Every Shot I Take
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Overview
As Davis Love III walked the fairways of the Oakland Hills Country Club, in contention during the final round of the 1996 U.S. Open Championship, he had a powerful ally on his side. For the rest of the nation the day may have been Father's Day, but for Love every day on a golf course is father's day.It was Davis Love, Jr., master professional and legendary teacher, who taught his son the game in all its beautiful complexity. As a child, Davis III was encouraged just to play, to enjoy the game as he grew and developed his athletic skills, to find the pleasure in the game that can lead to the desire for improvement. But when, early in his teens, Davis III declared himself ready to take golf seriously, to put in the time to learn and understand the physical and mental components of the game that turn a golfer into a champion, his father was delighted, determined, and ready.
With every shot he takes, Davis Love III provides a tribute to the strength and the value of his father's teachings. And in Every Shot I Take, he shares with us the lessons he learned about how to play golf with power, with skill, and with joy. Those lessons range widely, from the psychological ("Let your attitude determine your golf game; don't let your golf game determine your attitude") to the physical ("To hit the ball far, hit the ball straight; I try to hit the ball at 80 percent of my overall power, because at 80 percent I have a much better chance of hitting the ball with the center of the clubface") to the technical ("When you begin your downswing, and your left foot returns to the ground, put your cleats in the same holes they were in originally"). They include drills like the Hitchhike Drill, where you place your right hand behind your back and your left thumb on your right shoulder, then in a spinning motion move your thumb to your left shoulder -- that's the golf swing in miniature! There are the Ten Commandments of Putting, six steps to successful long bunker shots, and tips for playing in the wind and rain, on fast greens, or out of long rough. Yet all are ultimately about something more than golf.
Timeless wisdom and sage advice from the late teaching pro Davis Love Jr., who relished not only teaching the game but also the unutterable beauty that makes golf unique.
Synopsis
Timeless wisdom and sage advice from the late teaching pro Davis Love Jr., who relished not only teaching the game but also the unutterable beauty that makes golf unique.
Publishers Weekly
The author's father, Davis Love Jr., carved out a successful career as golf pro and then teacher, ending up at Sea Island, Ga. Among his best pupils was his son, Love III, now entering his 12th year on the pro tour. Love Jr. was mentor, teacher and, above all, close friend to his son, but tragedy struck in 1988, when a small plane carrying Love Jr. and a friend of Love III, Jimmy Hodges, crashed, killing all aboard. The crash's impact on the family is the theme of this book, which also contains affecting chapters contributed by the author's mother, brother, wife and new coach about their loss. Happily, however, Love Jr. was a compulsive note-taker on golfing techniques. His observations included here, tempered by his son's, make this work a kind of semi-instructional manual as well as memoir. Golfers will savor it.