There is little doubt that most average golfers have too many "swing thoughts" swirling around in their heads when preparing to hit a golf ball. Our natural desire to analyze, dissect and try to improve on everything we do and often overthink something which should be natural has resulted in much golf instruction being just too complicated. Having a mental picture of a good golf swing as a "swinging motion" from start to finish is a positive thought but trying to break that movement down into dozens of parts just doesn't work. In this book I have tried to limit conscious thoughts as much as possible by focusing on the three necessary basics of GRIP, ALIGNMENT and POSTURE at address and the three basics of CORRECT WRIST HINGE, ROTATION OF THE ARMS though the impact area and GETTING OUT OF YOUR OWN WAY through to a finish position. You will read nothing about "swing plane" "spine angle" in this book but will instead learn to let the various body parts react to the swinging motion of the golf club. "Club focused" instruction is not new and was described some ninety years ago by the great teacher Earnest Jones in his book "Swing the Clubhead." This very simple and uncomplicated way to learn to swing a golf club has since been modernized by Manual de la Torre and Jim Flick and a growing number of younger instructors. The idea of simply training the body to react and respond to the "swinging motion" of the golf club will be dismissed by many as being just too simple. After all, golf is not supposed to be simple. I agree that It is necessary to learn to hold the golf club in a way that will get the best results, line up toward the target and have reasonably athletic posture but after that there should be little need for conscious thought of where certain body parts are as the golf club is swung back and through toward a green or fairway. If you are frustrated and tired of trying to remember all those memorized body positions and "swing planes" you read about, see on TV or may have been told were necessary, you owe it to yourself to read this book.
About the Author: Jack Gibson had been in the golf business for over thirty years when he moved to Los Cabos, Mexico to be the Director of Instruction at Cabo del Sol. It was here that he discovered that the old "body-focused" instruction he had been using his entire teaching career just didn't get results for tourists in town for only a few days. There wasn't time for them to work on those memorized body and golf club positions he had always thought were necessary to have an efficient golf swing. Jack soon began to have his students work more on rhythm, balance, reduction of tension and trying to feel where their golf club was during their golf swing. Results were immediate and to his amazement many of his students began to develop good golf swings after one or two lessons. Upon returning to the United States in 2005 to be the Director of Instruction at La Quinta Country Club in California, Jack read "Swing the Clubhead" by Earnest Jones and found that he was using many of the same words and phrases Jones had used ninety years ago. Jack also read Manuel de la Torre's book "Understanding the Golf Swing" and realized he had switched from "body-focused" teaching to "club-focused" teaching in Mexico without even knowing it. Since returning to California Jack has continued to successfully develop his own teaching philosophy based on using less conscious thought and helping his students train their bodies to react to the swinging motion of the golf club. He has finally been able to put those ideas in a readable form in his book Thought Reduction Golf" using the same words he uses when teaching.