GOLF BOOK CLUB: "50 Years of Golfing Wisdom"By John Jacobs

IN THIS day and age where, it seems, videos and DVDs have somehow elbowed golf books off the shelves when it comes to providing instruction, there remain a few classic page turners that technology can't brush aside. One of them is Harvey Penick's Little Red Book. . . but there is a strong argument to be made that this collection from John Jacobs should really be the bible when it comes to simplifying the golf swing.

Without a doubt, 50 Years of Golfing Wisdom– which effectively takes the best lessons and anecdotes from Jacobs' previous seven instruction books – will improve your game and the way you prepare for a round of golf, be it a social outing or something more competitive.

Jacobs, one of the founding fathers of the PGA European Tour, is a coach who has the utmost respect of those who have worked with him. Among those to heap praise on his teaching methods have been Jack Nicklaus, Tony Jacklin and Tom Watson but, in more recent times, it was his work with Jose Maria Olazabal that bore most fruit.

“As a golf teacher, he is without doubt The Master. Simplicity is the word I would use to describe his teaching. His theories on the golf swing and the lessons he gives are so crystal clear . . . he makes the game of golf seem easy.”

This is an instructional manual where the words are stronger than any pictures. It is elegantly written, with comprehensible prose, and of course its real beauty – in these times of time management – is that it can be picked up and put down without the absolute need for it to be read in one or two or three sittings.

Jacobs doesn’t miss out on anything in this offering, which runs to just over 250 pages. He has packed a great deal of information and wisdom into those pages, with Jacobs – who was a fine player in his own right but became better known for his teachings – providing solid advice on the fundamentals of the game. It is a book that is particularly effective for beginners but also serves players who continue to work on all aspects of the game.

At one point in the book, Jacobs points out that the requirement to constantly work on your game is sometimes lost on most club golfers. “They assume someone as good as Ernie (Els) works on fancy swing theories all the time. Not so. He works on his fundamentals just like any other golfer should.”

The personal anecdotes add a human dimension to the book. One of them involves Jacobs following Jack Nicklaus – “the greatest player the game has ever known,” according to Jacobs – during a practice round at the 1969 British Open at Royal Lytham. The first drive Jacobs saw Nicklaus hit was off the second tee and he pushed it so far right it crossed the railway line. The next was pull-hooked, “practically killing someone standing on the other fairway”.

Jacobs followed Nicklaus, who was playing with Gary Player and Gardner Dickinson, and saw the great man repeat his soldier golf – left-right – over the next few holes.

On the sixth hole, Nicklaus again hit a drive 50 yards off line and, then, turned to Jacobs. “You’re supposed to know a bit about the golf swing, what do you think of that?” Jacobs had overheard Player and Dickinson telling Nicklaus for the first six holes to get his backswing more rounded as opposed to very upright. So, Jacobs proceeded to tell Nicklaus, “You can’t possibly get your backswing more rounded with the posture you’ve got.” To which Nicklaus responded, “What do you mean, posture?” Jacobs suggested to Nicklaus he keep his chin up and his back much taller. “That was all it took,” recalls Jacobs, who has the art of making the game seem simple.

Questions for readers

1Jacobs claims that Ian Woosnam should be "the model for every young player to copy in terms of technique. He is a better than (Ben) Hogan, if you like – more fluid and more correct in that he does not have to drive through and hit as late as Hogan did." Would you agree with this sentiment?

2Do you believe the insights Jacobs gives in working with some of the game's great players are beneficial to someone just taking up golf? Why?

3Some of the book is taken up with anecdotes of Jacobs' globetrotting. Does this give us a greater appreciation of his role as a teacher?

4Does Jacobs succeed in keeping his message simple?

5How would you rate this book out of a top mark of 10?