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When a resurgent Phil Mickelson won the Tour Championship in September 2009, he was quick to credit a series of simple putting lessons from veteran golf champion and instructor Dave Stockton. As a top coach, Stockton has taught a long list of pro players-including Annika Sorenstam, Yani Tseng (winner of four LPGA tournaments), Adam Scott (Texas Open champion), Hunter Mahan (Phoenix Open champion), and Morgan Pressel (World Ladies Championship of Japan winner)-the putting strategies that finessed their game.
Stockton's breakthrough concept is that every player has their own Signature Stroke, which is unconscious. Good putting comes from the mind, Stockton says, not from a series of stiff mechanical positions. With visualization, the right frame of mind, an efficient pre-putt routine, and connection to the individual internal stroke signature, any player can make far more putts. Putting has always been taught as an offshoot to the full swing, when in reality it is far different- almost a different game. Unconscious Putting will help players get out of the rigid, mechanical, overthinking trap.
In Unconscious Putting, Stockton shows how players at every handicap level-from pros to weekend golfers-can putt effortlessly and with confidence by integrating a new mental approach with a few simple physical routines that will keep them locked on target. Readers will also gain invaluable advice on reading greens and equipment. Illustrated throughout and filled with anecdotes about how Stockton's lessons have helped today's leading players, Unconscious Putting is a must-have golf book and a category classic-in-the-making.
Stan Utley?s breakthrough short game and putting techniques have made him one of the most sought-after golf instructors in America. Now he offers a breakthrough approach for golfers of all skill levels, with a course- management approach designed to help golfers at the crucial stages of a round of golf.
The Art of Scoring shows readers how to understand the way their short game handicap and overall skill level should dictate strategy. Breaking down pitching, chipping, bunker play, and putting into three proficiency categories, Utley presents customized techniques for saving shots simply by making better decisions. He leads us through a round with three amateurs?two 10-handicappers and a 20-handicapper?to show how improved strategy and execution can transform a player?s game. With behind- thescenes pro teaching sessions, crash courses on the three hardest greenside shots, and one hundred black-and-white and color photographs, The Art of Scoring is like getting a brand-new set of state-of-the-art clubs, customized by one of the game?s premier teachers.
Veteran golfers know that the secret to a lower score is a solid short game, but mastering those small strokes can be maddening?even for the pros. One of golf?s most revered instructors, Stan Utley now reveals the step-by-step tactics behind his revolutionary short-game techniques in The Art of the Short Game.
After introducing readers to his groundbreaking philosophy that explains why most players don?t see all the shots available to them near the green, Utley moves on to shatter conventional wisdom about stance, grip, and ball position. From choosing the right clubs (including a checklist of must-haves that should always be in your bag) to spin reduction during chipping and fearless sand play, The Art of the Short Game demystifies the most aggravating shots on the links. Though Utley?s primer features a full set of drills, accompanied by more than seventy-five photos, his approach is far removed from the monotonous, mechanical instruction of yesteryear.
Giving a time-tested secret weapon to every golfer at every level, Utley?s short-game methods turn trouble shots into triumph.
To be a golfer is to tinker—with everything from equipment to grip to swing. But one thing most players don’t give enough attention to is the mental game. Psychologists aren’t a new phenomenon in golf, but Dr. Michael Lardon is a different breed of performance coach. Instead of sending his players into a losing battle against emotion, indecision, and fear on the golf course, he shows them how to organize their thoughts and use them for maximum performance. His step-by-step Pre-Shot Pyramid provides any player with the ideal blueprint for shot setup. And his revolutionary Mental Scorecard will give you the tools to accurately measure what you really do on the golf course and how to make real, permanent improvements.
You will learn the same techniques that Dr. Lardon shares with Phil Mickelson and dozens of other tour players, including the tools that helped Mickelson right himself after the 2012 U.S. Open to win the British Open a month later with a historic final round. Mastering Golf’s Mental Game will change the way you think about golf, and is a must-read for any player serious about shooting better scores and getting more enjoyment out of the game.
In Organize Tomorrow Today (OTT), two of the top minds in human performance come together to deliver the pathway to extreme success. Doing more is not the answer and Selk and Bartow walk you through how to achieve more by doing less. There is a huge difference between knowing something and understanding. There is an even wider gap between understanding and doing. Highly successful people never get it all finished in any given day; however, they always get the most important things completed. Selk and Bartow offer the 8 fundamentals of doing what is most important. OTT will show you the performance gains that athletes, executives, and salespeople spend tens of thousands of dollars to achieve.
Credited with transforming the short games of world-class golfers like Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson, Annika Sorenstam, and Yani Tseng, Dave Stockton is one of the most sought-after coaches in golf. Yet Stockton’s natural abilities are more like the average player’s than those of most tour superstars. Not particularly long off the tee and average in terms of ballstriking, Stockton has won multiple major championships through a willingness to set his ego aside and analyze his game objectively—precisely what make him so effective as an instructor. The hallmark of Stockton’s coaching is the idea that “trying doesn’t work.” He shows students how to get out of their own way and let their subconscious take over.
In Own Your Game, Stockton recreates the experience of riding eighteen holes with him at one of his highly sought-after corporate outings. He explains how any player can learn to use his or her mind effectively—both in the microcosm of the shot at hand and in plotting a way through a round. Amateur golfers are tired of trying to imitate the swings of the pros—to mostly disastrous results. Stockton gives players the tools and the freedom to play better with the swing they currently have. Portable, conversational, practical—and complete with a mini-guide to playing business golf with colleagues and clients—Own Your Game shows how players at all levels can master the all-important mental game.
Zen Golf presents a simple system for building “mental game mastery.” Dr Parent’s unique PAR Approach (focusing on Preparation, Action, and Response to Results) guides golfers with specific techniques for each aspect of their games. In chapters such as “How to Get From the Practice Tee to the First Tee”, “You Produce What You Fear”, and “How to Enjoy a Bad Round of Golf”, the author shares a personal teaching regimen that has helped improve the games of professionals and amateurs alike. By combining classic insights and stories from Zen tradition, Zen Golf helps eliminate the mental distractions that routinely cause poor shots and loss of concentration, allowing golfers to feel in “the zone” that professionals have learned to master.
Clear, concise, and enlightening, Zen Golf shows golfers how to prepare for, execute, and equally important, respond the results of any golf shot. A different approach to golf instruction, this book shapes ancient philosophies into new teachings.
From the Hardcover edition.
