General

Golf:: The Best Instruction Book Ever!

Want simple tips to help smash it past your pals? Want to know how to generate the most power from your swing, put it close with irons, and stop three-putting? GOLF Magazine's Top 100 Teachers combine their knowledge to help you get your game back in shape with their first book, "The Best Instruction Book Ever!" This book would include the simple, direct and helpful tips that make the YOUR GAME section in GOLF Magazine the most popular part of the magazine. The book will be concentrated into different key areas: Driving, Iron Play, Chipping, Putting, Fault Fixes, Trouble Shots. Stunning photography from the world's best golf instruction photographers would give the book an extra edge in the marketplace as well as three dimensional diagrams which take instruction to a new level.

The Art of the Short Game: Tour-Tested Secrets for Getting Up and Down

“The hottest instructor in golf” (Sports Illustrated) takes on old-school gurus with a far more accessible, intuitive, and innovative approach to those essential chip shots, pitches, and bunker rescues.

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 donÂ’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 UtleyÂ’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, UtleyÂ’s short-game methods turn trouble shots into triumph.

Dave Pelz's Short Game Bible: Master the Finesse Swing and Lower Your Score (Dave Pelz Scoring Game Series)

As the reigning rabbi on the mysteries of golf from 100 yards in, Pelz has earned the right to anoint his expansive instruction on the short game a "Bible." A scientist by training, he's analyzed the macros and dissected the micros to come up with a gospel for pros (Lee Janzen, Vijay Singh, and Anika Sorenstam, to name a few disciples) and weekend hackers alike. Pelz fills his scripture with photos, illustrations, charts, and plenty of sage advice on pitching, chipping, sandplay, putting, equipment, execution, mechanics, technique, practice, attitude, lots of questions, and plenty of answers. Much of the Short Game Bible is pretty sophisticated stuff aimed toward better players--or, at least, players who take their golf seriously. But its basics are appropriate to any skill level of the game: Accurately assess your own weaknesses, and then go about improving them systematically with the author's carefully researched and tested plan. It seems so obvious, but the truth is, most golfers either beat balls on the range in search of distance or slave over eight-foot putts on the practice green; they fail to pay enough attention to the shots in between. Pelz does the math for you here; his figures add up, so that yours can go down--the golfing equivalent of forgiving sins and absolving trespasses. --Jeff Silverman

Dave Pelz's Short Game Bible is the first book in a four-book series, The Dave Pelz Scoring Game Series.  The next volume in the series will be Dave Pelz's Putting Bible.

"He who rules the short game collects the gold."
--Dave Pelz's Golden Rule of Golf

Fed up with trying to imitate the pros, buying the latest expensive equipment, and seeing your handicap stay the same? The first book by bestselling author and internationally revered golf instructor Dave Pelz since Putt Like the Pros, his bestselling classic, Dave Pelz's Short Game Bible can show you the way to lower scores by improving your short game. The result of decades of scientific research studying thousands of golfers, Dave's philosophy is as simple as it is revolutionary and groundbreaking: Instead of practicing the wrong things the right way, or the right things the wrong way, Pelz shows you how to find your own personal weaknesses and how to improve them to efficiently lower your scores. Packed with all the knowledge, charts, and photos needed to learn from the master, Dave Pelz's Short Game Bible is the essential book for every golfer who's looking to improve his or her game.

Dave's approach to golf is easy to understand: 80 percent of the strokes golfers lose to par are determined by their play within 100 yards of the green--the crucial scoring game. The most important and yet the least focused-on aspect of golf, your short game, can indeed make or break your entire game. And nobody teaches the short game like Dave Pelz. His renowned golf schools and clinics focus exclusively on putting and the short game, attracting top players like Tom Kite, Colin Montgomerie, two-time U.S. Open champion Lee Janzen, reigning PGA champion Vijay Singh, Steve Elkington, Payne Stewart, Peter Jacobsen, and many LPGA players including Annika Sorenstam and Liselotte Neumann. The pros know, as you are about to learn, that while others teach golfers how to swing, Dave Pelz teaches golfers how to score . . .  and win.

A former physicist for NASA, Dave brings a scientific rigor to his research and instruction that has made him the top short-game expert in the world. Dave has observed and then taught thousands of golfers to improve their ability to score better. The years he has spent studying the short game, including chipping, lobs, pitches, distance wedges, and bunker play, have resulted in an unequaled expertise and a fascinating body of knowledge on golf, with the statistics and data to back it up. In this new book, Dave for the first time shares the understanding and techniques he has taught the pros, including a wide array of innovative tests and exercises for mastering those deceptive and high-pressure shots of the short game.

