[.ca] Five Lessons: Modern Fundamentals of Golf (ISBN 0671612972)

From Amazon.com:
Ben Hogan's premise in this 1957 classic is driven home in bold letters: "THE AVERAGE GOLFER IS ENTIRELY CAPABLE OF BUILDING A REPEATING SWING AND BREAKING 80." Religions are founded on less, and Hogan's detailed analyses and illustrated demonstrations of grip, stance, posture, and the two basic components of the swing make up a sacred book. Though its very simplicity seems dated, this is the tome of technique that should serve as the foundation of every golf library.

What you need at any point in development:
Probably the biggest barrier to people developing beyond a certain point in their game is not having a clear vision of what it is they should be doing through the whole swing. Instruction and video analysis gets you pointers on what you are doing wrong and what you are doing very well, but rarely what you are doing just right or just wrong. You then get thrown onto the practice tee or on the course and the thing you have in mind is how to correct one or two faults, while losing sight of your whole swing. The classic Five Lessons gives you Hogan's breakdown of the full swing, from grip through to the follow-through, and gives clear, simple pictures of what everything should look like at each stage. There is nothing technical about the explinations. They are all easy to understand, and each minor as well as major point is matched with illustrations to show how Hogan would have done it. This is probably be one of the best intro to golf books a person could buy, but is also good for intermediate and even advanced players. Short and to the point, a re-read on a regular basis should help set anyone's mind on what their golf swing should look and feel like. One note, however. This is only about the mechanics and execution of the full swing. Nothing here about putting, course management, or anything but the swing. More complete books are to be had, but none put the swing into a clearer light.

Great book - If you've got a Hook:
This classic is an exceptional, readable, and all-encompassing study of the golf swing. I learned much about my swing studying this book. The only problem I encountered was none of the information was very relavant to me or the vast majority of golfers who suffer from a slice. Ben Hogan had a strong hook and much of this book includes his corrections to overcome this deficit and straighten out his swing. However, for the slicer, these corrections do the opposite - my slice was worse than ever after following Hogan's advice and I couldn't correct it. An excellent book, for starters or as a follow-on to Hogan's "Five Lessons", is Leadbetter's "The Fundamentals of Hogan". Leadbetter reviews the Hogan swing, then tells why it doesn't work for most (Hogan was double-jointed, Hogan was correcting his hook, etc.) and what you should really do. After Leadbetter, I did straighten out my swing. Both books break the swing down into 5 parts: Grip, Stance, Backswing, Downswing, Summary. While Hogan's book was groundbreaking and certainly deserves a read, if you want to learn a basic swing, Leadbetter's is far more encompassing and just as readable.

Worth every penny!:
This is a must have for all golfers!

Instant Game Improvement:
Not to be too overly gushy but this book revolutionized my golf game. I have shot in the 100+ range my entire life (35) and after reading this book a few times and practicing the techniques at the range I instantly started to shoot in the 90's. His instruction is simple to understand and the pictures are a great help to visualize the actions. I know refer back to this book at least once a month if my swing starts to get out of whack. It is the best $10.00 you will ever spend on your game.

These people sound like golf infomercials.:
There's only so much you can learn from a book. Ben Hogan basically invented the modern golf swing but I think lessons would be more helpful. Save your money and go play a round or two, its the best way to improve.