As Jack Nicklaus once observed, fear is the golfer’s greatest enemy, inspiring Tiger Woods to "refuse" to give in to this debilitating emotion. It can turn professionals into jelly and dominate the games of most amateurs. It alters swing paths, causes “tap-in” putts to go awry, and transforms a golfer from a brilliant shot-maker on the practice range into an incompetent hack on the course.
Most golfers understand this, but do not have the tools to overcome it. That’s where Dr. Gio Valiante comes in. A pioneering sports psychologist, Valiante has studied the sources of an athlete’s fear, investigated the physiological and neurological impact of fear on performance, and, most important of all, developed a groundbreaking program for conquering it. With Valiante's help and by applying Fearless Golf, Justin Leonard went from three consecutive missed cuts to three consecutive top tens, and Chad Campbell recently moved from 98th in the world to 7th. Davis Love III went from zero wins in 2002 to four wins in 2003, and Chris DiMarco made the 2004 Ryder Cup Team.
Emphasizing the need to replace a fixation-on-results with a commitment to mastery of one’s body and one's mind, Valiante’s approach will not only help golfers reach their true potential, it will make playing every round fun again. Through concrete confidence and mastery drills, he presents specific ways readers can break free of fear’s grasp and perform at their best—even under the most extreme pressure.
With detailed quotes and anecdotes given exclusively to Dr. Valiante from the best players in the game—including Jack Nicklaus, Ernie Els, and other tour professionals, Fearless Golf is the ultimate guide to the mental game, the hottest topic in golf today.
Dr. Bob Rotella is one of the hottest performance consultants in America today. Among his many professional clients are Nick Price (last year's Player of the Year), Tom Kite, Davis Love III, Pat Bradley, Brad Faxon, John Daly, and many others. Rotella, or “Doc,” as most players refer to him, goes beyond just the usual mental aspects of the game and the reliance on specific techniques. What Rotella does here in this extraordinary book, and with his clients, is to create an attitude and a mindset about all aspects of a golfer's game, from mental preparation to competition. The most wonderful aspect of it all is that it is done in a conversational fashion, in a dynamic blend of anecdote and lesson. And, as some of the world's greatest golfers will attest, the results are spectacular. Golfers will improve their golf game and have more fun playing. Some of Rotella's maxims include:
-On the first tee, a golfer must expect only two things of himself: to have fun, and to focus his mind properly on every shot.
-Golfers must learn to love 'the challenge when they hit a ball into the rough, trees, or sand. The alternatives—anger, fear, whining, and cheating—do no good.
-Confidence is crucial to good golf. Confidence is simply the aggregate of the thoughts you have about yourself.
-It is more important to be decisive than to be correct when preparing to play any golf shot or putt.
Filled with delightful and insightful stories about golf and the golfers Rotella works with, Golf Is Not a Game of Perfect will improve the game of even the most casual weekend player.
As coaches to some of golf’s top players, Pia Nilsson and Lynn Marriott have designed and refined a revolutionary way of teaching the game, with phenomenal results. They don’t believe in prescribing the same stance, grip, and swing to everyone, followed by hours of purposeless drilling. They don’t even believe in beginning with physical technique. Their success has proven to them that a great game begins with a great vision.
Unlike any other golf book, Every Shot Must Have a Purpose offers cutting-edge techniques for integrating the physical, technical, mental, emotional, and social parts of a player’s game. The book’s revolutionary pre-shot routine will improve your focus, leading to a golf swing that is not only successful but can be repeated under extreme pressure. Emphasizing the individual golfer rather than a rigid set of mechanics, their VISION54 method takes the frustration out of the game. Why 54? Because they believe it’s possible to shoot a 54 (making a birdie on every hole of a par-72 course) if you have the right mind-set and well-honed intuitive power.
An engaging read for the beginner or the seasoned golfer, Every Shot Must Have a Purpose is inspiration for life, not just the links.
Who knows a golfer best? Who’s with them every minute of every round, hears their muttering, knows whether they cheat? Their caddies, of course. So sportswriter Rick Reilly figured that he could learn a lot about the players and their game by caddying, even though he had absolutely no idea how to do it. Amazingly, some of the best golfers in the world—including Jack Nicklaus, David Duval, Tom Lehman, John Daly, Jill McGill of the LPGA tour, and Casey Martin—agreed to let Reilly carry their bags at actual PGA and LPGA Tour events. To round out his portrait of the golfing life, Reilly also persuaded Deepak Chopra and Donald Trump to take him on as a caddy, accompanied the four highest-rolling golf hustlers in Las Vegas around the course, and carried the bag for a blind golfer.
Between his hilarious descriptions of his own ineptitude as a caddy and his insight into what makes the greats of golf so great, Reilly’s wicked wit and an expert’s eye provide readers with the next best thing to a great round of golf.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
But how does he do it? In HOW I PLAY GOLF, through fabulous color photos, slow-motion photography, and plenty of text, Tiger talks about his drives, his putting, his chip shots, his mental approach to the game, and much more more. This is the complete instructional on how Tiger plays the game of golf.
Tiger shares his thoughts on what he calls the game for a lifetime. He reveals the five secrets he believes are responsible for his success -- a combination of physical, metaphysical, and psychological practices he uses daily to keep his game in top shape and to help him to transcend all the ups and downs of golf.
Not many can play golf as well as Tiger does, but at least we can read how we can try to improve our game. This one singular volume contains all the golf instruction that anyone would ever need.
W. Timothy Gallwey’s bestselling Inner Game books–with more than one million copies sold–have revolutionized the way we think about sports. As he did in his phenomenally successful The Inner Game of Tennis, Gallwey provides methods that can be applied to situations beyond the green. The Inner Game of Golf delivers strategies to achieve potential–both in the crucible of competition and in everyday life. With Gallwey as a guide, you’ll learn how to
• defeat your mental demons and find clarity under pressure
• dispel tensions that can sabotage your performance
• build confidence and overcome insecurities that can hijack your best instincts
• employ the art of “relaxed concentration” to improve your swing, your game, and your life
No matter what your skill set, Gallwey’s pioneering strategies, real-life examples, and illuminating advice are perfect for anyone who strives to be a champion on and off the course.
The most beloved golf book of all time, Harvey Penick’s Little Red Book has become required reading for all players and fans of the game, from beginners to seasoned pros.
