Books every golf hacker must possess

If you sit through business meetings contemplating your golf grip (or tweaking your posture at address), you will find the authors of these books to be long-lost soul mates.

For golfers who require a fuller understanding of the various intricacies in golf, these books are indispensable.

These authors (all professional golfing legends in their own right) – have also been ‘hackers’ in the truest sense of the word. They ‘hacked’ their way to a thorough understanding of the minutiae of the game – and went on to dominate the sport in their own right.

1. Confused about which part of the body starts moving first on the backswing ? (The feet push off the ground (Bobby Jones on Golf) – even though no golf instructor today will enlighten you on this fine point.
2. Unsure about how much tension your arms should possess – both at setup and at the top of the swing? (Start off with a lighter tension and let the arms get ‘taut’ on the backswing. Taut is a different feeling from firm or stiff.
3. Ever thought about why you hit it so well on the range – but not on the course? ‘On Learning Golf’ will answer this question definitively (basically, on the range, your FOCUS is away from hitting a target or making par – you simply focus on making a good swing. Try taking THAT to the golf course!)
4. Why must the golf club travel on an inside out path ? (Percy Boomer explains – you must throw your arms/club out towards right field – for the clubface to square up. Throwing it right-field means coming in from the inside out). And J Douglas Edgar (The Gate to Golf) provides you with the simplest device to work on this ‘inside out’ path.  You can use TWO Tees instead of the metal gate that he proposes.

These golfers have dissected, analyzed, re-analyzed the golf swing – from the ground up. Having devoted their entire lives to the study of the golf swing, they have summarized their key discoveries in these little gems.

More importantly, the soundness of their techniques – cannot be contested. They belong to that elite club of major tournament winners  (Bobby Jones is still the ONLY player in the history of golf  –  to win the calendar year grand slam in golf).

Golf Magazine – Private Lessons	This book is like having all the best PGA instructors in the world, giving you one-on-one training. The tips listed here are hard to find (online or anywhere), because, as the title suggests, they are PRIVATE lessons. You are bound to have tons of fun experimenting with the simple-to-execute tips in this book.
	Having trouble with your backswing? Andrew Mullin tells you how to play without one. Wedge shots your nemesis? Check out Dave Pelz’s 3×4 System. Three-footers driving you crazy? Try Paul Trevillion’s perfect putting method. Every aspect of the game is covered—there’s even a chapter on hypnosis.
Bobby Jones on Golf	“A golf swing is graceful, not because it is made so, but because it is correct.”. By the best amateur golfer ever to play the game, this is essential instructional reading for the millions who have taken up golf during the 20 years this marvelous, timeless book has been out of print and unavailable.
	This book will allow you to get the right conceptions for producing a good golf swing. And as Percy says, it is the swing rather than hitting the ball that is the thing. It is not a technical book but he does make technical points in it. Its key virtue is that it gets rid of several common misconceptions about how to swing a golf club.
The Gate to Golf The Gate to Golf – J. Douglas Edgar	We all take for granted that the clubhead has to travel from the inside out. However, until Douglas Edgar explained this theory, there wasn’t any real consensus on it. He went a step further and invented a simple device for accomplishing this feat. You do not need to purchase the device – simply using two tees on the golf range will replicate his ‘gate’. The book is fascinating – and if you can indeed train your mind to swing through the gate – you will have no other swing thoughts to worry about. Works well for the short game as well as the long game.
	How to Perfect Your Golf Swing: Using Connection and the Seven Common Denominators

Some Great Golf Fiction Reads

Summary

If you spend an inordinate amount of time contemplating the golf swing, fear not – you belong to an elite group of golfers. If you know of a book or two that belongs in this list, please comment on this post.