Golf books: what are you reading

The Mental Side of Things
#61

I’ll have to check out “Unconscious Putting” - I bought the Perfect Putting Mat last spring and use it a fair amount. I definitely can roll a straight putt consistently - which was my first goal/step. I also read “Every Shot Counts” so I know the percentages where I should reasonable land on the stats and know the practice plans to get there (unfortunately with winter almost here all have to wait on that pretty much. By early next spring - I need to take it to the course and get definitive and correct reads and get off the technical thoughts.

Also, I just read “The First Major” by John Feinstein about the 2016 Ryder Cup. Just a great read - I couldn’t put it down. It will definitely keep you going during the winter months.

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#62

My general take on Golf Books and I have read a bunch. If you want to learn how to swing a club; read a book from someone how has given a whole lot of lessons.
Generally books by big name Pros should be Titled “How I Swing the Club”; which is probably of limited help to most players,
And generally; the “bigger the name Pro the less words or actual involvement if any they had in the book.”
I was told this by a Ghostwriter of many golf books.

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#63

Accurate. I was losing the will to live through first 3-4 highly padded out chapters of Short Game Bible but stuck with it. Next day in practice I got a hole in one on my par 3 course. Still play 100yds and under in the Pelz fashion. Still not finished the book. The pages of graphs and stats on Bermuda grass vs regular grass did me in!

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#64

That’s what happens when a former NASA scientist writes a book! (I think he was a NASA scientist, I’m not actually going to fact check it)…

I really, really like the Sieckmann method, at least for finesse shots… He has the street cred of having taught a ton of people and more than anything his method makes sense to me and provides repeatable results… I’ve basically completely changed my chipping setup with him. It’s actually created an interesting problem as I’m launching the ball so much higher, I don’t really NEED a 58 degree wedge around the greens anymore…

One day, I’ll have the time and resources to do a complete bag overhaul and hopefully by then I’ll have my wedge needs sorted out!

#65

Headed home for lunch right now, and Ray Floyd’s The Elements of Scoring should be waiting for me in my mailbox. Bought it on the recommendation of @ScottFawcettDECADE, as I was watching the DECADE Foundations videos that were my prize from the forum here :slight_smile:

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#66

me too - it’s sitting on my shelf but wanted to finish the Utley short game book first

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#67

I currently have teed up “The Lost Art of Playing Golf,” “The Lost Art of Putting,” “The Practice Manual” by @Adamyounggolf, and Ben Hogan’s “Five Lessons.”

On my shopping list is “A Course Called Ireland,” “A Course Called Scotland,” “The Match,” “The Greatest Game Ever Played,” “The Making of the Masters,” Golf is Not a Game of Perfect," “Every Shot Counts,” and “A Gentleman’s Game”

Clearly, I will be lost in books for the foreseeable future!

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#68

I’ve ordered it! Thanks for the recommendation. Lots of time to read golf books this winter.

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#69

This is my favorite. Re read a few chapters yesterday.

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#70

I’m convinced… I’ll give it a read.

#71

Darn, not on Google Play, only on Apple?

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#72

I am reading, “Every Shot Must Have a Purpose” currently. I am about half way through it. I am sure many people have read this one as it is pretty popular. It is based on the belief that you can strive to get a birdie on every hole. I had this thought before ever reading this book. I have said to myself that I have the ability to birdie any hole on any given day, why can’t I birdie them all? Or furthermore the people that play this for a living, what is the reason they can’t get past 59, or 58 recently? It is a pretty good book so far. It definitely has a little different tone than some of the sports psychology books but still talks heavily about the game in your head. Anyone else like or have comments about this one?

#73

I think it’s a nice bridge between old school and new school

Prob 20% of it falls into the old school course management advice and maybe doesn’t fully understand the distant gradient and strokes gained knowledge we have today.

But most of it is spot on and is validated by what we know now. I love his mental approach and his “algorithm” if you will for preparing for a shot.

He definitely understood double bogey avoidance and touches on a lot of what “Lowest Score Wins” talked about with regard to separation value for skills for mid cappers and backs up with numbers.

Ryder cup legend to boot. Scored 3 points at age 51!!!

I’d say Art of Scoring, Lowest Score Wins, and all of @ScottFawcettDECADE free content would be my course management boot camp for 99% of the double digits I play with

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#74

Golfing with your Eyes Closed - Erin Macy/Tiffany White. So far a really good read on imagery/visualization techniques.

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#75

Between seeing it here and listening to him on Chasing Scratch (listening for the first time completely addicted) I just placed an order for the Practice Manual

Kudos to you all

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#76

It’s a fun podcast! I need to buy Adams book, but it’s not digital!

#77

Possibly the best thing I’ve pulled from this forum, and I mean that not to demean other threads but to show how much I’m enjoying it. My son is a terrible sleeper, so I often throw on headphones at night while he settles back down…I had to stop listening to Chasing Scratch at that time because I’d laugh too much and have to restart the sleeping process.

Kudos to you Craigers

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#78

Ha! The whole point of choosing this username has finally been achieved!

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#79

My dad loves golf and non fiction… I’m looking for a good, hardcover book to buy him for Christmas. Any suggestions?

#81

Golf is Not a Game of Perfect and this Tiger Woods bio is good.

If you’re interested in non-golf non-fiction, I can give a few more ideas, though the genres vary (bios, history, etc.).

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