The legendary Harvey Penick, whom Sports Illustrated called the “Socrates of the golf world,” began his golfing career as a caddie in Austin, Texas, at the age of eight, and over the course of nearly a century worked with an amazing array of champions. In this classic book, which is named for the red notebook he always kept, Penick’s simple, direct, practical wisdom pares away the hypertechnical jargon that’s grown up around the golf swing, and lets all golfers, whatever their level, play their best.
This twentieth-anniversary edition features a treasure trove of rare images from the Penick family archives, commemorates Penick’s lasting achievement with a moving new foreword by 2012 Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III—whose father learned the game under Penick’s tutelage—and reminds golfers everywhere to “take dead aim.”
“If there’s anyone out there who has taken extreme to a new level, its Joe De Sena—in adventure racing, in business, and ultimately in the business of adventure! Spartan Up! is must-read.”—Robyn Benincasa, world champion adventure racer and New York Times best-selling author of How Winning Works
What do marathoners do when 26.2 miles just isn’t enough anymore? They try obstacle racing, combining the endurance challenges of a marathon with the mind- and body-bending rigors of overcoming obstacles along the way. At the heart of this phenomenon is Joe De Sena, the driving force behind the Spartan Race. De Sena overcame his own obstacles—working his way from Queens to Wall Street to legendary extreme athlete—by adhering to a simple philosophy: commit to a goal, put in the work, and get it done. From that philosophy, as played out now for millions across trails, through mud, and up mountainsides, the Spartan Race was born.
Filled with unforgettable stories of Spartan racers as well as hard-won truths learned along the course, Spartan Up! will help you reach your full potential in whatever you set out to do.
“Have you ever wanted to be more, been stuck in a funk, or simply wanted make life poignant? Look no further because Spartan Up! is your catalyst. Loaded with real life inspiration and lessons, Joe De Sena uses his supercharged success in life, business, and sports to deliver the nuggets. This is an easy and juicy read; succinct, powerful, and relevant.” —Ian Adamson, world champion adventure racer and author of Runner’s World Guide to Adventure Racing
Reigning CrossFit World Champion Rich Froning is “The Fittest Man on Earth.” He’s fast. He’s strong. And he’s incredibly disciplined. But it takes more than physical strength to compete and win at an elite level. It takes incredible mental and spiritual toughness as well. And it is the precise balance of all three that makes Rich Froning a champion.
In First, readers come alongside Rich as he trains for and competes in back-to-back-to-back CrossFit World Championships. Along the way, Rich shares invaluable training tips, motivational techniques, and spiritual insights that, in keeping with the CrossFit philosophy, will prepare you to respond to any real-life physical, mental and spiritual challenge.
The relationship between the two men began in March 2004 when Hank received a call from Tiger in which the golf champion asked him to be his coach. It was a call that would change both men’s lives.
Tiger—only 28 at the time—was by then already an icon, judged by the sporting press as not only one of the best golfers ever, but possibly the best athlete ever. Already he was among the world’s highest paid celebrities. There was an air of mystery surrounding him, an aura of invincibility. Unique among athletes, Tiger seemed to be able to shrug off any level of pressure and find a way to win.
But Tiger was always looking to improve, and he wanted Hank’s help.
What Hank soon came to appreciate was that Tiger was one of the most complicated individuals he’d ever met, let alone coached. Although Hank had worked with hundreds of elite golfers and was not easily impressed, there were days watching Tiger on the range when Hank couldn’t believe what he was witnessing. On those days, it was impossible to imagine another human playing golf so perfectly.
And yet Tiger is human—and Hank’s expert eye was adept at spotting where Tiger’s perfection ended and an opportunity for improvement existed. Always haunting Tiger was his fear of “the big miss”—the wildly inaccurate golf shot that can ruin an otherwise solid round—and it was because that type of blunder was sometimes part of Tiger’s game that Hank carefully redesigned his swing mechanics.
Hank’s most formidable coaching challenge, though, would be solving the riddle of Tiger’s personality. Wary of the emotional distractions that might diminish his game and put him further from his goals, Tiger had developed a variety of tactics to keep people from getting too close, and not even Hank—or Tiger’s family and friends, for that matter—was spared “the treatment.”
Toward the end of Tiger and Hank’s time together, the champion’s laser-like focus began to blur and he became less willing to put in punishing hours practicing—a disappointment to Hank, who saw in Tiger’s behavior signs that his pupil had developed a conflicted relationship with the game. Hints that Tiger hungered to reinvent himself were present in his bizarre infatuation with elite military training, and—in a development Hank didn’t see coming—in the scandal that would make headlines in late 2009. It all added up to a big miss that Hank, try as he might, couldn’t save Tiger from.
There’s never been a book about Tiger Woods that is as intimate and revealing—or one so wise about what it takes to coach a superstar athlete.
Jeet Kune Do was a revolutionary new approach to the martial arts in its time and is the principal reason why Bruce Lee is revered as a pioneer by martial artists today, many decades after his death. The development of his unique martial art form—its principles, core techniques, and lesson plans—are all presented in this book in Bruce Lee's own words and notes. This is the complete and official version of Jeet Kune Do which was originally published by Tuttle Publishing in cooperation with the Lee family in 1997. It is still the most comprehensive presentation of Jeet Kune Do available.
This Jeet Kune Do book features Lee's illustrative sketches and his remarkable notes and commentaries on the nature of combat and achieving success in life through the martial arts, as well as the importance of a positive mental attitude during training. In addition, there are a series of "Questions Every Martial Artist Must Ask Himself" that Lee posed to himself and intended to explore as part of his own development, but never lived to complete. Bruce Lee Jeet Kune Do is the book every Bruce Lee fan must have in his collection.
This Bruce Lee Book is part of the Bruce Lee Library which also features:Bruce Lee: Striking ThoughtsBruce Lee: The Celebrated Life of the Golden DragonBruce Lee: The Tao of Gung FuBruce Lee: Artist of LifeBruce Lee: Letters of the DragonBruce Lee: The Art of Expressing the Human Body
Metabolic training expert BJ Gaddour, CSCS, whom Men's Health magazine calls one of the 100 fittest men of all time, has created a remarkably efficient and effective body-transforming workout and nutrition program based on just a handful of simple moves, the Bodyweight Eight. These no-equipment-required exercises are all one needs to build a strikingly symmetrical, perfectly proportioned, and classically beautiful physique, just like BJ's.
Once readers master each legendary fitness feat with perfect form, they will use BJ's scalable, step-by-step progressions to go from ground zero to superhero. From these exercise variations, readers can construct hundreds of personalized workouts. Dozens of sample routines are already demonstrated through big, bold how-to photographs within the book and organized by goal, duration, intensity, and targeted body zone. This is the only book a man or woman needs to achieve the body he or she has always wanted anywhere... nd without gear.
