: Jack Nicklaus on Ball Position

mfoster13@yahoo.com (michael foster) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 04:25:00 +0000

(If there is not a video above here, click here to view it at youtube.)

This video has Jack Nicklaus explaining his ideal ball position, from (I think) his Golf My Way video. The advice, in short: place the ball where the clubface squares to the target and just before to bottom of the swing.
The cool thing about Jack Nicklaus' advice is that he always explains WHY, so you can apply his logic to your own swing and decide for yourself what works for you.
In the book Golf My Way, he gives the advice on ball placement:

"But let me warn you once again against copying me too closely. Each golfer's ideal ball position, relative to his feet, depends on his individual swing style." - Golf My Way p.87

LINK: Jack Nicklaus' Tip #1 For Kids

mfoster13@yahoo.com (michael foster) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 04:32:00 +0000

(If there is no video above here, click here to view it at youtube.)

In this video, Jack Nciklaus is giving some kids an introduction to golf. The fundamentals he stresses? A neutral grip, a relaxed posture and that the neck is the axis the swing revolves around.
I've found some quotes from the book Golf My Way by Nicklaus on the subjects he mentions in the video.

Grip

"Instinctively, in hitting just about anything open-handed, your palms will face your target at impact regardless of whatever angles they may pass through as you swing them back and forward. Thus, by setting the palms parallel to the clubface as you set up to swing, you favour both the laws of nature and the laws of reason in achieving a square clubface at impact. To me, it's that simple." - Golf My Way p.70

Natural Setup

"Remember that in your address position you are attempting to mirror your impact position. Anything that you do that is forced or contrived or exaggerated at address will almost certainly fall prey to your instinctive actions at some point during the actual swing. So try to be as natural as possible within the simple fundamentals of good setup." - Golf My Way p.90

Axis of Swing

"The head, or at least the neck or the top of the spine, is the fulcrum or hub or axis of the swing." - Golf My Way p.48

LINK: David Leadbetter on Ball Placement

mfoster13@yahoo.com (michael foster) — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 03:33:00 +0000

(If there is no video above here, click here to view the video at youtube.)

Here is a short video tutorial by David Leadbetter on ball placement. The main idea: start with your feet together, then move your left foot first to position the ball under your left armpit.
This is a well made, simple little video offering good advice. It includes subtitles.

LINK: David Leadbetter's Golf Computer Game

mfoster13@yahoo.com (michael foster) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 00:22:00 +0000

(If there isn't a video above here, click here to view the video at youtube.)

This looks like THE COOLEST TOY EVER MADE! If it actually works properly.
It's on the Nintendo Wii. You stand on the balance sensor and you hold the regular sensor like the grip of a golf club. Then, make a pretend golf swing and the Wii draws a model of your swing onscreen! Then Leadbetter appears and analyses your swing! Hopefully, you can also go out and have a playing lesson on a model golf course. Or just play a round of virtual golf.
If this actually works, it would surely rock.
I can see some problems. Most obviously, swinging a Wii controller is completely different to swinging a proper golf club.
I was hoping someone could tell me: is it as good as it looks? Please leave your opinion in the 'comments' section below.

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* I'm not advertising this, despite the video being an advertisement, with extra advertising strips added to it. It just looks interesting and hopefully somebody can tell me if it's any good.

* I just found out the planned release date for the program is October - still three months away. I might re-post this in a few months time.

LINK: Ben Hogan on Moving The Lower Part Of The Body

mfoster13@yahoo.com (michael foster) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 03:39:00 +0000

(If there isn't a video above here, click here to view the video at youtube.)

This is a short video tutorial by Ben Hogan on the movement of the lower part of the body in the swing. It's a pleasure to watch. When he's showing how he starts the swing and repeats that motion, it's obvious he knows this stuff really deeply. And he speaks so politely and dresses so conservatively, then in contrast he hits the ball with such brutality. I really like this video.

Below, I've summarised a section from Five Lessons by Ben Hogan on the topic of turning the hips (from the chapter The First Part of The Swing).

Turning the hips too soon is an error countless golfers make, and it's a serious error. It destroys your chance of obtaining the power a correctly integrated swing gives you. As you begin the backswing you must restrain your hips from moving until the turning of the shoulders starts to pull the hips around. - p.71

It's the difference in the amount of turn between the shoulders and the hips that sets up this muscular tension. -p.72

A golfer wants to have this tension. He wants to feel his midsection tightened up, for this tension is the key to the whole backswing. - p.71

The downswing, you see, is initiated by turning the hips back to the left. -p.71

As the hips turn back to the left, this turning motion increases their tension. IT IS THIS INCREASED TENSION THAT UNWINDS THE UPPER PART OF THE BODY. IT UNWINDS THE SHOULDERS, THE ARMS AND THE HANDS IN THAT ORDER, THE CORRECT ORDER. IT HELPS THE SWING SO MUCH IT BECOMES IT ALMOST AUTOMATIC. - -p.71

Something mentioned elsewhere in Five Lessons is the lateral movement of the hips on the downswing.

