Customer Reviews

The Impact Zone: Mastering Golf's Moment of Truth

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Finally someone has explained what has been, at least for me, one of the greatest mysteries of the golf swing. The point of contact or, as Bobby Clampett more properly calls it, the Impact Zone. For it not only relates to the moment at which the ball is struck but also what happens to the club immediately after contact. To be specific, the area four inches in front of the ball.

To quote Booby Clampett, "If we could somehow change the way the game is taught, and begin working from the ground up with a focus on the golfers swing dynamics, and with the goal of moving their swing bottoms four inches in front of the ball, we could begin to make some real progress - progress that would both grow the game and make it immeasurably more enjoyable for those already hooked on playing it."

This book works through each of the clubs , beginning with the putter and finishing with the driver, in a most systematic, logical and clear manner. The overall approach of the author's is to explain the five key dynamics of the golf swing. They are;

Flat Left wrist at Impact

Forward Swing Bottom

Loading

Lag and the Body Pivot

The Guiding Dynamic

He also deals with the importance of correct equipment selection.

Overall I found this to be a most convincing and useful book. I wish someone had explained all this to me when I began the game. This book is suitable for all levels of golf ability.

It works! The highest accolade I can give a golf instruction book is that it actually works, and the drills and suggestions in this book actually work. I read the book over a weekend and tried the drills and swing thoughts over the past two weeks, and I see a marked improvement in terms of my ball striking and solid contact. I have every confidence that this book will work for you as well.

As I write this review, I am staring at three shelves full of golf instruction books that I've read over the past 5 years (more than 70 books), and I can honestly say that this is one of the top three books that have improved my golf game. The other two are "Break 100 Now" by Mike Adams and TJ Tomasi and "The Only Golf Lesson You'll Ever Need" by Hank Haney. Also recommended is Ben Hogan's classic "The Five Lessons".

Clampett's book is wonderful and highly recommended, and it's helped my game so much that I just had to write a review to share its benefits with fellow golfers who are as obsessed as I am. This is the first review I've written for any product on Amazon, so I must believe in the results and am motivated to share my experience. Good luck and hit 'em far and hit 'em straight.

Bobby is not shy about disputing some of the sacred tenets of golf instruction. While I am not sure that I agree with some of these ideas, they do give one pause for reflection and re-assessment. His writing is crisp and his little stories are on point for his arguments. This book could have been so much better (at least for me) if he had included some larger and full color photographs. Further, it would have been really instructive if he had included frame-by-frame super slow-motion close-up photo sequences to buttress his assertion that the best players swing down on their tee shots. More discussion of spin and launch angle comparisons between downward vs. upward attack angles would have been good, too.

This one major criticism aside, I have to say that I will recommend this book to the few literate golfers that I know.

Bobby Clampett and Andy Brumer have done a great job. They provided a great service to golfers everywhere.

Finally, someone has written a book that allows any golfer to make progress with their current swing. A golfer who applies the five dynamics will be more successful and see progress.

This book should be in the library of any golfer seeking to improve their skills.

This is a very good book for golfers who have a good idea about how to grip the club properly and set up to the shot properly. With all the techno how to golf books on the market Clampett debunks most of the " style" instruction( instructors) and instead gives a very clear explanation of how pros achieve good impact and how the average golfer can do the same. If you think you already have a great full swing please take a look at Clampett's explanations for putting, chipping, and pitching. My guess is that if you do what Bobby says your short game will get better. This is a " gotta" have book.

The way that Clampett lays out the keys to solid ball striking is rare. He starts with the putting stroke and builds up through full swing, providing multiple drills that are easy to understand. He avoids many of the style/preference choices that many other instructors debate, instead focusing on the results (aka "impact") that matter. The book also looks at equipment and mental aspects. The writing is very clear and easy to follow. Clampett is very upfront about how he lost his way in trying technique after technique after he turned pro, and clearly he has committed to the approach he sets forth in this book. No quick fixes here. That said, I would not be surprised if this turns out to be an extremely popular and influential book. It may help bring "The Golfing Machine" principles first published in Homer Kelly's book to the masses.

This is the best golf instruction book ever. The main insight from the book that has transformed my game (scoring) is the realization that there is a relationship between where the ball is struck and handicap. Clampett claims, based on his analysis of golf swings using CBS' high speed camera technology (7,000 framers per second) that the pro golfer's swing bottoms out at 4 inches after impact. The hacker about four inches before impact. The key is to do whatever you have to do to create impact like a pro. If you're able to do it, you'll probably execute the fundamentals of the golf swing properly, since there is only one correct motion that allows you to arrive at the desired impact.

