[Augster]

This is going to get a little wordy, so I will draw my conclusion here at the top in case you don't want to read any further, and I don't blame you.

Get the book and devote your entire golf game to it. This book, along with Hogan's 5 Lessons, will change your entire life. Though you don't "need" to read 5 Lessons. Just this book will suffice.

Now my review.

I had never heard of George Knudson. I was out with a friend of mine (a 2 handicap) whose dad (a plus handicap) teaches informally, and taught him. He tells me finally, after my 7 years of playing with him, to read the Knudson book. That is ALL his dad teaches. And it's the way he plays golf. "75%. 100%. It's that easy." was what he said.

I picked up and read the book the next day. Like 5 Lessons, it is a QUICK read. 157 pages.

Knudson caddied early in his career and watched Hogan. Studied Hogan and other greats. Then finally everything clicked for him and he played some great golf. Then he took up teaching and wrote the book shortly before he died of cancer.

It goes like this.

First off, golf is a target-based game. Not a hitting game. Pick your target and make your swing through the ball. The ball gets in the way. Think only of the target. Unlike baseball or tennis, in golf the ball is stationary. Just like bowling or throwing a baseball. You never think of the ball, just your targets, because the ball is stationary in your hand. Golf gets confusing because we don't actually get to hold the ball, but do have to strike it in some way.

That said, he breaks the swing down into 3 phases. Setup phase, the Loading phase (backswing), and the Unloading Phase (downswing to finish).

In every phase of the swing, you need balance. Your arms just hang and hold onto the club. If you have a perfect setup each time, you use the laws of inertia, momentum, and balance to carry the club on the same arc each and every time. Your arms do nothing conscious. Your hands do nothing conscious.

All you do is let your arms hang. Then you load 75% of your weight to the right side. Then you just shift your weight to the left side, all in balance, to a balanced follow through. If all this is done in balance, the club has to follow the laws of physics and take the same arc each time. If your setup is correct, the club will strike the ball the same way each time. Very, very simple.

If you need more distance, you just shift your weight quicker. As long as you stay in balance.

I was first introduced to this idea of giving up control of the club in the book "Swing Machine Golf". I had never even heard of this idea, and I had taken at least 20 lessons. So I did that, and shot 72 the next day. But I just couldn't stay with it. Giving up control like that is tough to do.

Later in my career I read Hogan's 5 Lessons. There it is again. Hogan only mentions it a little in his book, but it's there. Let the arms come along for the "free ride" (page 93). So I went back to it, and played much better. Got my handicap down to a 3 by midsummer, but it crept up in the fall as I get more and more "ball-bound".

A LARGE part of the book all Knudson talks about is giving up control. His saying is, "You need to give up control to gain control." The laws of physics are there to be used. This is what the top players do. He takes Hogan's mentioning of the "free ride" to the next level.

Knudson's philosophy is genius. Pick a target. Make a good setup. Move 75% of your weight to your right foot, in balance. Then move 100% of your weight to your left foot, in balance. That's it. The ball gets in the way. The arms swing naturally and have to take the same arc each time if you stay in balance.

If you want to get better give this book a read. Or two readings. Or three. Then hit the range. More or less just to find your correct setup position. Then find your targets and fire.

Giving up control is the hardest part. Balance is the second hardest.

"You need to give up control to gain control."