Thinking Golfer's Manual (Paperback) | Released: 03 Feb 2018

The Thinking Golfer's Manual: What Amateurs Need to Know is the book that amateur golfers have long awaited - a detailed study of the game written for amateurs by a skilled amateur. Steve Koch's words, descriptions, and voice are all different from the words of professional golf authors, and provide golfers a new perspective on the royal and ancient game. Amateur golfers quickly learn that the game imposes challenges unlike those imposed on players of any other sport. Amateur golfers also quickly learn that to improve their scores requires dedication, study and practice. For these, and many other reasons, golfers know their game is unique among all sports. The Thinking Golfer's Manual: What Amateurs Need to Know addresses the unique characteristics of the game of golf. After years of playing and studying golf, Steve Koch knew to structure his analysis in the logical sequence that is required for each swing of the golf club, and each shot on the course. The first section "The Basics," includes six chapters covering the preparations for a swing - from gripping the club to the pre-shot routine. The nine chapters of the second section, "The Swing," cover every aspect of the swing, from takeaway to finish. The final two sections, "On the Course" and "The Short Game," provide guidance on how to go from the practice range to the course. The Thinking Golfer's Manual is not merely a repetition of information that has been published elsewhere. New concepts, including descriptions of how to ensure your grip is correct, what it means to have the wrists properly cocked at the top of the backswing, and how to ensure a golfer's stance is appropriate are all included. Using knowledge gained from his research and writing career, which was dedicated to analyzing and solving problems in a wide variety of fields, Steve Koch also includes technical explanations of aspects of the golf swing, for example how and why a golf ball hooks or slices, and why golfers sometimes hear that "the proper stance feels like you are about to take a step down the fairway." Other new concepts included in The Thinking Golfer's Manual include a discussion of how to ensure a golfer's club position at the top of the swing is correct, and how to correctly go about preparing for a green-side sand shot. Chapters teaching golfers how to think about their game and how to avoid slow play are included, as are short inter-chapter "Mulligans" presenting not-often-thought-about information about playing golf and how to ensure enjoyment on the course. All of these topics, and more, are presented in the author's unique voice, directed specifically to the golfer who truly wants to understand and improve play of the royal and ancient game. Golfers looking for a detailed, step-by-step, study of the golf game need look no farther than The Thinking Golfer's Manual: What Amateurs Need to Know.
About the Author: Lifelong golfer Steve Koch has dedicated years to the study of the royal and ancient game. Steve discovered golf at age eight after finding a set of wooden shafted clubs under his grandfather's porch. His love of the game was reinforced when he inherited a set of Jack Burke Jr. clubs and played his first on-course round. In the years since that youthful introduction, golf has rarely been far from the front of his mind. Steve retired on Independence Day, 2015, and immediately dedicated himself to completing his study of, and research on, the subtle and maddening, but always important, aspects of the golf swing, many of which are difficult for amateurs to fully understand. The Thinking Golfers Manual is the result of that dedication. Golfers who want to completely understand the golf swing have long awaited the unique approach to study of the golf swing that is the result of Steve's years of study. Steve developed his research skills studying applied mathematics, electrical engineering, and ocean engineering, first at Purdue University and later at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. He found the analytic skills developed in those years to be invaluable in his study of the golf swing. He later attended law school at the University of Houston, and began a second career negotiating oil and gas contracts and technology licenses around the world. The communication skills he developed throughout his career allowed him to recognize how to structure and communicate his understanding of the golf swing in The Thinking Golfer's Manual. That structure is designed to allow the amateur golfer to think about each aspect of the golf swing, to facilitate an understanding of each of those aspects, and to use that understanding to improve his or her game. Steve was a frequent speaker and writer throughout his career and has publications in general interest, scientific, engineering, and legal areas. In addition to playing golf, he now speaks on STEM topics and on Magna Carta's role in the structure of America's democracy.