Customer Reviews

The Golfing Machine

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Words cannot express what this book has done for golf. Kelley's work is masterpiece. Golf instruction tends to be theory and opinion. There is absolutely no theory or opinion in the book. It is completely fact, it will remain that way as long as the basic laws of physics and geometry hold true. Just as there are thousands of philosophies and religons but only one science, there is also thousands of different golf books but only one Golfing Machine. It is not an easy read but that is because so much information is reduced to a 200 page handbook. It is basically golf swing engineering. All golf strokes have been divided into 24 components, three zones, 12 sections and three functions. Unfortunatly, just as the only people who can truly appreciate Einstein are those who have studied relativity, the only people who can appreciate the genious of Homer Kelley are the ones who have unlocked the information held within this book. Needless to say, I highly recommend it.

Generally, before buying a book these days, I look carefully at the one star reviews. These are unlikely to be written by the author or his publisher, and most of the people who genuinely hate a book have some respectable reason (assuming the book is not about politics). For those similarly inclined, I feel an urge to temper the vitriol of the one star reviewers of Mr. Kelley. Yes, it would have been nice if Homer had written the book in English (or at least had it translated), but I suspect that had he done so the book might have been too expensive to self publish and might have been too heavy to lift as well.

All the information a golfer needs to build a perfect swing (indeed a variety of perfect swings) is imbedded this book. Also imbedded in the book is all the information a golfer needs to protect himself from the army of charlatans coming out of the woodwork day by day to offer him the secret to golf for only three easy payments of twenty-nine ninety-five. The problem with The Golfing Machine is that NOBODY can sit down and read it. I have been a golfer for over fifty years and once played well enough to compete both in college and in the championship flight of club events. I will also match reading credentials, as I have been reading what seems like two hundred books a year for the past thirty years and enjoy a law degree from Harvard too. Nearly twenty years ago I stopped practicing law and began studying golf. I have been dipping into the Golfing Machine for nearly that long and believe I very nearly understand it. I have yet to find anything in the book which is wrong, but a great deal of it does seems unnecessary.

The problem with Homer Kelley's writing is that the sentences do not make sense and the paragraphs are often worse. On top of everything else, the book is divided into numbered sections and subsections and at the end of nearly every sentence there is a cross reference to five other places in the text which make no more sense than the sentence and paragraph you have just finished. Reading this book is like reading the Internal Revenue Code, or being the AFLAC duck in a conversation with Yogi Berra, or listening a Who's on First routine that continues for twenty years, except that you do not get the occasional laugh. I should add, however, that a William Gass or Thomas Pynchon novel is far worse than this, so golfers should count their blessings that Kelley was not a post modern academic.

Somehow, a would be reader must ignore all that and try to glean the essence of the author's Ideas, which if they are not exactly clear are occasionally startling and, in so far as I can tell, fundamentally correct. Now, is the book worth the current out of print price tag? I would certainly buy it in preference to another sloppy journalistic rehash published under the name of the latest tour star or television guru, most of whom have no more real idea of the geometry and biomechanics of golf than a squirrel understands mathematics, Newtonian physics or anatomy, although a squirrel can run and jump a good deal better than Isaac Newton ever did.

This book describes how (and why) every aspect of the golf swing works. Admittedly, the book is not easy reading, but the content holds what is probably the most accurate information on the golf swing available. The readers of this book can be confident that what they are reading/learning is correct, and not just based on someones opinion, but rather, years of research into the physics/geometry behind the golf swing. There are other books that have taken this "scientific" approach to teaching the golf swing, but for me, this is the only book of it's kind. I'm not going to name-drop, but I know of two PGA players (one of whom has won a major) who, at one point, would carry this book around like a bible. Definitely a book worth reading if you are a true golf-nut.

Homer Kelley should be commended for compiling a very informational book on the golf swing. He has, however, presented his theory from an engineering point of view that may cause some readers to recoil. There is a lot of cross-references that tie all of his ideas together but it takes a fair amount of time to really understand the entire book. The book is not just about building a golf swing, it helps you understand how you can manipulate your body to perform just about any swing you like, as long as it follows certain scientific tenets. The serious student of the game should not be without this book in his library, as it is a valuable reference source, but I feel that more people would be benefitted had Mr. Kelley presented his ideas in a more understandable manner.

