"All swing thoughts decay, like radium," golfing enthusiast John Updike once wrote. The number of instructional books for the game is legion, but sports performance researcher Mark Smith has come up with what he thinks is a new approach. "Without a doubt," he writes in Golf Science, "your potential to [play better] can be boosted by your knowledge of the science at play."
First of all, no book, video or instructor will automatically make you play better. Only good fundamentals and practice can do that. However, Golf Science definitely has good advice woven into its question-and-answer structure. Every chapter asks a question--on topics ranging from the mind and body to the equipment, from the technology to the practice process--and answers it in two pages of text, photos and graphs.
The physics of the longer driver, we learn, explain why it's always better to play with a shorter one. Balls do fly longer in humid and warmer climates, and a brief, exercise warm-up before playing is definitely a plus. Aides and mechanical devices won't enhance your performance; tight pelvis rotation, good shoulder turn and weight shift are crucial to a good, consistent golf swing. Short shots are best hit using clubs with very little bounce (think a sharp, leading edge).
Some of the topics Smith covers are common sense and rather simplistic, but there's plenty good thoughts here to learn from, and then watch decay. --Tom Lavoie, former publisher