The body you want, in the space you have.
The strength you want, with the equipment you have.
The muscles you want, in the time you have.
prYou don't need to join a gym to get in shape. In fact, for a lot of guys, the gym is an impediment to getting in shape. The crowds, the inconvenience, the intimidation, the time, the commute-by the time you add it all up, you could end up investing 2 hours to get 45 minutes of exercise.No matter how little space you have, no matter how little equipment you have, no matter how little time you have, you can get the results you want without stepping inside a gym./ppiThe Men's Health Home Workout BibleFour full-body muscle plans: The Body Weight Plan, The Dumbbell Plan, The Barbell Plan, and The Multistation-Machine PlanCustom training plans for strength, fat loss, aerobic fitness, and sports performanceBuying advice for weights, benches, machines, cardio equipment, and exercise videosComplete guidelines for turning your home into a state-of-the-art fitness center
With beginner, intermediate, and advanced full-body workouts for each type of equipment, The Men's Health Home Workout Bible gives you more than 400 exercises altogether, photographed and fully described. From pushups to power cleans, from crunches to jump squats, we show you how to get more muscle and strength at home, whether you're a complete beginner or a competitive athlete.
The Men's Health Home Workout Bible is a personal trainer, on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The editors of Runner's World know marathon training better than anyone on the planet. They have spent the last few years inviting readers to share the long, sweaty journey to the starting line, putting themselves on call to personally answer readers' questions 24/7. This book will include testimonials from real runners, more than 25 training plans for every level and ability, workouts, a runner's dictionary, and sample meal plans.
The Runner's World Big Book of Marathon and Half-Marathon Training is a powerful and winning resource--the ultimate tool kit for anyone who wants to get from the starting line to the finish line.
With 50 percent updated content, this new edition of Run Less, Run Faster continues to promise the same tantalizing results: Readers can get stronger, faster, and better by training less. It will also include more sections for novice runners, broadening the audience appeal, as well as training plans tailored to the new qualifying times for the Boston Marathon. The quality-over-quantity approach optimizes training time and yields better performance--results runners will love no matter what distance they are racing.
Whether you call it soccer, football, fútbol, or the “beautiful game," it is the most popular sport in the world, and Argentine footballer Lionel Messi stands as one of its finest players—not only of his time, but of all time. Admired around the globe for his athleticism, skill, and fierce competitiveness, Messi has, at the age of 24, already shattered records at one of the most storied clubs in the world, FC Barcelona. Now, in this comprehensive biography, Messi fans can learn more about his life and career. Argentine journalist Leonardo Faccio describes how Messi, as a talented youth player in Buenos Aires, left his home for Spain in search of the medical help his family could not afford to treat his rare hormone deficiency. Small of stature, but possessing tremendous natural gifts, Messi developed into a star at Barcelona’s famed Masia soccer school. In this book, Faccio has written not only a biography of an enigmatic celebrity, but a meditation on athletic genius, drawing on interviews with Messi himself, as well as with everyone from his family, teammates, childhood friends—even his favorite butcher. In-depth and intimate, soccer fans who enjoy watching Messi come alive on the field will delight as he comes alive on the page.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
As Dr. Jordan Metzl says, "Exercise is medicine." Now he puts that philosophy--along with cutting-edge research and a motivational bedside manner--into a groundbreaking book delivering a head-to-toe list of maladies that affect quality of life for millions. He then offers the specific exercise prescriptions that will help fix them--from type 2 diabetes to depression, from arthritic joints to PMS, from addiction to sleep apnea.
The Exercise Cure received an amazing amount of publicity for its simple approach to weight loss and better health for everyone. The book offers an exhaustive (and exhausting) collection of fun, fat-torching, life-changing workouts that can be tailored to any fitness level.
"Doctors have long focused on the treatment of disease. Now we have a manual that highlights a means of prevention. As Dr. Metzl touts, exercise is one of the world's most effective medicines."
--Sanjay Gupta, MD, chief medical correspondent, CNN
In Body By Science, bodybuilding powerhouse John Little teams up with fitness medicine expert Dr. Doug McGuff to present a scientifically proven formula for maximizing muscle development in just 12 minutes a week. Backed by rigorous research, the authors prescribe a weekly high-intensity program for increasing strength, revving metabolism, and building muscle for a total fitness experience.
Aikido was created in Japan in the 1920's by Morihei Ueshiba, also known as Osensei. To possess the skills, techniques and attitude of the true practitioner of aikido, one must achieve a very high level of integration of the powers of mind and body, the harmonious combination of physical means and ethical motives. By controlling body position and learning how to harmonize vital physical and mental powers, anyone (regardless of size, strength or weight) can fend off attacks using this sophisticated martial art.
Written and illustrated by husband/wife team, Oscar Ratti and Adele Westbrook, Aikido and the Dynamic Sphere, with over 1,200 illustrations, includes many Aikido techniques in chapters such as: What is Aikido?The Foundations of AikidoThe Practice of AikidoThe Basic Techniques of NeutralizationAdvanced PracticeAnd more!
Developed by professional Natural Bodybuilding Champion Tyler English,this plan will show you how to pack on pounds of MUSCLE with the workouts that helped him take first place in competition. Get the best intense workouts for each muscle and the right form so you reap maximum results.
New hunger for reliable information on marathon and half-marathon training, as well as new technologies that have revolutionized ordinary people's ability to train intelligently, means the time is right for a new edition of longtime Runner's World contributor Hal Higdon's classic guide to taking the guesswork out of preparing for a marathon, whether it's a reader's first or fiftieth.
Since its original publication in 1993, Higdon's definitive manual has sold over a quarter of a million copies through all channels. The book is such a consistent seller for many reasons, but above and beyond all the others is this one: It works. At the core of the book remains Higdon's clear and essential information on training, injury prevention, and nutrition. With more than 25 percent new material, this fourth edition of a running classic will be a must-own for both longtime runners and those new to the sport.
It is often said that 95% of what happens in football takes place behind closed doors. Many of these stories I shouldn't be telling you. But I will.
Who is The Secret Footballer? Only a few people know the true identity of the man inside the game. Whoever he is-and whatever team he plays for-TSF is always honest, fearless and opinionated. Here he takes readers past the locker-room door and reveals the inner-workings of a professional club, the exhilarating highs and crushing lows and what it's really like to do the job most of us can only dream of doing.