So, basically, focus on impact and the golf swing fundamentals will follow. Clampett's drill in which he draws a line in the sand and then has you practice having the club bottom out 4 inches in front of the line, is the most valuable drill ever.

Clampett claims that the high handicap golfer, if he or she understands and practices the drill for about 30 minutes, will drop about 12 strokes off their handicap immediately,

As a 15 handicapper, I have been able, almost overnight to take 10 strokes off my score just by practicing this drill.

One of the keys here is confidence. Once you realize what you need to do, and can do it at will, the confidence you take into each shot is incredible.

Also, this concept gives you a practice discipline. Simply practice to impact four inches after the line. It's that easy and the outcome is quite remarkable.

Clampett has discovered a law (truth, key, etc.) that will in my opinion revolutionizes golf instruction. Until the advent of the SwingVision camera technology, Clampett's discovery would not have been possible.

Thanks, Mr. Clampett, for making golf enjoyable.

Clampett has written a fine book, with good language and pictures which describe accurately his points. My issue is that Clampett seems to think that all the great players have focused on the fundamentals he describes in the book. Do Jack or Tiger "lag the clubhead" through impact? Yes of course they do - does anyone believe that Tiger or Jack are storing energy on purpose so that impact is stronger? NO! They, as they have said, are beating the hell out of the ball. The RESULT, is that video analysis shows the clubhead lagging through impact. So, the issue I see is that most Golfing Machine people, like Clampett, have you focus on the process as a goal, and not on the motion which allows you to arrive at impact with speed and lag.

If you go to any PGA Tour event and sit on the practice range, you will notice ONE fundamental from behind: every swing is rhythmical, and appears to be swung centrifugally... the clubhead appears smooth and pulling outward in its motions. The RESULT of this motion is that the hands are leaning the shaft at impact. Look, I know and realize that there is one fundamental in golf, that the shaft is leaning at impact (as that is the only thing in common with every pro golfer), but I want to know how to create the motion which allows that lagging shaft dynamic. It most certainly is not a position that any tour golfer has every swung to on purpose, it remains only part of a dynamic in every tour golfer.

A good book, eminently readable and well written, and Clampett is a first class individual, and heckuva golfer.

I give this book five stars with a cautionary asterisk. The stars are because it presents a genuinely new and insightful view of the golf swing and I thought it was great. The cautionary asterisk is because this book is for full-blown golf nerds only. If you've spent hours comparing and contrasting the swings of tour players on YouTube, you'll love this book. If you're a beginner, you may want to keep your distance from The Impact Zone.

For those not in the know, Bobby Clampett is a former golf prodigy and ex-tour player who currently works as a commentator for CBS. He is an awesome golfer and golf uber-nerd, and I trust what he has to say.

The gist of the book is pretty logical: all that really matters in the golf swing are the dynamics at work during the period of impact, when the club head is in contact with the ball. He considers many of the commonly-stressed aspects of the swing to be matters of style. In his opinion, the important dynamics that players must strive for are: 1) the flat left wrist at impact, 2) the forward swing bottom, 3) loading, 4) lag and the body pivot, and 4) the straight plane line. Each dynamic gets its own chapter, followed by a chapter on equipment and a chapter on visualization.

I got the most out of dynamic #1, the flat left wrist at impact. I'm a mid-handicapper who makes classic mid-handicapper mistakes: I tend to over-swing, come over the top, and then compensate with a chicken-wing move. Focusing on obtaining a flat left wrist at impact really did help with my swing. It also paid dividends with my bunker shots, where like many players I fight an urge to flip my wrists to get the club under the ball.

In short, I recommend The Impact Zone to anyone who considers themselves a student of the game.

Like many of the other reviewers, I have worked through several shelves of golf instruction books over the years. What sets this one apart is something I've often sought, but never found: an objective measurement of the differences in technique between players of different ability. A modest but illuminating demonstration of how golfers' handicaps are directly related to the distance their swing bottoms occur in relation to the ball is reported in the Introduction. This provides the basis for the Clampett's subsequent discussion of swing dynamics, and was compelling enough to convince me to buy the book.

Unfortunately, the rest of the text is a somewhat long-winded and anecdote-filled explanation of his "five swing dynamics", which proves long on theory but a little short on the explicit details with which the book had such a promising start. I feel it deserves four stars for at least attempting to quantify the difference between the swings of pros and the rest of us, and it certainly does focus attention on the most critical aspect of the swing - impact. Like all the other volumes on the shelf, however, it contains no magic secret to success. At least it tells the average golfer where to focus his attention for most efficient improvement based on fact, not opinion, and that makes it more helpful than most.