Tales From The Bunker

We have been counting down the greatest golf instruction books ever written (In our humble opinion).  As you recall from previous blogs our number three book is Golf My Way by Jack Nicklaus, the number two book Is Ben Hogan’s Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf (blasphemy ) and the number one greatest golf instruction  book ever written is………………………… How to Perfect Your Golf Swing Using Connection and the Seven Common Denominators by Jimmy Ballard!

Huh!  What the heck is that?

Written about twenty years ago, it has been burdened with the long strange title but do let the title fool you (The person who named the book should be shot). Using his connection theory, which we have written about before; Jimmy identifies the seven common things that all great golfers have in common, from Bobby Jones to Gary Player to Tiger Woods. This book gives you the basic ball striking fundamentals all golfers must have to be successful.

I first learned about Jimmy and his magic book from a partner in a foursome. When I read the book for the first time I finally understood the golf swing.

Written in easy to understand language, appropriate for beginners to scratch golfers, the connection theory and its seven common denominators can make a huge difference in your game. The first round I played after obtaining the book I immediately could see the faults my playing partners had and how it was hurting their game. No other book has ever given me the kind of knowledge that would allow me to so easily understand and identify their swing faults.  

Understanding the book is probably easier than obtaining a copy. I got a beaten up paperback copy on either Amazon or eBay for $45.00 after some searching. It’s the best $45.00 I ever have spent. (Obviously the publisher is not a golf fan or it would be reissued and renamed.)

Do yourself a favor and check out this book. I think you will agree with me it is the best golf instruction book ever written.

 As always do not forget to check out our TheEscapePlace stores on eBay, Amazon and Bonanza.
They will help your golf game and more!

Remember to keep  ‘em in the fairway.

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I know I promised to reveal what is in my opinion is the greatest golf instruction book of all time (#3 Golf My Way, #2 Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf) but it will have to wait. On Nov 14^th Errie Ball turned 100 years old!

For those of you who are not from the Chicago area the name may be slightly familiar. He is the last living person to play in the first Masters held in 1934. He also played in the 1957 Masters. The 23 years between appearances still is a tournament record.

The son of a golf professional, Bobby Jones (The Bobby Jones) convinced him to come to America and work at a country club in Atlanta. Ball established his credentials with Jones by winning local events and Bobby even asked him to play some exhibitions with him.

Sam Snead and Gary Player said Errie has the best swing they had ever seen. He simply had copied Jones’ swing. The putter was always his nemesis. He played rounds with Jones, Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer and everyone in between.

He eventually migrated up to Chicago where he worked at Oak Park Country Club and Butler National. I had the pleasure of meeting him several times at Oak Park County Club. Butler National does not let mere mortal men (like me) onto its grounds.

Errie’s perspective on the greatest players:

Best Driver – Sam Snead

Best Iron player – Tommy Armour

Best Putter – Bobby Locke

Best showman – Walter Hagen

Best Competitor– Ben Hogan

Best Player – Tiger Woods 

I would like to congratulate Errie on his 100^th birthday.

 ©2010 Chicago District Golfer

As always do not forget to check out our TheEscapePlace stores on eBay, Amazon and Bonanza.
They will help your golf game and more!

Remember to keep  ‘em in the fairway.

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As stated in our last blog, we have decided to name what we believe are the three best golf instruction books ever written. In our last blog we named Jack Nicklaus’s Golf My Way as the third best golf book ever written. Today we reveal the number two book on our list ……  Ben Hogan’s Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf.

Blasphemy the crowd shouts. It is virtually unanimous that Five Lessons is the finest golf instruction manual ever written.

Written by one of golf’s greatest players and finest experts on the mechanics of the golf swing, this book, written in simple and succinct language, will improve everyone’s game. Hogan doesn’t just tell you what to do, he explains why. He shows how to make a basic repeatable swing that can be used with every club. This makes the game so simple.

Actually a series of 5 magazine articles, Hogan decided not to release them weekly but rather over a greater period of time so his readers could fully comprehend each article before going on to the next one.

I have read this book again and again and, while I understand what it says, for some reason I did not really understand the golf swing until I read my number one book. The fault probably lies with me and not with the book.

Every golfer should own this book and study it until it falls apart. You can’t go wrong when his name is Hogan.

 As always do not forget to check out our TheEscapePlace stores on eBay, Amazon and Bonanza.
They will help your golf game and more!

Remember to keep  ‘em in the fairway.

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Sorry for the long time between blogs but sometimes life gets in the way. Things are going better now and so we are BACK!

I have been looking through my collection of golf books to toss or sell the ones that really are not very good (that includes quite of few) and decided to blog on what I believe to be the three best golf books ever. We will start with number three in hopes that you will return again to learn numbers two and one

In my humble opinion the third best golf instruction book ever is……..  Jack Nicklaus’s Golf My Way!  Jack has only written a few books and is not known as a great teacher of the game. But he meticulously describes the elements of the swing is clear language. He makes it clear it is a swing and not a series of elements that make up the swing.  

He starts with a simple statement that if your setup is incorrect you have no real chance to swing correctly.  After clearly describing the correct setup, he shows you how the correct swing can be executed; clearly explaining how each individual element in the swing affects the motion of the next part of the swing.  

Not a good book for beginners, his descriptions are so detailed that you need a basic understanding of the game to fully comprehend the points he makes.

I think the most effective parts of the book are when he uses real life situations from tournaments when he needed to execute a swing fundamental under pressure. When you are able to get inside the mind of such a great golfer you learn how his thought process helped him win so many majors.  It is clear that his mental toughness was second to none. He knew he would not be the one to make the big mistake but his opponents were not as mentally strong and would make an error.

The world’s best golfer, to date, has almost written the best golf book ever. It is just a bit too detailed and perhaps a touch too long. With the exception of these two minor flaws it is a wonderful book that every golfer should have in his library.

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