TSF chronicles the exploits of his Premiership colleagues with a gimlet eye and frank humour. Managers, agents and players are not spared from his observations-their mindsets, their relationships with those outside the sport, their behaviour good and bad. In his inimitable style, TSF recounts entertaining and eyebrow-raising vignettes, naming names and dropping colourful details along the way.
Forget lifting moderate weights slowly for lots and lots of sets and reps. The best way to get huge in a hurry is to use heavy weights and lift them quickly for fewer repetitions. Waterbury's groundbreaking programs will enable you to:
Add mass and size. Gain as much as 16 pounds of muscle in 16 weeks--and add 1 full inch of upper arm circumference in half that time!Get stronger...fast! Even seasoned lifters can realize a 5 percent increase in strength in the first few weeks. And in 12 weeks, you can boost your overall strength by up to 38 percent.Build power and stamina. Increase your one-rep max in your core lifts by as much as 30 percent.Shed fat fast. Burn off up to 10 pounds of body fat, losing up to 2 pounds of fat per week.With Men's Health Huge in a Hurry, you'll not only get bigger faster, you'll do it with less time wasted in the gym and with less post workout pain and a much lower injury risk.
David Leadbetter is the most recognized golf instructor in the history of the game. His new book, The A Swing, is his first for a decade and is an evolution of his swing theories that have successfully helped thousands of golfers globally. His tour players, whom he has coached over the years, have amassed 19 major golf championships. David has been prolific during his 30+ year career in producing books, videos, teaching aids that have inspired golfers of every level to reach their potential.
The A Swing - A stands for Alternative - is a simple way to swing the club, which follows biomechanically sound, scientific principles, and only requires minimal practice. The A Swing has been thoroughly tested with a wide range of players, from tour level to beginner, junior to senior, and the results overall have been nothing short of dramatic.
The A Swing is a way to develop a consistent, repetitive motion which will improve accuracy and distance, and is easy on the body. It will fix many of golf's common faults, and the book takes you through an easy, step-by-step approach. With over 200 illustrations, easy drills, and the 7-Minute Practice Plan, golfers now have the opportunity to play the way they've always dreamed of. Golf is a frustrating game, even for the top players, but the A Swing will make it easier and more fun. It could really change the way the game has been taught, which hasn't changed for years - it is not an exact method, and has leeway for individualism.
David is excited that the A Swing will help golfers the world over enjoy the game more. In essence, the A Swing is a shortcut to great golf. Whatever your level of play is now, whatever your goals, however you've been struggling with the game, the A Swing could change your golfing life.
The Men's Health Big Book of 15-Minute Workouts contains fast-paced circuit training and interval workouts that boost calorie burn, build muscle, and fry belly fat in half the time of regular workouts. Readers can choose from at-home, body-weight-only workouts and total-body barbell programs to exercises that target major muscle groups--the chest, arms, legs, and back--and sport-specific workouts. Other highlights include:a special section of 15-minute core workouts to build a rock-hard six-packan eating plan with delicious meals that take 15 minutes or less to prepareworkouts for the office or when you're traveling and can't make it to the gymhundreds of tips from America's best trainers, nutritionists, and exercise scientists
The book includes two recipe indexes with visual keys for classification at the start of each recipe, with V (for vegetarian), VE (for vegan), GF (for gluten free), and more. The first section of the book focuses on nutritional information and staple ingredients every runner should know, and the second part of the cookbook illustrates how to turn these facts into delicious, quick, and nutrient-boosting meals through delectable recipes.
Every recipe has an easy-to-follow icon system to identify key recipe attributes (i.e., recovery friendly; low-calorie; quick and easy), along with a nutrition guide that offers tips on how to make the healthiest choices regarding that particular category of food. Divided by categories (Salads/ Soups/Stews, Sandwiches/Wraps/Burgers, Pizza/Pasta, etc.), these recipes are presented by types of dishes runner can look to for satisfying performance needs in appetizing ways.
Acclaimed sports psychologist Bob Rotella has advised everyone from professional golfers to NBA superstars to business executives on how to flourish under pressure and overcome challenges. Now, for the first time, he’s distilled his decades of in-depth research and practical experience into a potential-unlocking guide for everyone.
This exciting book is not a collection of Rotella’s theories; it consists of performance principles that have proven themselves in countless competitive situations, in arenas from which only the strongest minds emerge triumphant. It’s a book full of insights that you can learn and use the next morning—in the office, the classroom, or wherever your quest takes you—told not in abstractions, but through case studies and stories drawn from Rotella’s years teaching sports psychology, counseling athletes, and consulting for Fortune 500 companies. It explores how to keep the mind from holding you back, whatever your physical gifts or other talents. It’s about how to make a commitment, how to persevere, how to deal with failure—and how to train your mind to create a self-image that promotes confidence and accomplishment.
Any successful life starts with how you see yourself. And with these pearls of wisdom from the nation’s preeminent sports psychologist, you can learn to achieve the success of your dreams.
Since James Sieckmann first revealed his short-game methods two decades ago, he has amassed a cultlike following of more than seventy PGA and LPGA Tour disciples and has been dubbed the “short-game guru to the pros” (GOLF Magazine). Using his system, several of Sieckmann’s students have become some of the best short-game players of the modern era. A two-time winner on the PGA Tour jumped 117 spots in the Sand Save rankings in one season; another client quickly jumped 81 spots in Scrambling percentage.
The benefits of a good short game are undisputed. Unfortunately, players at all levels fail to develop effective short-game skills because instructors teach the exact opposite of the correct technique. Sieckmann studied the greatest short-game players in recent memory—including Seve Ballesteros, Corey Pavin, and Raymond Floyd—to develop a proven and pragmatic way to learn, practice, and perform with each wedge in every situation. His unique observations, which were later verified by motion capture technology, work equally well for amateurs and pros.
In his long-awaited first book, Sieckmann opens up his vault of secrets for all golfers. After breaking down the basics, he presents a session-by-session training and practice guide—the same one he creates for his tour clients—to help the reader develop and sustain correct habits, avoid common flaws, and master essential skills. Next, Sieckmann explains how to optimize a player’s wedge swing for every scenario. An easy-to-learn and easy-to-use system, Your Short Game Solution will be the go-to guide anywhere golf is played.
