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There are so many books of golf instruction that it seems hard to know where to start. Actually, the choice is easy. Get a copy of Ben Hogan’s Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf.

Read it, study it. As Hogan’s swing was in a league of its own, so is this book. I have read countless instruction books and can say that no other book speaks with such authority on the matters it covers. No other book is even close.

Five Lessons is about the golf swing, nothing else. There’s one chapter on the grip, one chapter on stance and posture, and one chapter each on the backswing and downswing, and a review. Five chapters, five lessons.

Every step is illustrated with crystal-clear drawings by Anthony Ravielli that are works of art in themselves.

Warning: Hogan’s instruction concerns what worked for him. It’s not for everyone, and Hogan was the first to admit that. That means in many places you have to take his instruction as a point of departure.

That will be easier to do if you acquire a companion book, The Fundamentals of Hogan, by David Leadbetter. Hogan’s teaching is explained, and modifications for golfers lacking his strength, flexibility, and stature are suggested.

Five Lessons is the only book I trust concerning my swing. I relearn the fundamentals every year by going slowly through this book. You should, too.

See more at www.bettergolfbook.com.

In an earlier post I talked about the importance of tempo in your golf swing. Most instruction books mention tempo, but go no further saying they’re in favor of it and end up wasting two or three pages with contentless blather that teaches you nothing useful about making good tempo part of your game.

John Novosel explains, in his book, Tour Tempo, how he discovered through video analysis of elite golfers’s swings that the golf swing consistently breaks down to 3 units of time going up, to 1 unit coming back down to impact.

He also noted that while different golfers have different swing speeds, they all swing with this same 3:1 ratio between the backswing and the forward swing.

Novosel then developed a program of instruction so golfers can learn to swing with this 3:1 characteristic. This program is contained in a disc that comes with a book that and video and audio tracks. Let me recommend this book to you with several caveats.

First, Novosel uses the word tempo to refer to two different things. Tempo is the overall pace of your swing, which varies from player to player. The 3:1 ratio he found is the rhythm of the golf swing. Because of his emphasis on it, the book should have been called Tour Rhythm

Second, the audio track ratio is 2:1, not 3:1. The sound tracks on the disc are precise 2:1 intervals. Watch the videos to learn the exercises, but don’t listen. You’ll get the wrong rhythm in your head.

Third, the sound tracks coach you through only three discreet tempos. If the tempo that feels right for you and lets you hit the ball the best is between two of these tempos, you won’t be served by using the disc as a training guide.

Keeping those things in mind, this book has had and continues to have an enormous impact on my game. I worked hard to find the tempo that is right for me and to maintain it. I hit the ball really well when I swing at my tempo with the right rhythm. When I start hitting poor shots this is the first thing I check, and getting back to my preferences is usually all it takes to start hitting the ball well again.

Building the correct rhythm and tempo into your swing, will be the best thing you ever did for your golf game.

Visit www.therecreationalgolfer.com