Dave Pelz's Short Game Bible is an essential book for golfers of all levels. Covering everything golfers need to know to improve their short game, Dave's system can--and will--help you to consistently shoot lower scores.

Zen Golf: Mastering the Mental Game

The best players know that golf is a game of confidence, and most important, concentration–the ability to focus and block out distraction. The goal of achieving clear thought is also at the heart of Buddhist teachings. In his highly original and groundbreaking book, noted PGA coach and Buddhist instructor, Dr. Joseph Parent, draws on this natural connection and teaches golfers how to clear their minds, achieve ultimate focus, and play in the moment for each shot.

Zen Golf presents a simple system for building “mental game mastery.” Dr Parent’s unique PAR Approach (focusing on Preparation, Action, and Response to Results) guides golfers with specific techniques for each aspect of their games. In chapters such as “How to Get From the Practice Tee to the First Tee”, “You Produce What You Fear”, and “How to Enjoy a Bad Round of Golf”, the author shares a personal teaching regimen that has helped improve the games of professionals and amateurs alike. By combining classic insights and stories from Zen tradition, Zen Golf helps eliminate the mental distractions that routinely cause poor shots and loss of concentration, allowing golfers to feel in “the zone” that professionals have learned to master.

Clear, concise, and enlightening, Zen Golf shows golfers how to prepare for, execute, and equally important, respond the results of any golf shot. A different approach to golf instruction, this book shapes ancient philosophies into new teachings.

How I Play Golf

No athlete has changed his sport the way Tiger Woods has transformed the world of golf. The Tiger phenomenon has created a new legion of golfers, seduced by Woods's almost effortless mastery of this most difficult game. In How I Play Golf Woods reveals the many facets of his game and offers a plethora of tips and advice aimed at all levels of play. Unlike most golf guides, and perhaps somewhat surprising from a player best known for his long game, How I Play Golf begins with the short game--putting, chipping, and pitching--before moving onto swing mechanics and hitting off the tee. Produced in conjunction with the editors of Golf Digest, the book is lavishly photographed and illustrated and offers a gold mine of useful ideas and mental images Tiger has collected over the years. Throughout, Tiger recounts memorable shots from his relatively brief career; for example, his only "perfect" shot (a 3-wood on No. 14 at St. Andrews) and his first putt at the 1995 Masters (a 20-footer for birdie on No. 1 that missed and rolled off the green). How I Play Golf is not only a first-rate instructional guide, it also communicates a passion and respect for the game that beginners, hackers, and low handicappers should find inspiring. Highly recommended. --Harry C. Edwards

No athlete has changed his sport the way Tiger Woods has transformed theworld of golf. The Tiger phenomenon has created a new legion of golfers, seducedby Woods's almost effortless mastery of this most difficult game. In How IPlay Golf Woods reveals the many facets of his game and offers a plethora oftips and advice aimed at all levels of play. Unlike most golf guides, andperhaps somewhat surprising from a player best known for his long game, How IPlay Golf begins with the short game--putting, chipping, andpitching--before moving onto swing mechanics and hitting off the tee. Producedin conjunction with the editors of Golf Digest, the book is lavishlyphotographed and illustrated and offers a gold mine of useful ideas and mentalimages Tiger has collected over the years. Throughout, Tiger recounts memorableshots from his relatively brief career; for example, his only "perfect" shot (a3-wood on No. 14 at St. Andrews) and his first putt at the 1995 Masters (a20-footer for birdie on No. 1 that missed and rolled off the green). How IPlay Golf is not only a first-rate instructional guide, it also communicatesa passion and respect for the game that beginners, hackers, and low handicappersshould find inspiring. Highly recommended. --Harry C. Edwards

Golf is Not a Game of Perfect

One of golf guru Jim Flick's mantras is that golf is 90 percent mental, and the other 10 percent is mental, too. Dr. Bob Rotella, a noted sports psychologist and performance consultant, roots around the golfer's mind to expose--and analyze--the doubts, the fears, and the frustrations that haunt anyone who's ever picked up a club and swung it. Through anecdote and aphorism he suggests how these mental and emotional hazards can be played through, and, regardless of skill level, how teeing off with a more positive and confident outlook will translate into better performance.