Paleo-style diets are all the rage as fitness enthusiasts, including the booming nation of CrossFitters, have adopted high protein, low-processed-food diets to fuel their exercise. It all began with the publication of the book The Paleo Diet by renowned scientist Loren Cordain, Ph.D., who presented a breakthrough plan for weight loss and disease prevention without dieting or exercising. In 2005, Dr. Cordain joined with endurance coach Joe Friel to write The Paleo Diet for Athletes.
Now, the authors offer an updated and revised edition of The Paleo Diet for Athletes specifically targeting runners, triathletes, and other serious amateur athletes. Cordain and Friel show that by using the foods our bodies were designed to eat--protein, fruits and vegetables, healthy fats and even some saturated fats--anyone can achieve total-body fitness and dramatically improve the strength and cardiovascular efficiency. The Paleo Diet for Athletes gives specific guidelines for what to eat before, during and after a workout or competition along with simple, tasty recipes packed with power and wholesome ingredients.
To golfers of all proficiency levels, skills and drills go hand in hand. Jim McLean is one of the greatest living teachers of the game and in Golf Digest’s Ultimate Drill Book he includes 120 precision golf exercises to address a wide array of concerns. From tee shots to the short game, readers can customize practice sessions depending on their unique trouble spots.
Revealing his time-tested tactics for overcoming pitfalls, golf guru Jim McLean revolutionizes the learning process with strategies for every aspect of the game. Golfers will learn how to attain a perfect golf posture, add distance to one’s drive, shoot well from tough lies, pitch like a pro, troubleshoot putts, maintain mental focus, and much more.
For more than a decade, golf was dominated by one galvanizing figure: Eldrick “Tiger” Woods. But as his star has fallen, a new, ambitious generation has stepped up to claim the crown. Once the domain of veterans, golf saw a youth revolution in 2014. In Slaying the Tiger, Shane Ryan introduces us to the volatile, colorful crop of heirs apparent who are storming the barricades of this traditionally old-fashioned sport.
As the golf writer for Bill Simmons’s Grantland, Shane Ryan is the perfect herald for the sport’s new age. In Slaying the Tiger, he embeds himself for a season on the PGA Tour, where he finds the game far removed from the genteel rhythms of yesteryear. Instead, he discovers a group of mercurial talents driven to greatness by their fear of failure and their relentless perfectionism. From Augusta to Scotland, with an irreverent and energetic voice, Ryan documents every transcendent moment, every press tent tirade, and every controversy that made the 2014 Tour one of the most exciting and unpredictable in recent memory.
Here are indelibly drawn profiles of the game’s young guns: Rory McIlroy, the Northern Irish ace who stepped forward as the game’s next superstar; Patrick Reed, a brash, boastful competitor with a warrior’s mentality; Dustin Johnson, the brilliant natural talent whose private habits sabotage his potential; and Jason Day, a resilient Aussie whose hardscrabble beginnings make him the Tour’s ultimate longshot. Here also is the bumptious Bubba Watson, a devout Christian known for his unsportsmanlike outbursts on the golf course; Keegan Bradley, a flinty New Englander who plays with a colossal chip on his shoulder; twenty-one-year-old Jordan Spieth, a preternaturally mature Texan carrying the hopes of the golf establishment; and Rickie Fowler, the humble California kid striving to make his golf speak louder than his bright orange clothes.
Bound by their talent, each one hungrier than the last, these players will vie over the coming decade for the right to be called the next king of the game. Golf may be slow to change, but in 2014, the wheels were turning at a feverish pace. Slaying the Tiger offers a dynamic snapshot of a rapidly evolving sport.
Praise for Slaying the Tiger
“This book is going to be controversial. There is no question about it. . . . It is the most unvarnished view of the tour—the biggest tour in the world—that I’ve ever read. And it’s not close.”—Gary Williams, Golf Channel
“A must-read for PGA Tour fans from the casual to the most dedicated . . . This book is certain to be as important to this era as [John] Feinstein’s [A Good Walk Spoiled] was two decades ago. . . . A well-researched, in-depth look at the men who inhabit the highest levels of the game.”—Examiner.com
“A masterfully written account of an important time in golf history.”—Adam Fonseca, Golf Unfiltered
“Absolutely marvelous . . . Ryan’s writing flows and his reporting turns pages for you.”—Kyle Porter, CBS Sports
“A riveting read.”—Library Journal
“Ryan’s fresh look is just what we golfer/readers want.”—Curt Sampson, New York Times bestselling author of Hogan
“Ryan does a fantastic job painting a thoughtful and accurate portrait of the new crop of heirs apparent.”—Stephanie Wei, Wei Under Par
From the Hardcover edition.
Joe De Sena designed the Spartan races to test overall conditioning: strength, flexibility, endurance, and speed. His signature take-no-prisoners approach to achieving physical and mental fitness has taken the endurance world by storm and inspired millions. Now in Spartan Fit!, De Sena breaks down that approach and gives readers the tools they need to conquer the course — and life, including:
• A 30-day workout and diet plan to prepare for the Spartan Sprint — or to just get you in shape
• Full-body workouts requiring no gym, no weights
• How to build on one race to the next
• Inspiring, motivating stories of Spartans
A complete Spartan training guide, Spartan Fit! will arm readers with the strength, knowledge, and grit to never question their potential again.
Featuring over 300 black and white photos and step-by-step illustrations, Wing Chun Kung-Fu: A Complete Guide offers clear, straightforward, and authoritative instruction to the Chinese martial art of Wing Chun Kung-Fu. This Wing Chun book introduces and demonstrates the three empty-hand wing chun kung fu forms, the combative building blocks of the system, including sticky-hand and sticky-leg fighting, chin-na, and the theory of vital strikes to the weak points of human anatomy (dar mak). This Wing Chun guide also introduces the wooden dummy form, the six-and-a-half pole form, and the use of butterfly knives.
In addition, this kung fu book provides detailed commentary on the theory behind each move so that you can develop an in-depth understanding of both the practical application of this fighting art and the meaning behind it. Other sections include specialized fighting and grappling techniques and instructions on using weapons. An additional section is devoted to conditioning, stretching, power training and weight training exercises that will be of particular benefit for serious students of Wing Chun and practitioners of any martial art.
Mark Broadie is at the forefront of a revolutionary new approach to the game of golf. What does it take to drop ten strokes from your golf score? What part of Tiger Woods’ game makes him a winner? Traditional golf stats can't answer these questions. Broadie, a professor at Columbia Business School, helped the PGA Tour develop its cutting-edge strokes gained putting stat. In this eye-opening new book, Broadie uses analytics from the financial world to uncover the secrets of the game of golf. He crunches mountains of data to show both professional and amateur golfers how to make better decisions on the course. This eagerly awaited resource is for any player who wants to understand the pros, improve golf skills, and make every shot count.
