(Part 2) Reddit mentions: The best golf books

Before we discuss equipment, I would highly recommend thinking about what you want to accomplish out of golf. I used to play competitively when I was growing up, but I was never good enough/had enough time to practice to play at a college level. Seeing as you are getting into golf because of business, your main starting goal should be to not make a fool of yourself. You mentioned you enjoyed it, so I suspect that you might already have been bitten by the golf bug. Please understand that golf is a cruel mistress. There isn't another game that you can have such a love/hate relationship with.

Regardless of what exactly you want to get out of golf, I would highly recommend Ben Hogan's Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf. This will certainly help expedite the getting familiar with the golf swing phase. Just like anything, the fundamentals are extremely important and this is an excellent read.

Now for the equipment,
Those Ping Eye2 irons are a classic (not in the bad sense) set of irons, great set to start out with. As long as the shafts aren't anything crazy like x-Stiff they are most likely a great starting place for you.

As far as the bag goes, its all about budget and what you want. If you always ride - look for a cart bag or hybrid bag to get the stand. If you always walk, get a light back. The bag I am currently using is an Ergonomix from Wal-Mart I bought for $40. Sure you can tell it isn't the highest quality bag out there, but it does everything I need and isn't a complete piece of junk.

Putter - go to a golf store and figure out what you like. This is the most important club in your bag - you are going to use this more than any other club!

Woods/Hybrids/Wedges - I would recommend to hold off a little bit until you are slightly more familiar with you swing. If your local range has a demo day that would be a fantastic way to try a whole bunch of stuff out in a short time period.

Make sure to check out the daily deal thread that is posted, sometimes there is stuff on there that you can't pass up!

Congrats and welcome to the game of golf.

You definitely swing down aggressively with your arms which is killing your consistency and power. It also has something to do with the hook that you're fighting. The reason that swinging from out to in doesn't result in a slice is because your grip is so strong (left hand turned too far away from the target) that it's impossible for you to open the clubface up enough do anything but hook or pull. Your grip also prevents you from cocking your wrists properly which means less consistency and power.

So like the other people said, fix your grip and setup. That has to be priority #1. Then look at a pro's swing and notice how when the club is halfway back (left arm parallel to the ground) the club is straight up and down. That is a proper wrist cock. Compare that to your swing now and you'll see how big of a difference there is. After that do this fantastic drill to keep you from swinging with your arms. Take a club and turn it around so you're gripping the head end and the grip is pointing to the ground and take some swings. You shouldn't hear a woosh until your hands have passed in front of their address position. If you hear it any sooner, that means you're swinging with your arms and uncocking your wrists too soon which will cost you......CONSISTENCY AND POWER.

One more thing, buy Ben Hogan's Five Lessons and read the shit out of it. I've been playing for 10 years and have read more books and magazines about golf than I can count and this one is perfect. Can't go wrong with it.

Soccer:
The Miracle of Castel Di Sangro

The Way It Was: Stanley Mathhews

Baseball:
Ball Four

Baseball As I Have Known It: Fred Lieb

Golf:
A Good Walk Spoiled

The Greatest Game Ever Played

For instructional, I think Jack Nicklaus' Lesson Tee is one of the best I have ever read. Excellent drawings and descriptions -- he really simplifies the swing. Highly recommend it!

You did say EXTREMELY spicy food!

You can also add this wonderful book which should give him something to do before trying the sauce ;)


I hope I helped and as far as what I'd like you could go with either of these two items :)

Raymond Floyd's Elements of Scoring book is the best strategy book I've personally read.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0684864029/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1464843222&sr=1-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=Raymond+Floyd

I also found Play Strategic Golf by Eric Jones to be quite good. Looking forward to his next books in the series: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B017AK0VK6/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?qid=1464843402&sr=8-2&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=how+to+make+a+yardage+book&dpPl=1&dpID=51MaG8kOHEL&ref=plSrch

If you are genuinely interested this book does a pretty good job explaining it in an entertaining way. Some people are obsessed.

Thank you for your kindness. One of my favorite books is "In Search of Burningbush," about golf in Scotland with a handicapped philosopher/hacker. (Strongly connected to "Golf in the Kingdom.") And my collection "Nice Shot, Mr. Nicklaus" is a light, golf-crazed read for the newly insane.

Edit: Both book links added

https://www.amazon.com/Search-Burningbush-Michael-Konik/dp/B006G876AM

https://www.amazon.com/Nice-Shot-Mr-Nicklaus-Stories/dp/092971203X/ref=sr_1_11?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1482085535&sr=1-11

"The Natural Golf Swing" by George Knudson addresses a lot of these misconceptions.

