Understanding the Golf Swing

I've golfed for 14 years and have maintained a 15-18 handicap. Like most golfers I continuously modify in an effort to make improvements. I've done this based on several popular books written by Mclean, Trevino, Palmer and Nicklaus. This book has given me the most insight in the simplest manner that I have ever had. After one month of just practicing part one and two of this book I have lowered my handicap to single digits. It teaches feel and thoughts over holding or attaining certain positions. It is more two plane based versus one plane but it really won't matter once you understand the concepts. You'll find your own plane. If you love golf and are just frustrated with different instructors or that next great tip this is the book for you.

The book was pretty well written. I wanted to read about this method so I could have it readily available to re-read whenever I wanted. To learn this method, I read this book and watched some YouTube videos by the author. Ultimately, I have begun to play with this method and have had some nice rounds. The method simplifies golf! I have been golfing for over 50 years. I'm an 8 handicap player but I have had to learn how to recover well to get there. This method shows how to swing the club well and consistently towards the target. I had to "unlearn" some detrimental moves and replace them with simpler and natural ones. It's definitely been worth the effort. My overall game is improving and it sure has been fun to actually fly the ball consistently right at my target.

I have a large golf library at home of about 50 golf instruction books. Some are excellent classics and "Understanding the Golf Swing" by Manuel de la Torre may, in the future, become another classic among golf teachers and golf enthusiasts. Some golf books are too simple and with few pages for such a complicated game, but this book has a lot of detail by a very accomplished golf teacher. If you want to learn how to play well, I believe this is the book for you whether you are a high handicapper or someone with a low handicap.

This book is perfect for an amateur who wants to learn the game or improve and transform their game. Golf instruction today, because of how the pros are taught, has become more complicated for the amateur who is trying to learn on their own or can't afford a lot of lessons. Modern instruction has broken a simple golf swing into multiple positions requiring intense instruction and a huge amount of practice to learn and maintain. Manuel De La Torre teaches a basic method that is easy to learn and easy to perform. If you stick with it you will play better golf. You may not hit the ball 300 yards or spin the ball back 10 feet but you'll enjoy your golf more. I have gone from a 20 handicap to a 10.

I consider myself a student of golf, someone that studies the golf swing. I have over 60 golf books and countless DVD's and tapes. I don't necessarily read all this to change my swing but I enjoy reading about the golf swing. I can tell you there are many ways to swing the golf club. The more I know the more I realize how confusing it is and why people have so much problems with the swing. What I have learned through all this is that there are some swings more suited to one person and not to another. I spent 10 months of hard work trying to learn a flatter one plane swing. Even though I shot 78 with that swing I know it just wasn't suited to me. I am a more upright swinger, a two planer as Jim Hardy would call it. It feels more natural for me.It was really by accident that I got a hold of Manuel De La Torre's book. It caught my attention since he is basically a two planer, a more upright swinger. When I first read through the book skimming as I was going along I completely missed on how to swing the club. I had to go back again and look through the chapter index to find where it was. The whole section on the mechanics of the swing is very short, so short you might miss it like I did. Having been use to reading detailed descriptions on how to swing a golf club I was rather struck by how little he had to say. My first feeling was this book was a waste of my time. He spends, it seems, more time on grip than he does on how to swing the clubSo I went back and read that little section on swinging the club. Made some practice swings and within a very short time felt for the first time what I felt was the way a golf swing should feel like. It was too simple. The genius behind this swing is just that. It is so simple that for most people the simplicity will be very difficult to deal with. They will try and throw all kinds of previous ideas or make their body work differently because the swing really can't be that simple. The remarkable thing about how he gets you to swing is the swing adapts to you, you don't adapt to the swing. So every person will have a different swing but that swing is his or her swing and that is why it is so magical.I probably spent about 15 minutes practicing the swing in my living room and then read his entire book with out skiming this time. It is a simple read and goes by pretty quickly since he doesn't have a lot of detail you have to memorize. I went out to the golf range the next day but really not expecting a great deal. I often read a book and practice the swing in front of a mirror but find when you go and actually try and hit a ball it doesn't always translate like it should. My expectations were somewhat low but I made my first swing. It was a pull not bad but it was solid. My next one was also a pull then I remembered that section of faults but really it was just adhering to what little rules he had. My next shot was dead straight. I went from a 7 iron hitting all the way up to a driver. I was impressed, not by the way I was hitting but because it happened so fast. I felt confidence within a very short period and the swing felt like it was mine. My last swing change took 10 months of dedicated work and this one took one day most of it just reading the book.Now I know some and maybe quite a few are going to try this and feel it is worthless. After reading 60 books and having over a dozen golf instructors in my golfing career I can only tell you this is the simplest and easiest swing I have ever tried. It may be difficult to get that feel. I found it almost instantly but once you feel that swing you won't need another book or another golf instructor again.

A friend recommended this book. His handicap went from 10 to 5 in 4 weeks. The last time we played he shot 71!!!Focus on the swing and not the results makes perfect sense. I’m going to re read a few sections. I think this way of thinking will help. Recommended.

The best golf book about the swing, bar none! I've read a lot of golf books. Several about the swing itself; and this one is the best. Even the great Moe Norman claims the writer of this book Manuel De La Torre is the best teacher and taught him all he needed to know about his swing.

I'm now 70 and have been playing golf for 55 years. As a teenager I had a 4 handicap. Now it's 17 and I thought of giving it up. But I came across this book and ordered it. After 45 minutes of practice, I'm able to hit the ball good again. Wish I knew I had known about it earlier. This is how golf should be taught.

I had high expectations of this book having been an advocate of Ernest Jones swing principles.I really wanted to love it but had a sense of anti climax on completing the book for the first time. However on my 2nd and 3rd reading things really begin to make sense.There is a lot of filler in here. The core message of the book could have been comfortably condensed into a volume 25% of this size but the message still comes through strongly.I have been stuck on a 12 handicap for 3 years and have tried all sorts of swing methodologies to get down to single figures, in vain I might add.I now firmly believe that the approach advocated by De La Torre and Ernest Jones is the way forward, trusting and believing in your natural talent and swing and allowing it to flourish with NO manipulation of your body or the golf club and few/no swing thoughts other than how smoothly and balanced can I make this swing.On days when your timing is on its fantastic, when your timing is a little off your still in play and if you can bag a few 6 to 10 footers you can still shoot your handicap.I must say I have just started to 'teach' my daughter to play golf and it is clear there is no better methodology to employ when teaching begineers and juniors than the one advocated in this book.All in all, a good book for the collection but maybe not even neccessary if you search the internet for 'Ernest Jones' you will find a downloadable copy of 'swing the clubhead' which should be all you need.

a very well written book you have to read it more than once to understand what he is saying but his system works would highly recommend

Uncomplicate your golf swing by ditching all those over mechanical theories and analysis with this sensible and natural approach to the problemof hitting small ball with stick.play with a smile on your face again!

with modern equipment 'swing the handle' is the better option.

Starts off well, but delves into unnecessary detail regarding errant shots, encouraging analysis from the reader which may well be beyond them.