Dr. Bob Rotella is one of the hottest performance consultants in America today. Among his many professional clients are Nick Price (last year's Player of the Year), Tom Kite, Davis Love III, Pat Bradley, Brad Faxon, John Daly, and many others. Rotella, or "Doc," as most players refer to him, goes beyond just the usual mental aspects of the game and the reliance on specific techniques. What Rotella does here in this extraordinary book, and with his clients, is to create an attitude and a mindset about all aspects of a golfer's game, from mental preparation to competition. The most wonderful aspect of it all is that it is done in a conversational fashion, in a dynamic blend of anecdote and lesson. And, as some of the world's greatest golfers will attest, the results are spectacular. Golfers will improve their golf game and have more fun playing. Some of Rotella's maxims include:

* On the first tee, a golfer must expect only two things of himself: to have fun, and to focus his mind properly on every shot.

* Golfers must learn to love 'the challenge when they hit a ball into the rough, trees, or sand. The alternatives -- anger, fear, whining, and cheating -- do no good.

* Confidence is crucial to good golf. Confidence is simply the aggregate of the thoughts you have about yourself.

* It is more important to be decisive than to be correct when preparing to play any golf shot or putt.

Filled with delightful and insightful stories about golf and the golfers Rotella works with, Golf Is Not a Game of Perfect will improve the game of even the most casual weekend player.

Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf

Ben Hogan's premise in this 1957 classic is driven home in bold letters: "THE AVERAGE GOLFER IS ENTIRELY CAPABLE OF BUILDING A REPEATING SWING AND BREAKING 80." Religions are founded on less, and Hogan's detailed analyses and illustrated demonstrations of grip, stance, posture, and the two basic components of the swing make up a sacred book. Though its very simplicity seems dated, this is the tome of technique that should serve as the foundation of every golf library.

The building blocks of winning golf -- from one of the masters of the game.

Ben Hogan, one of the greatest golfers in the history of the sport, believed that any golfer with average coordination can learn to break 80 -- if one applies oneself patiently and intelligently. With the techniques revealed in this classic book, you can learn how to make your game work from tee to green, step-by-step and stroke by stroke.

In each chapter, a different tested fundamental is explained and demonstrated with clear illustrations -- as though Hogan were giving you a personal lesson with the same skill and precision that made him a legend. Whether you're a novice player or an experienced pro, Ben Hogan's Five Lessons is a must-have reference for anyone who knows that fundamentals are where champions begin.

Harvey Penick's Little Red Book: Lessons and Teachings from a Lifetime in Golf

Before titanium drivers, before oversized heads and bubble shafts, before electronic systems to tell you how far you are from the pin, golf was much the same game it is today. The lessons Harvey Penick taught in the pre-gadget days still stand. The golf swing is basically the same, and Penick could teach it better than anybody. For most of his life, he never intended to publish his Little Red Book, a notebook of golf wisdom and anecdotes that he compiled with the idea that he'd pass it on to his son. But, for the sake of history, it's a good thing that he changed his mind. Contained in its 175 pages is just about all you need to know about golf from a technical standpoint, along with Penick's priceless memories of working with famous pros, teaching absolute nobodies to get the ball in the air, and finding a horde of bat guano and hauling it across town in a pickup truck to fertilize his golf course. This book makes you feel good about playing golf, that you're part of something steeped in ritual and mystery and tradition, and that the game was played perfectly well before perimeter-weighted, graphite-shafted irons came along.

THE CLASSIC BOOK OF GOLF WISDOM FROM THE GAME'S GREATEST TEACHER

The Little Red Book has become required reading for all players and fans of the game of golf, from beginners to seasoned pros. The legendary Harvey Penick, who began his golfing career as a caddie in Austria, Texas, at the age of eight, worked with an amazing array of champions over the course of nearly a century, dispensing invaluable wisdom to golfers of every level. Penick simplifies the technical jargon of other instructional books and communicates the very essence of the game, and his Little Red Book is full of inspiration and homespun wisdom that reflects at once his great love of golf as well as his great talent for teaching.

The Art of Putting: The Revolutionary Feel-Based System for Improving Your Score

A breakthrough approach to putting from the PGA Tour's premier short-game guru

PGA stars such as Jay Haas, Craig Stadler, Peter Jacobsen, and Darren Clarke have all sought advice from fellow pro Stan Utley about their putting, and have gone on to such immediate success on the green that Utley has become the most in-demand teacher in the game. Now, in The Art of Putting he outlines his unique approach to putting for golfers of all skill levels. In a welcome change from mechanistic and overly-complex putting "systems," Utley breaks down the putting stroke to a simple, natural motion, revealing a straightforward method for learning this sure, repeatable stroke.

