Customer Reviews

Butch Harmons Playing Lessons

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I am an avid golfer and have read many books and magazines on the game of golf. None of the others compare to Butch Harmon's Playing Lessons. This book makes you excited about playing golf. Butch Harmon divides it into three levels of advice. One for the A player, one for the B player, and one for the C player. His drills and explanations make this book easy to relate to your game. The pictures in the book to complement his explanations are easy to recognize and utilize. Anyone serious about the game of golf should read this book.

When I first started golfing I didn't realize how important course management was. I was really just interested in hitting the ball far and straight. And to be honest, that is what a beginner should concentrate on. But after hitting that first plateau, this book was really a breakthrough. Not only does it teach you how to manage a course to lower your score, it adds a very intriguing dynamic to the game itself. It is much like watching a football game without knowing the rules and strategies - laborious and dull. But once you know the rules and the intricate strategies developed to acheive your best score, you are infinitely more pleased with what you see.

Though I love that we get a guided tour of America's most storied golf holes, the fact that Harmon read my mind half of the time is what impressed me most. He lays out three separate strategies for three different levels of players. It is astonishing how he contrasts the different thought patterns of the lower v. higher handicappers. There are times where he makes high handicappers feel like idiots, but if you want to get better, hearing the truth about your game is the best way. I recommend this book very highly for all those tired of "reading" golf books with nothing but pictures and tips in them. While Butch does give a few tips, it is his golf mentality that is so fresh. And while the book is graphically impeccable, it isn't overcrowded with a bunch of confusing graphics and diagrams. Not your run-of-the-mill golf instruction book.

There's no denying that the book is put together well. Butch Harmon takes us on a journey through 18 of golf's greatest holes: Pebble Beach, Shinnecock, and the Olympic Club are three of the club's featured in the book. Butch analyzes how an A, B, and C player should go about playing the hole. If you're a serious golfer, I think you'll have no trouble figuring out which category you belong in.

Anyway, the book is about playing all 18 holes to the best of your current ability, which I think is a great message. For the A Player, he might have the chance to go for the green in 2 on a big par 5. The C player may have to play the hole in three shots, analyzing where each shot should be placed. There are tips, drills, and great thoughts every step of the way to help you find your way, and despite what many think about him, he knows the game very well, and I trust what he has to say.

The only caveat to this book that I can think of is in the mental arena. I don't think there's anything wrong with playing a hole a certain way if you can only drive the ball 220. Quite frankly, you have to. But at what point does labeling yourself a C golfer become detrimental to your game? If you're a C golfer, you should be practicing your short game. Course management can only save you so many shots at the end of the day.

A lot of getting better at scoring is believing that you are:
A.a good player
B.Good enough to shoot lower than you ever have before

In other words, if you get into the habit of calling yourself a C player, or even a B player for that matter, and you always play with B players, and you look forward to playing in the B flight at your club because the competition is easier, you may not improve as quickly.

I can tell you from first-hand experience that although "A players" tend to have bigger personalities than other players, playing with people better than you is the quickest way to improve.

So to relay this all back to the book, I would recommend it if that sort of book sounds interesting, but as soon as you can, start calling yourself an A player and don't look back.

Very disappointed. Didn't care for the format nor the way the book's core was telling how three different random players (A,B,C) would play a particular hole on a particular course.

The primary difficulty with talking about course management is the fact that course management, i.e. club selection, means different things to different players. Butch Harmon gets around this problem by addressing three audiences: the 7 handicapper, the 12 handicapper, and the 20 handicapper. I chose to read only the parts of the book geared towards the 12-handicapper. So, the book was a quick, interesting and very helpful read.

My belief is that once you are a 12-handicapper, you don't need to read anymore books on "swing fundamentals." It's time now to concentrate on course management. For Harmon, course management for the 12-handicapper comes down to three main things: club selection, target selection, and swing rhythm. So, using real holes at real golf courses as examples, Harmon gets into the mind of the B player, to instruct him what he should be thinking as he gets ready for a shot. Should Player B use driver or 3-wood off the tee? Should she aim for the right, left, or front side of the green on the approach? Should she lay up?, etc. These are standard questions, but Harmon demonstrates why he comes up with the answers he does, to persuade Player B why one choice is smarter than the other. Finally, Harmon links club selection to the idea of swing rhythm. He discusses why someone will have a tendency to overhit the 3-wood off the tee. Although the 3-wood is the "smart" choice, in some cases, driver might be the smart choice, if the player thinks she needs to put more strength into the three wood for the extra carry, thus overhitting and pulling the ball.

The only complaint about the book is the fact that it is a little dated and doesn't account for how players are now stocking their bags. Course management ideas have changed, because players are now adding a wedge, and replacing their fairway woods and long irons with hybrids. So, today's reader needs to make a little calculation when Harmon recommends the 5-wood, but the player doesn't have one of those in her bag anymore.

Harmon takes eighteen of golf's best holes and then proceeds to play them from the reference point of the mind of three levels of player --- A shot a 76, B a 84 and C a 89. He replays their shots and gives suggestions on what they might have did differently.

Only way likely most of us will play these holes. Excellent advice given by one of the best. This with Watson's "Strategic Golf" are the two best in this neglected category.

Course management is often overlooked by amateurs, so this book could bring this to light. However, I would much rather have had Butch walk with real players, asking them how they would play the shot, then him suggesting to them how they SHOULD play the shot.

I don't think the scores his imaginary players shot are very realistic either. As someone who can relate to the "A" player, even 8 handicaps can hit some VERY bad shots. Their 8 handicap is usually a display of ability to recover from bad shots, and a better shortgame than the average player. But for an 8 to shoot a 76 on the hall of fame course that he designed is pretty far fetched. That's only +4, and probably about 5 shots better than the player's handicap. For the player to do that, the odds are VERY low (see USGA website for info on odds for a player to shoot a certain score).

That said, I do think his decision making is something everybody needs to learn. I DO think he loose credibility when he suggests to one player to plumb bob to get the line of a putt, though! I can't believe Harmon actually believes in plumb-bobbing!

the most useless piece of junk i have ever wasted my money on!