To begin the downswing, TURN YOUR HIPS BACK TO THE LEFT. THERE MUST BE ENOUGH LATERAL MOTION FORWARD TO TRANSFER THE WEIGHT TO THE LEFT FOOT.

I don't know where this video comes from, apart from there being a snippet of it on youtube. If anybody knows, please add the info in the comments section below.
Sports Illustrated has scans of Hogan's five magazine articles, which later became the book Five Lessons.

LINK: Jimmy Ballard on The Role of The Left Arm

mfoster13@yahoo.com (michael foster) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 03:32:00 +0000

(If there's not a video above here, click here to see the video at youtube.)

Here's a video snippet from Jimmy Ballard titled The Role of Left Arm in The Swing. The message: "always keep the left elbow pointed down to the ground."

The Ben Hogan images he refers to can be found here, I think. On page 24 are the pictures that I think Jimmy is referring to - the pictures of the left forearm through the swing. You can also see the left elbow down clearly it in the swing sequence pictures on pages 26 and 27. (If you have the book Five Lessons or The Modern Fundamentals of Golf, I'm referring to the chapter on the second part of the swing.)

I couldn't find the "thumbing a ride" reference in Hogan's Five Lessons. I think Jimmy is probably referring to what he's learned by studying Hogan's book, rather than quoting it specifically. Ballard has done a lot of video analysis of the greats and bases his teaching on what he says are the common elements of all the great swings. Please add the quote in the comments section below if you know what Ballard was referring to.

Link: Manuel de la Torre's swing

mfoster13@yahoo.com (michael foster) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 03:13:00 +0000

(If there is no video above here, you can follow this link to see the video at youtube.)

Here's just some video of Manuel de la Torre playing golf. I think his swing has the graceful sort of feel you get from swinging the clubhead like a pendulum. You can see the pendulum in everything from his putting to his driving.

Your Opinion: The Golf Swing by David Leadbetter

mfoster13@yahoo.com (michael foster) — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 05:51:00 +0000

Have you read The Golf Swing by David Leadbetter? Did it help you improve your golf game? Would you recommend the book to other golfers? Are there related books or videos you would recommend?

Would You Recommend David Leadbetter?

mfoster13@yahoo.com (michael foster) — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 05:47:00 +0000

Have you had a lesson with David Leadbetter? Would you recommend him to other people? Was it worth the money? Did he improve your game?

LINKS: David Leadbetter, the Corporation

mfoster13@yahoo.com (michael foster) — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 04:15:00 +0000

David Leadbetter has by far the most professional and assertive online presence of any of the golf authors discussed on classicgolfbooks.com.

David Leadbetter Golf Academy home page. Slick.
Another David Leadbetter Golf Academy home page. Slick as well. Lots of suggestion of purpose, success, wealth: corporate logos, luscious green golf courses, forthright self promotion.
Leadbetter's online presence is substantial and transparently complimentary: by which I mean designed to promote a positive opinion of the man and his golf schools. A flattering wikipedia page, multiple homepages trumpeting his successes etc. I suppose Leadbetter is serious about making a particular impression: surrounding himself with symbols of wealth, confidence, achievement, etc...
I've read other golf pro's complimenting him on charging a lot of money and so raising people's opinion of what a golf pro should be paid.
He seems to be associated with IMG, an elite sports management agency. There's a blog at the IMG site called Leadblogger, but I can't work out who the author is (I didn't try very hard). Also a Facebook page on his professional achievements.
His merchandising includes golf instructional books and videos, online golf swing video analysis, a computer game, a line of clothing. an interactive DVD, golf statistical analysis software, etc
He also runs corporate golf days and does personal appearances.etc.
There are 22 David Leadbetter Golf Academies worldwide, in Austria, England, France, Germany, Spain, Turkey, Morocco, China, Korea, Japan, and the USA.

LINK: Ben Hogan's Chain Reaction

mfoster13@yahoo.com (michael foster) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 04:21:00 +0000

Here's some video of Ben Hogan playing in a tournament in 1964. (If there is not a video above here, you can view the video here at youtube.)

I think Hogan's swing is difficult to learn from because it's a really difficult chain reaction to co-ordinate:

"The turning of the hips to the left releases the body, legs and arms in a cohesive movement to the left. As it enters the swing, each component adds its contribution to the ever-increasing speed and power of the swing. In this chain reaction, the shoulders and the upper part of the body conduct the multiplying power into the arms. The arms multiply it again and pass it on to the hands. The hands multiply it again and pass it on to the hands. The hands multiply it in turn. As a result, the clubhead is simply tearing through the air at an incredible speed as the golfer hits through the ball." - The Modern Fundamentals of Golf p.123

That's a complicated description, but you can actually see it happening in Hogan's swing.

Here's a simpler explanation from Hogan:

"As I explain to my audiences at golf clinics, the correct hitting motion is one unbroken thrust from the beginning of the downswing to the end of the follow-through. I point out also that I think of only two things: starting the hips back and then hitting just as hard as I can with the upper part of my body, my arms and hands, in that order." - The Modern Fundamentals of Golf p.96.

