[.ca] Newton on the Tee: A Good Walk Through the Science of Golf (ISBN 0743212142)

From Amazon.com:
A lively, accessible discussion of the physics of golf, John Zumerchik's Newton on the Tee is, to players at all levels of ability, at once a beacon of hope and a shoal of despair. It assumes what golfers already know--that it is a damnably difficult game--and proceeds to tell them why. For instance, the allowable angle of lateral error (pushing the ball left or right) of a 160-yard shot "can be measured in the one one-thousandth of a degree range," compared with that of a basketball free throw, which is 1.5 degrees. Zumerchik also explains why dimpled balls (hit equally) will travel two times farther than smooth, nondimpled ones, and casts a cocked eye at the advantage "reading the grain" of greens has long been supposed to bring. He discusses the two schools of thought regarding clubhead acceleration and succinctly explains how and to what degree altitude, latitude, moisture, and air temperature affect ball flight. He includes a chapter on physical conditioning--what might help, what might not, and why--and, dishearteningly, one on the aging process and its attendant decline in playing ability. Newton on the Tee is free of the cant found in most golf books--either instructional or meditative--and dispels many (but not all) claims of equipment makers. This is a delightful and trustworthy book which, if nothing else, will ground golfers' time-honored tradition of excuse making in solid, irreproachable science. --H. O'Billovich