Call it a spare tire, muffin top, or paunch. Men consistently cite their belly as their biggest problem area--and it is often the toughest final pounds to lose. Not anymore!
Whether your eating habits have been affected by stress, your body has changed with age, or you're constantly doing crunches without results, it's time to blast belly fat the right way. Using the comprehensive, week-by-week eating and exercise plan, you can lose up to 20 pounds in 6 weeks--and keep it off, forever.
The Men's Health Big Book: Getting Abs special features include:Quick effective routines that replace boring, painful crunchesManly (and healthy) recipes that take less than 15 minutes to prepare!Hundreds of tips on how to emphasize muscle definition and six-pack abs!
Including a step-by-step, 4-week eating and exercise plan, easy-to-prepare recipes, and hundreds of exercises, The Men's Health Big Book: Getting Abs is the ultimate guide to a leaner, fitter, sexier body.
Every road rider has goals. Yours may be to begin racing, to become more competitive, or to win a specific tour. Not interested in racing? Perhaps you want to complete your first century ride, improve your overall fitness, or ride father and faster just for the sheer joy of flying on two wheels.
No matter what your goals, The Complete Book of Road Cycling and Racing gives you all the information you need to become a better, more performance-focused cyclist. Written by an accomplished racing coach, cyclist, and exercise physiologist, this book shows you how to:
Fit the bike to your body for maximum efficiency and comfort Ride safely in a group Cope with any weather or altitude Maintain your bike Prepare for races of all types Master racing strategies and tactics Train efficiently and stay in peak condition year-round And much more
As a therapist, physician, and mental coach, Dr. Michael Lardon has dedicated his career to helping athletes understand and better achieve peak performance. In Finding Your Zone, he shares with readers what he?s discovered about reaching the state in which ?thoughts and actions are occurring in complete synchronicity,? and how this state is accessible to all, not just the few.
In ten key lessons?illustrated by personal anecdotes from his clients?Lardon teaches readers how to access the zone not only in sports but in all aspects of their lives, by understanding how to:
? Transform desire into will
? Channel emotions to victory
? Trust instincts and keep it simple
? Conquer fear through acceptance
? Perform under pressure
In the middle of Oliver Horovitz’s high school graduation ceremony, his cell phone rang: It was Harvard. He’d been accepted, but he couldn’t start for another year.
A caddie since he was twelve and a golfer sporting a 1.8 handicap, Ollie decides to spend his gap year in St. Andrews, Scotland—a town with the U.K.’s highest number of pubs per capita, and home to the Old Course, golf ’s most famous eighteen holes—where he enrolls in the St. Andrews Links Trust caddie trainee program. Initially, the notoriously brusque veteran caddies treat Ollie like a bug. But after a year of waking up at 4:30 A.M. every morning and looping two rounds a day, Ollie earns their grudging respect— only to have to pack up and leave for Harvard.
There, Ollie’s new classmates are the sons of Albania’s UN ambassador, the owner of Heineken, and the CEO of Goldman Sachs. Surrounded by sixth generation legacies, he feels like a fish out of water all over again and can’t wait to get back to St. Andrews. Even after graduation, when his college friends rush to Wall Street, Horovitz continues to return each summer to caddie on the Old Course.
A hilarious, irresistible, behind-the-scenes peek at the world’s most celebrated golf course—and its equally famous caddie shack—An American Caddie in St. Andrews is certain to not only entertain golfers and fans of St. Andrews but also anyone who dares to remember stumbling into adulthood and finding one’s place in the world.
As a lifelong golfer with 50+ years of experience, two degrees in Physical Education and a Doctorate in History, author Ted Hunt became determined to track down Hogan’s secret himself. He reviewed most of the literature concerning Hogan and interviewed many professionals (including Jack Nicklaus) and the result of his research produced a clearer understanding of the source of the confusion concerning Hogan’s secret. An hypothesis was conceived and tested, and Hunt was pleased to discover that his analysis stood up to critical examination. But perhaps more importantly, his golf responded with more accuracy and lower scores, which included shooting his age (79) several times within weeks of embracing the secret.
Complete with 100 photos/illustrations and a foreword by movie star Sean Connery, Ben Hogan's Magical Device gives an easy-to-follow explanation of Hogan’s secret, where it comes from, and the foundations which support its successful execution. Interspersed throughout the text are stories from professional acquaintances who spoke with Hunt about their times with Mr. Hogan.
Have you ever wondered where the weaknesses are in Tiger's game? Or what would happen if there were PGA Tour cheerleaders? Or how Old Tom Morris would play if he came back from the dead? In The Power of Positive Idiocy, readers will be treated to Feherty's answers to these questions, as well as his distinctive commentary on aging, Texas, the Irish, parenting, addiction, Charles Barkley, and, of course, every pro golfer and golfing situation you can imagine. Full of great laughs, ridiculous wisecracks, and some of the best advice for anyone new to the game of golf, Feherty’s remarkable collection is a must have for golfers of every stripe.
One man is often credited with shaping the landscape of modern golf. Ben Hogan was a short, trim, impeccably dressed Texan whose fierce work ethic, legendary steel nerves, and astonishing triumph over personal disaster earned him not only an army of adoring fans, but one of the finest careers in the history of the sport. Hogan captured a record-tying four U.S. Opens, won five of six major tournaments in a single season, and inspired future generations of professional golfers from Palmer to Norman to Woods.
Yet for all his brilliance, Ben Hogan was an enigma. He was an American hero whose personal life, inner motivation, and famed “secret” were the source of great public mystery. As Hogan grew into a giant on the pro tour, the combination of his cool outward demeanor and invincible, laser-guided accuracy on the golf course froze formidable opponents in their tracks. In 1949, at the peak of his career, Hogan’s mystique was reinforced by a catastrophic automobile accident in which he and his wife, Valerie, were nearly killed after being hit head-on by a Greyhound bus. Doctors predicted Hogan might never walk again – let alone set foot on another golf course. But his miraculous three-year recovery and comeback led to one of the greatest performances in golf history when in 1953 he won the Masters, the U.S. Open, and the British Open (something that’s never been repeated).