I can't do that. I mean starting with my hips and finishing with my hands. There are people who probably find that comes naturally, but not me.

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Incidentally, the soundtrack is the Theme from Rocky. I just turn the volume down.

LINK: Jack Nicklaus on One Basic Swing

mfoster13@yahoo.com (michael foster) — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 02:37:00 +0000

*If there isn't a little video above here, this link will take you to the video at youtube.

This is apparently an extract from a video by Jack Nicklaus titled Golf My Way. It has some nice video of Jack hitting shots with four different clubs in almost identical time. I remember reading somewhere* that it had been an aim of his to play all his shots with the same tempo, and he was really proud the first time he saw video that proved he was doing it.

* "Some years ago I was filmed swinging a 7-iron and then, some while later, a 2-iron, in ultra slow motion. When the movie was completed I was delighted to see that my tempo was absolutely identical with both clubs - in other words, each swing was made at the same pace and took the same amount of time. The film proved I'd actually achieved a lifelong goal, which was to swing every club at the same tempo. I think you'd benefit by adopting that goal." - Total Golf Techniques p. 53.

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* I haven't seen the video Golf My Way, and I have no idea if it's any good. Please comment below if you've seen it and have an opinion.

LINK: Jack Nicklaus looking cool

mfoster13@yahoo.com (michael foster) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 04:56:00 +0000

* hopefully, you can see a video player just above here. If not, this link will take you to the video at youtube.

Jack Nicklaus steps onto the tee on the 16th - a par three over water.
It's a big tournament. The crowd are nervous.
Nicklaus tees up the ball then steps back a few paces to look at the shot. Then he steps in from the left side. He waggles, moving his weight from side to to side, and notices his right foot isn't on stable ground. He stops, bends down, takes up the ball and tee and starts from the beginning again.

".. I must get perfectly set - it's almost a compulsion - before I can pull the trigger. My mind simply will not let me start the swing until I'm "right," no matter how long it takes." - Golf My Way p.78.

He looks calm in the video, but that may not be the case.
He wrote in Golf My Way that he deals with tension by 'bearing down' on his setup routine.

"How, specifically, do you make yourself bear down? I think the only answer, really, is sheer willpower. You have to force other thoughts aside. You must discipline yourself vigourously: make yourself think exclusively about your aim and alignment and your ball position and your posture; make yourself do what you know is right in these areas, and make yourself keep on doing it time and time again, even though it doesn't seem to be working. The fact is that if the fundamentals of setup that you are applying are sound, and if you can make yourself stick with them long enough - if you have enough resolution - they will ultimately begin to work. As soon as they do, the tension will begin to evaporate. I've proven this to myself a thousand times in my career, and I'm sure I'll have to go on proving it another thousand times." - p.98-99

He said he was often accused of being a slow player, solely because he devoted so much effort to his setup.
For instance, during his setup routine, he visualised every shot as a three-act production he called Going To The Movies.

"I never hit a shot, even in practice - without having a very sharp, in-focus picture of it in my head. It's like a colour movie. First I "see" the ball where I want it to finish, nice and white and sitting up high on bright green grass. Then the scene quickly changes and I "see" the ball going there; it's path, trajectory, and shape, even its behaviour on landing. Then there's a sort of fade-out, and the next scene shows me making the kind of swing that will turn the previous images into reality. Only at the end of this short, Hollywood spectacular, do I select a club and step up to the ball." - p.79.

The result? Just watch the video. The ball hits the green and backspins just past the flag, the crowd goes berserk, and Jack looks like the coolest guy on Earth.
Tiger Woods apparently based his setup routine on Nicklaus'. Personally, I know I don't have Nicklaus' intensity, and his setup routine wouldn't work for me.

LINK: Bobby Jones on Augusta National

mfoster13@yahoo.com (michael foster) — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 06:58:00 +0000

Sports Illustrated published an article by Bobby Jones in 1959 on how to play his golf course, Augusta National. This was a long time before the recent controversial changes to the course. The article included a hole-by-hole description of the course and explained Jones' strategy for each hole.

You can view scans of the original Sports Illustrated or you can read a text only version, but I recommend the magazine version: it includes maps of each hole.

LINKS: A Round of Golf With Tommy Armour

mfoster13@yahoo.com (michael foster) — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 06:34:00 +0000

Tommy Armour's main book was How To Play Your Best Golf All The Time, published in 1953. In 1959 he had a book summarised and serialised in Sports Illustrated. The summary version was called My Brains - And Your Muscles! while the book was called A Round of Golf With Tommy Armour.

My Brains - And Your Muscles! A four part series on how to think your way around a golf course.

Part One. The article starts on page 10.
Part Two. Page 73.
Part Three.
Part Four. Page 51.

Or read the text without illustrations.

Part 1.
Part 2.
Part 3.
Part 4.