In case you didn’t know it, playing golf successfully is a complex orchestration, a choreography of interacting muscles, nerves, and intent. Golfers, who already know this, spend hours and sometimes lifetimes in the effort to master the body moves and techniques that go into a gratifying and winning game.
Author Curtis Elliott’s Breakthrough in Golf: Build A Winning Swing with the Hip to Hip Method, brings much needed simplicity and clarification to the task of learning this sport. Elliott’s trademarked Hip to Hip method reflects personal study and experience with tried-and-true methods culled from videos and personal observation. Elliott, in this discursive and avuncular guide, puts the reader in the golf cart, right up there with some of the pros: Jack Nicklaus, Sam Snead, Tiger Woods, Bob Jones, and Ben Hogan. Elliott’s gift – aside from clear and direct writing, and the intelligent use of illustrations – is his ability to take the best and leave the rest.
The book rolls out with a typical day in the life of a golfer. The observations, the canny asides, are easy to relate to; readers will easily identify with these. The writing has pizzazz and humor; Elliott is handy with humorous analogies, such as his description of a ‘Unified Swing Theory.’ The illustrations of golfers, with vectors (arrow diagrams) showing the do’s and don’ts of swinging and putting, provide excellent complements to the text.
In theory, golf involves the use of three sets of muscles: the hips; the shoulders; and the arms, wrists, and hands. In practice, masterful use of the hips supersedes and sometimes contravenes all other considerations. Obstacles to golf swing improvement include lack of muscle flexibility, and – believe it or not – the plethora of instructional material now available. Students of the game can be overwhelmed by various swing tips and fads as well as by the overuse of hands and arms in an ‘over determined’ swing.
Elliott’s study of the masters confirms his thesis: correct use of the hips is the key to a correct swing. The book also provides a thoughtful review of posture, alignment and human anatomy to drive home these points.
The author is a terrific teacher and writer. His enthusiasm and love for the game shines through on every page. The author describes with great affection how he initiated his son into the mysteries of the sport. To cement theory with practice, the book also offers Hip-to-Hip drills and exercises, as well as putting fundamentals. Elliott closes with a chapter ‘For Tournament Golfers Only’, which some of his readers will undoubtedly become.
If you’re a newbie, or an old hand looking to improve and tweak the learning curve, Breakthrough in Golf keeps it green. This is a solid book with a great deal to recommend it.
