Extraordinary Putting: Transforming the Whole Game

This is likely the best book I have read about the sport of Golf so far. A great book, that is well worth the money (and time reading it more than once). The excercises in the book are great and easy to follow with amazing effects.

I've only been playing for eight months, so this is a beginner's perspective... I read this book five months ago, and did a few of the exercises one day while reading it. Looking back, I believe that it helped me to discover that I can relax and trust my bodymind to handle the stroke mechanics. I putt pretty well for my experience level, and it amazes me how little I contribute consciously, once I've looked at the line. The exercises are exploratory -- rather than instructing the reader on how to putt, they set up an experience where one discovers how to putt. If you lack confidence in your putting, I'd suggest giving these ideas a try.

Putting is supposed to be a game within a game. It is said to be so different from the rest of golf that it could be eliminated entirely, and some people do in fact play rounds where they pick up once on the green, counting only the strokes it took them to get there. The flat stick seems a sick addition to the game in the face of 300 yard drives. The introduction to the book reveals a most shocking line of thought: that putting is the key to not just the whole game, but to everything. While you may not be willing to go that far, so many of the exercises and observations Shoemaker writes of bring out so much of the physchological, and perhaps spiritual side of the game that the idea of it being the key to everything might not be so far fetched. The approach Shoemaker advocates not only for putting but for the whole game are probably different from what most are familiar with. First is inner observation, which is probably not so foriegn to traditional instruction. What thoughts go through your mind as you putt? What do you wish you were thinking as you putt? Etc.. The second part is puttting pure, unadulterated enjoyment into the act of putting, and presumedly into the whole game. Is the act of putting an enjoyable one? Is the motion itself one you like, or is it a burden? Why not go with the action you enjoy most, rather than being burdened with making sure you go through positions A to R? While Shoemaker makes a point of not guaranteeing improvement in scores, he does note that better scores actually more frequently come from greater enjoyment of the act of golfing, rather than the cycle most percieve of better scores being the only way to more enjoyment. Whether you buy this or not is up to you. However, if you find yourself not enjoying the game anymore, Shoemaker may have the hints to bringing that enjoyment back.

Extraordinary - I have been putting looking at the hole, first in practice then while playing. I had been averaging 34-36 putts per round; I had 31 putts looking at the hole (rather than the ball) during my last round and recently shot a 75 with 32 putts on a difficult course - "transforming my whole game". My 10 handicap is dropping quickly and I am enjoying the game like never before. Extraordinary Putting is a must read for the avid golfer tired of waiting for the next tip.

The bad part about putting is that the instant you hit the ball you know you've screwed up, you don't even get the few seconds of watching the ball fly through the air before knowing that it's just not going to go into the cup. As the sub-title of this book says, good putting can transform the whole game. Fred Shoemaker has been teaching golf for more than thirty years. His technique stresses experience. But beyond experience he teaches how to get the most value out of experience. His technique is to offer you a series of exercises that will enhance and extend what you get out of experience. This way you learn more in a semi-self-taught manner. And perhaps this is really the only way to really learn something. This is not a book of hints and tips. The author says that these really don't work. In fact it is difficult to understand just how to apply most tips. Instead he says 'try this, see what happens.' Most of what he says is related to the mental attitude with which you approach golf. He is trying to give you the understanding, the attitude to understand what you are doing when you approach the ball. Over the years an awful lot of people have found his help invaluable. It certainly can't hurt for you to try it.