Christmas Readings

For Christmas, like many self-loathing individuals, I focused all of my wants on golf. And boy do I have a lot of golf stuff now. But something I knew I wanted and probably wouldn't really get from my family was more books. Books can get expensive and if I started asking for books I might get some, but I probably would miss out on some other stuff that I wanted.

So for my present to myself, I spent a lot on books. It's outrageously expensive to buy books in the stores unless they're on sale. Online, though, it's quite a bit cheaper. Since Amazon gave free shipping on my order, I loaded up and bought 12 books. Now the off season will be full of meaningless swing thoughts that I'm sure I'll lose by the time it gets warm enough to start playing again! Just maybe I can retain something though.

In no particular order, I have Phil Mickelson's Secrets of the Short Game, Dave Pelz's Damage Control and Short Game Bible, all three books from Stan Utley, Tales from Q School, Who's Your Caddy, Golf Naked, Zen Golf, Hank Haney's Essential of the Swing, and the Downhill Lie.

I've read most of Phil's book, all of Damage Control, Golf Naked, Tales from Q School, the Downhill Lie and two of the three books from Stan Utley (still have to tackle the Art of Putting). All have been informational, and will probably help me with my game in one way or another.

Golf Naked is probably the least informational if you follow golf you know a lot of the stuff that's in the book. It was still a fairly entertaining read and I would recommend it to any new or beginning golfer.

Damage Control is interesting. The book has a lot of good information and will teach you a great deal about hitting shots from trouble, but the terminology was a little weird for me. Will I see it the same way Pelz does? No. There are a few parts of the book that I feel make it completely worthwhile. The first is that in reading it as a whole, you'll learn to swallow you ego pretty quickly and play safe shots. The second, is that he teaches you a very effective way to train for unusual shots including a parts list and assembly instructions for stuff you could get from Home Depot or a similar store. And lastly, there is a section about hitting the ball when you have an object obstructing your swing that really I will go back and ingrain once the season starts because it gives excellent information about how to swing and how to hold the club face.

I've read most of Phil's book and I'm torn about what to think. While I am a believer that he's one of the best short game players in the game, I'm not sure I can replicate his shots the way he does. It seems easy, but in reality, I don't think reading his book will really work for me without putting in a lot of practice.

On the other side, though, Stan Utley's short game books have been very helpful. He teaches much simpler technique than Phil Mickelson and I really like the way I'm controlling my shots. The consistency is tough to tell from practice mats but I can already see a more repeatable swing from my chips and my pitching was garbage last year so I have no honest framework to compare that too. I would highly recommend the read if you're frustrated from 50 yards and in.

Tales from Q School was a very well-written book, but is difficult to read straight through. There are so many players and so many stories being told at the same time that it's better in chunks. I had to go back and re-read certain passages to make sense of them. But as far as the writing goes, this is a great read that will make anyone appreciate and look forward to Q School every year.

Lastly, my favorite, the Downhill Lie. This is such an entertaining story I will read it again and soon. It's just so funny. Well-written, funny, keeps you moving through the story, it's a very good novel. I can appreciate this book and even reading parts to my girlfriend got us both in tears laughing and she hates my golf addiction. When you're looking for your next book give the Downhill Lie a chance.

I'll do another post as I finish more books with thoughts about what I liked and didn't' like, and if anyone has any comments about books they liked, I'd love to hear about them.