The best books on golf (with a nod given to the mental game)

The Winning Touch in Golf was the first sport psychology book that addressed golf. It was certainly the first such book that I read and it influenced the rest of my life. Indeed, I became a golf psychologist.

The book was written by a psychologist whom I found credible, not only because he had his Ph.D., but because he was also a member of Augusta National, the home of the fabled Masters Tournament. To me, that meant that he was not only a psychologist, but also a serious golfer.

I found the 53 brief “secrets” about the mental game, each “secret” consisting of only 3 or so pages with some graphics, were indeed brief and very easy to read. I was happy to find no psychological mumbo-jumbo, just interesting topics, astute observations, and practical suggestions for many common psychological situations in golf. Indeed, I modeled my own book on these same criteria some 50 years later.

Lastly, I liked that the book was published by a major publisher at the time (Prentice Hall) and had a forward by a major PGA player (Dr. Cary Middlecoff). Clearly, the book was highly regarded back then, and is still a classic today.

The reason I like this book is the same reason I like any other book on golf — it is simple, basic, understandable — no psychobabble and no crazy swing gymnastics. I mean you and I, average golfers, can understand this and immediately put Harvey’s thinking and suggestions to use.

An example: Harvey admonishes the player to “Take Dead Aim.” Sounds simple enough, but a lot of players don’t do it. They look at the pin, set up, and think they are aiming at it, but in reality, they are aiming at all kinds of strange places other than at the pin.

Jack Nicklaus concurs with Harvey when he says that our alignment (i.e., aiming at the pin) is 50 percent of the battle in hitting a good shot. I would add that if you are aimed wrong, you have to swing wrong to get the ball where it is supposed to go. And good luck with that!

When it comes to simplicity, I like that old pro Ernest Jones exemplifies one of the simplest and hard-to-argue-with swing keys you can employ: Simply feel and swing the clubhead! Now, of course, that is simple to say, and if it is enough for you, forget the book and just go out and do it. But, if you find it needs a little more explanation, read Jones’ book and see how he explains it.

What I found most intriguing about the book is Jones himself. As I remember it, he was a successful pro, went off to war, lost a leg, and came back and learned to swing the only way he could — on one leg. By balancing on one foot, he learned the importance of “swinging the clubhead,” as opposed to “hitting at the ball.” That is, the only way he could maintain his balance was to “swing the clubhead” with timing and rhythm, and he learned to do this to the tune of 250-yard drives.

Now, I thought that if swinging the clubhead works on one leg, how much better might it do with two legs. So whether you have one or two legs, or even want to swing with your legs together (a good practice technique, by the way), give Jones’ method a try, and it might change your approach to the game forever.