As he guides you through the fundamentals of the proper grip, posture, alignment, and swing, Utley will overhaul and improve your stroke by putting feel back into your game. This definitive book also provides:

• A complete primer on club design, with tips for finding the putter most in tune with the nuances of your swing
• A guide to the sensory aspects of a good putt, from grip pressure to impact response to the way a putt should sound
• Simple steps for reading greens accurately, every time
• Drills to commit your putting stroke to muscle memory and overcome the tics that can knock your putts off line
• Cures for the mental hurdles you'll face on the short grass

Dave Pelz's Putting Bible: The Complete Guide to Mastering the Green (Dave Pelz Scoring Game Series)

Golf's foremost apostle from 100 yards in, Dave Pelz follows up the bestselling Short Game Bible--his essential testament on how to get on the green--with chapter and verse on what to do once you're finally there. The lower your handicap, the more of a religious experience it should be.

While you don't have to be a rocket scientist to explain the forces at work in rolling a small, dimpled ball over changing terrain toward a cup that looks far too small for its purpose, Pelz was in fact a rocket scientist by trade. His approach is analytical, theoretical, mechanical, and systematic, brimming with graphs, charts, and illustrations. But don't let that scare you--for all the science, Pelz and the gospel he preaches are as inspiring as a good sermon and readily understandable regardless of your skill level. Yes, advanced players will no doubt be more intrigued with the depths Pelz plumbs, but high handicappers can draw solace from the quality of the supplicants who've sought his counsel--Lee Janzen, Annika Sorenstam, Steve Elkington, and Colin Montgomery, for starters--and proceed from there. Numbers, charts, and graphs aside, Pelz preaches good grip and stroke, proper reading of lines and distances, the importance of leaving a ball in the best location (that only seems obvious), and the need to identify your putting weaknesses, learn why they're your weaknesses, and address the proper fixes. "Never give up on putting well," Pelz stresses. By studying his bible and heeding his golden rules, you'll find yourself standing over those knee-rattling, downhill 4-footers with a lot more going for you than just a prayer. --Jeff Silverman

Dave Pelz's Putting Bible is the second book in a four-book series, the Dave Pelz Scoring Game Series.

Over 150,000 readers have purchased Dave Pelz's Short Game Bible after just its first year of release publication, making the book an instant classic.  Now, let Dave help you shape up your game on the greens with his new Putting Bible, which is sure to make all other putting manuals obsolete.

Dave Pelz looks at putting, golf's least-understood skill, as no one has ever approached it before.  Because a putt is the terminal shot on every hole and there is no possibility of recovery from short misses, putts count almost a disproportionate amount.  Every golfer knows a 2-foot putt counts the same as a 300-yard drive--one stroke.  And while the putting stroke is only one of several types of swings golfers make, it accounts for nearly half of all the swings made--43 percent--and perhaps as much as 80 percent of all the anguish and frustration involved in the game.  These are some of the reasons every golfer needs Dave's insights into the putting game and the simplicity he brings to improving their ability to putt.

Putting is also different in another way:  It is one of the few skills in all of sport in which any player, regardless of size, strength, speed, gender, or education, can compete equally with--and have a realistic chance to surpass the skills of--the best professionals in the world.

As Dave explains, putting is actually simple to understand and do. Once golfers grasp his concepts, they can perform on the greens as never before.

Using decades of scientific research from studying thousands of golfers, Dave shows readers the simplicity of putting that escapes most golfers and lays out the fifteen well-defined building blocks of the putting game that each of us already has and owns. This comprehensive guide from the internationally revered master of the short game and putting game--packed with charts, photos, and easy-to-understand instruction--will be the essential volume for all golfers who want to take strokes off their score with better putting.

A former NASA physicist and founder of the World Putting Championship, Dave brings a scientific rigor to his instruction that has made him the top putting expert in the world.  Observing and teaching thousands of golfers to better their scores, Dave's body of knowledge in putting is unequaled.  By uncovering the mysteries of this part of the game, Dave Pelz's Putting Bible raises putting instruction to a new level.

Dave Pelz's Scoring Game Schools and clinics are renowned worldwide, attracting top players like Jesper Parnevik, Tom Kite, Colin Montgomerie, two-time U.S. Open Champion Lee Janzen, Vijay Singh, Steve Elkington, and many LPGA players including Annika Sorenstam and Liselotte Neumann.