Search for the Perfect Driver [Hardcover]

Tom Wishon (Author), Tom Grundner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2006

"If you've ever stood in the tee box with your driver, and wished you were invisible, I can tell you that I wrote this book for you," Tom Wishon said. "Golf can be a humbling game and the driver is a difficult club to hit much less master. But much of that embarrassment can be traced to drivers that are designed from the factory to be un-hittable in the hands of the average golfer. How many people have spent a small fortune on a driver only to find their tee shots getting worse? With Search for the Perfect Driver, the average golfer will learn how and why drivers work the way they do, when they don't work and what a golfer can do about it."

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Tom Wishon has been a leading golf club designer for more than 33 years. He is among an elite group of designers whose clubhead designs have won tournaments on the PGA Tour, the Champions Tour and the Ryder Cup. Wishon has more than 50 different design "firsts" to his credit, including the first titanium wood heads produced in America. In the fields of clubhead design, shaft design and clubfitting research, Tom is a well-respected leader in the field who has great "news you can use" advice for everyday golfers.

Wishon has written eight books on golf club making and design, including the best-selling The Search for the Perfect Golf Club - which won Book of the Year honors from the International Network of Golf. Wishon has written more than 200 magazine articles on clubmaking technology, and has been on the Golf Digest technical advisory panel for more than 10 years. He also serves as the technical advisor to the PGA of America's website.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Sports Media Group; First Edition edition (October 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1587263114
• ISBN-13: 978-1587263118
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #391,008 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #61 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Coaching > Golf

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must-read for all golfers, March 25, 2007

By 

Armchair Interviews (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Search for the Perfect Driver (Hardcover)

According to this book, everything the average--and even above-average--golfer understands about choosing the right driver for their swing is wrong! You'll know the author is right--and you'll have the sinking feeling that you've cost yourself a lot of strokes off the tee box because of your driver.

This author is highly credible--he developed the clubmaker's certification testing for both groups that offer such training and certification. He has spent close to thirty years as a master clubmaker, fitter, and designer of clubs.

So what does the average (and above-average) golfer believe about the driver?

1. The right shaft is the most important thing about the perfect driver.
2. Longer shafts will enable you to hit the ball farther.
3. Graphite is better than steel for a driver shaft.
4. Once you get above 10 degrees of loft, you are sacrificing distance.
5. A truly custom-fitted driver will cost more than the retail "name" driver.

I could go on, but if you're any kind of golf nut (as I am) you've heard (and probably believe) at least four of the five statements. And we'll both be wrong for believing them.

In this book Tom demonstrates that while flex is important, most of the flex is dampened because the club is held in our hands--which are soft and not rigid. He explains why a shorter shaft and perhaps a steel shaft would be better suited to a lot of golfers--except the very athletic and those with great eye-hand coordination. He explains why a 350CC head may do as much or more for you than the monster 460CC heads being touted today. And he definitely helps you see how a fitting by an expert clubfitter (who probably does not work at your golf club or the local retail shop) will save you strokes, increase your confidence and enjoyment of the game and also save you money. After all, if you had the perfect driver and perfect set of irons, wedges, and putter--how could advertising induce you to try the latest and greatest--instead of working on your swing?

This book might just be your best investment in your game this year!

Armchair Interviews says: Run, don't walk. Order your book online or head to your local bookstore today.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for any level golfer, January 10, 2008

By 

gapwedge "gapwedge" - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Search for the Perfect Driver (Hardcover)

I have been playing golf for 40 years and I am still learning about golf clubs. I have purchased clubs, built clubs, and have been fitted over the years, but the information contained in this book is eye opening. One of the topics in the book was about the shaft stiffness of the driver. If you bought a driver with a stiff shaft, how stiff is it or is it stiff at all? The bottom line to me is you need to find a driver fit for your swing, not adjusting your swing to the driver. I am a single digit handicapper and I still am searching for the perfect driver. Great read.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A one-of-a-kind book especially for golf players, April 13, 2007

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Search for the Perfect Driver (Hardcover)

Written by golf club designer Tom Wishon with former golf club maker Tom Grundner, The Search for the Perfect Driver is a one-of-a-kind book especially for golf players who wonder why they can spend a small fortune on just the right driver only to see their shots worsen. The average driver length on the PGA tour of 2004-2005 was 44.5 inches, implying that the best golfers in the world felt they couldn't control a 45 or 46-inch club with optimum precision; and yet it is this size of club, unwieldy to most golfers, that is commonly presented to ordinary golfers in stores and shops. This striking detail and other nuances of why and how too many drivers are designed from the factory to be unhittable in the hands of an average golfer in The Search for the Perfect Driver, as are details concerning how to fix driver faults by looking at one's own shots, how to choose the right driver for one's swing, retrofitting, special needs for female, child, senior, and advanced golfers, and much more. Enthusiastically recommended for anyone serious about improving their golf score, as is Winshon's and Grundner's previous guide, "The Search for the Perfect Golf Club."