I think the main thing to take away from that fantastic book is that golf is all about the set up. Just square yourself to your target, relax your hand pressure, and let the club do the work. Don't "get in the way" of your swing. Ignore the ball and focus on letting the centrifugal force of the club pull your shoulders out of their sockets. Don't try and control the club face with your hands and arms, let them stay neutral. The trunk of your body controls the club, and the club shapes your wrists.

Link: http://www.amazon.ca/Natural-Golf-Swing-George-Knudson-ebook/dp/B009Y4JQDA

All of Harvey Penick's books. It's much more mental than technique, but mental is a big part of the game many people ignore. I'm sure he wrote much more than what I linked below, but it would be a good start.

Little Red Book
And If You Play Golf, You're My Friend
The Game for a Lifetime

Golf - A Good Walk & Then Some: A Quintessential History of the Game


lighter read, bunch of short stories
The Ultimate Golf Book: A History and a Celebration of the World's Greatest Game

I have this problem as well OP. I bought a book and took some advice from it. Some of the advice for hitting a driver was to put the ball at your forward shoulder in the stance. It also said to shift your weight to you back foot for using a driver. So far it looks like it is helping with eliminating my push/slice.

Link to the book:

http://www.amazon.com/GOLF-Best-Little-Instruction-Book/dp/1603208542

- Course management

- Taking an extra club (or two) and swinging easier. I've started clubbing up my approach shots and I've been hitting way more greens.

- Not trying to kill my drives. Taking a little off it has produced better consistency even if I've lost ~5y of carry, That's way better than getting those 5y and being in the woods 50% of the time.

- Putting and chipping are huge. Most people can get off the tee pretty well, but you aren't going to score well if you can't get up and down/get approaches close. Most of my bad days are when I'm absolute shit from 100y and in.

- Understand what the ball does when you make contact. I highly recommend picking up The Practice Manual. Even just the first few chapters on ball flight laws can help tremendously.

- Lessons. Practice. Lessons. Practice. Practice. Practice. Rinse. Repeat.

​

edit: added a book recommendation

Well damn.. you are very correct lol!

Grip It and Rip It: John Daly's Guide to Hitting the Ball Farther Than You Ever Have Before

Caddy for Life - about Bruce Edwards and Tom Watson. Excellent.

(Tales from Q School)[http://www.amazon.com/Tales-School-Inside-Golfs-Fifth/dp/B001OI31O4/ref=la_B000AQ72DC_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1346788564&sr=1-13] is also good... depressing sometimes to see how close some guys come only to miss, but still good.

I'd read Caddy for Life first. If you've only got a couple of hours read Who's your Caddy?

Here are a few. Anything by Tom Wishon will be a great resource in understanding clubmaking and fitting.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0913563048?cache=8508466843f89d26ef064226728981a2&pi=SY200_QL40&qid=1405909916&sr=8-1#ref=mp_s_a_1_1

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0961941332?cache=8508466843f89d26ef064226728981a2&pi=SX200_QL40&qid=1405909916&sr=8-3#ref=mp_s_a_1_3

One stroke at a time https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071YSKBSS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_m1pizb15D5Y3J

Great book helped me a ton!

Yeah putting is all mental and these guys just let it get in their heads. Basically ruined a few profilic players latter careers (Hogan & Sam Snead to name a few)

Funny side note I read CB MacDonald's book on vacation last week Scotland's Gift: Golf and the schenectady putter was of hot contention during the early 1900s because it wasn't heel shafted and people thought it was against the spirit of the game. This was because mallet or croquet style putters were already banned. Interesting to see how that's evolved and all the different putter head styles since.

A Breed Apart is a great goaltending history book

No. Don't discuss putting within 5 feet. Don't think about putting within 5 feet. Look at it, walk up to it, tap it in.

Read Bob Rotella's book Putting Out of Your Mind. I don't know if it made me a better putter from 15+ feet, but it sure helped me from 6 feet and in.

in his book Putting Out of Your Mind, Bob Rotella has a cool story about getting Hal Sutton to try this on every putt.

The Practice Manual by Adam Young

http://www.amazon.com/Practice-Manual-Ultimate-Guide-Golfers/dp/1507723172/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1449008700&sr=8-1&keywords=the+practice+manual

Putting out of your mind
http://www.amazon.com/Putting-Out-Your-Mind-Rotella/dp/0743212134

Dude come on, amazon definitely has an ebook version im looking at it now. For a book with this much info, fork over the cash dont be so cheap.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00GEFN8ZY/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1498508286&sr=8-1


Didnt realize the Argentina President has some war against Amazon and Ebay basically making it impossible to buy things from there at a reasonable price. I jumped the gun. Ill see if any other websites offer the book.

I just finished Ben Hogan's Five Fundamentals and Clive Scarff's "Why you suck at golf".

I'm thinking of downloading Darrell Klassen's books now. He's got some videos on youtube also. Haven't determined if he really has a different approach to the golf swing, or he's just a shyster.