As an Authorized Instructor of "The Golfing Machine" my opinions are slightly baised. However, until I read and learned the book I was going nowhere as a golf professional. My teaching "method" was based on whatever came out in the latest edition of Golf Digest. This is not a book of how but one of why. Mr Kelley spent 40 years of his life researching the golf swing and found things that the majority of teaching professionals have not found until recently using high tech gadgets. Mr Kelley did this with no video cameras, biomechanic aparatus, etc. He used just plain geometry, and physics. The most important part of the book deals with how to read and study it. Mr Kelley tells the reader exactly how to do this on roman numerial page X. I have yet to meet anyone that followed his instructions! So if you buy this book make sure that you do.

THE source for all of the great minds in golf instruction. Homer Kelley details the 24 things in a golf stroke that have to be done but can be done differently. He calls these components. These components by definition have variations and he explains the most likely ones to be used and which ones are and are not compatable.. Chapter 2 is a look at what is really going on in all golf swings. Through this look at the swing, the author boils the swing down to only three imperatives to play great golf.If you want to know more about golf than your instructor, this is a must read

Homer Kelley is the man when it comes to analyzing the golf swing. The people who have stated that this is a "why" book and not a "how" book are completely wrong. Have any of you bothered to read Chapter 10? In that chapter, Mr. Kelley describes how to put these theories and/or facts to use. Sure, this is a technical book, but if you're interested in improving your golf game this is the book for you. I am convinced that this is the way to swing a golf club. Top players using this technique include David Duval and Hal Sutton. There are others, I'm just not going to give them away. Sure, there are other good players using different techniques ("clubhead throwaway" is what Mr. Kelley calls these wrong techniques), but they are always swinging with the fear of hooking or slicing it. Mr. Kelley describes what muscles generate power and what muscles square the clubface. Generating power and squaring the clubface are the two most important things you need to know to play consistent golf. Mr. Kelley has it down perfectly. If you do nothing else today, at least buy this book!

This book is flat-out amazing. Tough read- yes. But click on the little picture of TGM (the yellow book) on the top of this page- this allows you to look into the book...read under the title "Simplicity". That's some of Homer's philosophy on how to approach this game...there is more in the real book.

This is the absolute most complete golf book EVER. Golf is mostly physics. Hit a ball in the bush...the ball doesn't go in the trees because it doesn't like you- it goes in because it HAS TO! Everything in the universe plays by the same laws of physics...golf included. Homer knew this.

Think about it. You can use this to your advantage...

Homer Kelly studied the golf swing for 30 or so years before publishing TGM. It has everything you would ever need in it...the only variable as far as I'm concerned is whether or not you want to put it the time to sort through everything that has been HANDED to you...

I think it IS a hard read...but the golf swing is not a simple thing and if one is confused, shouldn't be thought of as such (leave that to the pros!- these guys have been lucky enough to develop- Homer would say "stumble into"- good swings). And there are tons of forums on the internet that can really help in the process of understanding this book. It takes a while to be able to really really understand the book...but you will set off lightbulbs like you never have before.

I do recommend seeing a qualified instructor though to aid you with this book and your golf....Homer felt the same way....this book wasn't really intended for the average guy...more for trained instructors. That's why it's not as easy as it could be to read...and besides, Homer wanted a book that an instructor could carry with him/herself...not a dictionary sized thing.

In the book, Homer Kelly also talks about his opinions on most golf instruction. And he's right...golf is difficult to most people and typical instruction is confusing not because the instruction itself is complex, but because it is vague and incomplete.

"After all, complexity is always more workable and comfortable than mystery is." -Homer Kelly

Homer believed that golf is a game for thinkers. I couldn't agree more. If you're serious enough at improving at this sport I think you should attempt to look at it in a different way...as more of a learning experience...like martial arts or something. This is the problem with golf...it is not TAUGHT...people get quick fixes and then wallow in their own confusion.

It's all about persistence, really. Again, this book has 95% of all the answers you would ever need. What a great thing.

-Paul

BTW- I recommend you check out anything from Brian Manzella, Chuck Evans, and Lynn Blake. They have great forums- this is the next best thing to seeing an Authorized Instructor of TGM (the way Homer wanted it to be BTW- he wanted people to use the book as a companion and reference, with the instructor's guidance).

If you only want to know the "why" of the golf swing and not the "How to" this is the book for you. I see this as a reference manual... sort of a dictionary for someone learning a language. You can read it, everythings in there... but you still may not be able to "use" it.

This book is strictly for those who want to know how and why the golf swing performs. It is not based on personal opinion, nor personal "theory". It is based on years of collected facts, and based on the laws of physics and geometry. It is not intended for the casual reader---it is extremely detail oriented and difficult to follow. However, its contents are a true treasure. If you're tired of the endless sea of instructional material based on one man's opinion, this book reveals how and why the golf swing functions.