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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We have repeatedly talked about the difficulty of the golf swing. Below is a fascinating video by Byron Nelson describing the difficulties he had achieving an effective swing. Note particularly his discovery of the use of the lower body to help generate power.

Byron’s Record:

PGA Tour wins (52)

• 1935 (1) New Jersey State Open
• 1936 (1) Metropolitan Open
• 1937 (2) Masters Tournament, Belmont Country Club Match Play
• 1938 (2) Thomasville Open, Hollywood Open
• 1939 (4) Phoenix Open, North and South Open, U.S. Open, Western Open
• 1940 (3) Texas Open, Miami Open, PGA Championship
• 1941 (3) Greater Greensboro Open, Tam O’Shanter Open, Miami Open
• 1942 (3) Oakland Open, Masters Tournament, Tam O’Shanter Open
• 1944 (8) San Francisco Victory Open, Knoxville War Bond Tournament, New York Red Cross Tourney, Minneapolis Four-Ball (with Harold “Jug” McSpaden), Tam O’Shanter Open, Nashville Open, Texas Victory Open, San Francisco Open
• 1945 (18) Phoenix Open, Corpus Christi Open, New Orleans Open, Miami International Four-Ball (with Harold “Jug” McSpaden), Charlotte Open, Greater Greensboro Open, Durham Open, Atlanta Open, Montreal Open, Philadelphia Inquirer Open, Chicago Victory National Open, PGA Championship, Tam O’Shanter Open, Canadian Open, Knoxville Invitational, Esmeralda Open, Seattle Open, Glen Garden Open
• 1946 (6) Los Angeles Open, San Francisco Open, New Orleans Open, Houston Open, Columbus Invitational, Chicago Victory National Open
• 1951 (1) Bing Crosby Pro-Am

Major championships are shown in bold.

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If even the great Byron Nelson had problems developing an effective swing, we should all realize the difficulty of the game and learn to not be too hard on ourselves. Remember it is only a game and the result is only a number. But most of all remember to have fun!

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We were walking through the library yesterday trying to absorb a little literary intelligence when we noticed sitting prominently on the end of an aisle was a book called Learn to Play Golf in a Weekend.  We just had to check out a book with that title. 

Written by Edward Craig and published is 2005 by Octopus Publishing Group LTD, it has a clear cut plan to learn to play in two days. “Learn to Play golf in a Weekend will give you the skills to enjoy your golf game without the need for costly lessons.” Yeah Right! 

On Day 1 you learn the following;

• The Grip
• The Setup
• The Backswing
• The Downswing

 Sounds like an easy day!

On Day 2 you learn:

• Pitching and Chipping
• Bunkers
• Trouble shots
• Putting

 A couple hours should be sufficient for these aspects of the game. 

You then can go at your own pace with other aspects such as:

• Preparation
• Strategy
• Psychology
• Advanced Shots
• How to work the ball, etc.

 Piece of cake! 

In Tom’s case, after spending almost 40 years learning the game of golf…now he finds out he could have learned it in a weekend if he had just had the correct book.  It may not be too late for Becky as she has only been playing for 4 years and her bad habits can still change with the sage advice in this 127 page book. 

Ben Hogan deliberately published his classic Five Lessons The Modern Fundamentals of Golf one section at a time in a magazine so people could attempt to absorb one fundamental over the course several weeks. Obviously Ben had no idea golf could be learned in a weekend. 

On second thought, since Ben turned into a pretty good golfer maybe he was right.

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