In this first-ever family-authorized biography, renowned author James Dodson expertly and emotionally reconstructs Hogan’s complicated life. He discovers an intensely honest man handicapped by self-doubt, buoyed by the determination to prove his own abilities, and unable to escape a long-buried childhood tragedy – the core of the Hogan “secret.” Dodson also reveals both the legendary devotion and eventual strain in Hogan’s sixty-two-year marriage, and a Hogan rarely seen by the public: a warm, jovial man whose charitable spirit and sharp business sense enabled him to build the powerful golf equipment company bearing his name to this day. Ben Hogan: A Life is the authoritative inside portrait golf fans have long awaited.
For Mark Frost, Francis Ouimet and Harry Vardon represent everything that's right about sports in general and sportsmen in particular; gentlemen, champions, teachers, leaders, and each in their own quiet way, heroes. In The Greatest Game Ever Played, Frost attempts to create penetrating studies of both of these men, along with over dozens of the game's seminal figures, within the dramatic framework offered by the tournament when they finally met, one of the most thrilling sports events in history, the 1913 U.S. Open.
Kendo or the "Way of the Sword" holds a special place within the martial arts as one of the few practices tracing back directly to Japan's ancient samurai heritage. Modern students flock to kendo for physically—and mentally—challenging activity that combines traditional martial arts values with strenuous physical activity.
Author Geoff Salmon has over 40 years of kendo experience gained in and outside of Japan. His goal in this kendo guide is to dispel many misconceptions about the sport and to make kendo training accessible and effective for anyone. His simple, straightforward writing style is especially helpful for beginning students and martial artists from other disciplines who wish to add kendo training to their repertoire.
The core of this kendo book is a series of detailed instructional sequences demonstrating the basic kendo techniques. The author also presents the fundamental principles and philosophy that make kendo as much an exercise of the mind as of the sword. For many adherents, the goal is to train your mind to achieve a state of mushin (no-mind). Beyond that, this book also shows you how to win competitions and integrate kendo into your personal fitness routines.
This is the first book to clearly link the philosophical and mental elements of kendo to the physical techniques, thereby enabling readers to gain a holistic understanding of the martial art. It offers a comprehensive training program similar to those given by leading kendo teachers in Japan, past and present.
In the first book from popular Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee, the network’s “resident scholar and critic” (The New York Times) explores the common swing positions of the greatest players throughout history—and reveals how those commonalities can help players of every skill level improve their own games.
Every golf game begins with the swing. While no two are identical, Brandel Chamblee, the highly regarded television analyst and former PGA Tour professional, once noticed that the best players of all time have shared similar positions in each part of the swing, from the grip and setup to the footwork, backswing, and follow-through. Since then, Chamblee, a student of the game’s history, has used scientific precision and thoroughness to make a study of the common swing positions of the greats. Now, in The Anatomy of Greatness, he shares what he has learned, offering hundreds of photographs as proof, to show us how we can easily incorporate his findings into our own swings to hit the ball farther, straighter, and more consistently.
What does it tell us that the majority of the greats—from Jack Nicklaus and Byron Nelson to modern masters like Tiger Woods—employ a “strong” grip on the club? How did legends like Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, Mickey Wright, and Gary Player unlock hidden power and control by turning in the right knee at address? Why are some modern teachers preaching quiet footwork when forty-eight of the top fifty golfers of all time lifted their left heels on the backswing, allowing them to build power? At the same time that Chamblee is encouraging certain swing virtues, he also debunks a number of popular—but misguided—swing philosophies that have been hindering golfers for years.
The result is perhaps the best and clearest explanation of how to hit a golf ball ever published. Golfers can take The Anatomy of Greatness to the driving range and use Chamblee’s clear explanations to build better swings—and get more speed and consistency into their swings—immediately. This book is like having a series of private lessons from the best golfers of all time, and it will help golfers build swings that make the game easier and more fun.
The book contains over 1,000 full-color photographs demonstrating the moves that made the author the most feared competitor in BJJ circles and now one of the most sought-after instructors. Jiu-Jitsu or Jujutsu came into prominence in the early 90's when jiu-jitsu expert Royce Gracie won the first, second, and fourth Ultimate Fighting Championships against much larger opponents who were using other styles such as boxing, muay thai, karate, and wrestling. Since then it has become one of the most popular styles in MMA due to its focus on ground fighting.
Learn the techniques that have proven dominant in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournaments and in the Mixed Martial Arts cage: Takedowns The Closed Guard Passing The Closed Guard Butterfly Guard Open Guard Pass Side Control Half Guard Back Mount With sections devoted to both gi and no-gi techniques, whether training for a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament or a Mixed Martial Arts fight, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is one book no true competitor can afford to miss.
"Working with Katherine for the last couple of years has allowed me to compete at a very high level."
--Gary McCord, CBS golf commentator and Senior PGA Tour player
Katherine Roberts, founder and host of the "Yoga for Golfers" program on the Golf Channel, offers her unique educational methods in this groundbreaking book, providing instruction to the millions of golfers--including many top tour professionals--who have turned to the art of yoga to improve their game. Based on 20 years of expertise, Yoga for Golfers connects the mind and body to create a powerful fitness regimen, including:
Yoga postures specifically selected for a golfer's needs Proper breathing techniques Mind-relaxation methods Injury-reducing stretches Visualization tools--for success on and off the course
--Peter Jacobsen, Seven-time PGA Tour event winner
Voted one of "America's 50 Greatest Teachers" by Golf Digest and ranked in the "Top 100 Teachers" list of Golf magazine, Jim Hardy is a veritable scholar of swing. He's been fixing the swings of professional and amateur golfers since 1977, and in The Plane Truth for Golfers, he makes his groundbreaking concepts available to you for the first time.
Hardy's revolutionary approach is simple: There are two sets of fundamentals to the swing, not one. There is the one-plane swing, for more athletic players, and the two-plane swing, suitable for players of all abilities. Understanding these concepts is crucial to your improvement, and Hardy breaks them down into easy-to-follow steps, complete with dozens of photographs.
One of the most illuminating books ever on a sports subculture, Learning to Breathe Fire combines vivid sports writing with a thoughtful meditation on what it means to be human. In the book, veteran journalist J.C. Herz explains the science of maximum effort, why the modern gym fails an obese society, and the psychic rewards of ending up on the floor feeling as though you're about to die.
The story traces CrossFit’s rise, from a single underground gym in Santa Cruz to its adoption as the workout of choice for elite special forces, firefighters and cops, to its popularity as the go-to fitness routine for regular Joes and Janes. Especially riveting is Herz’s description of The CrossFit Games, which begin as an informal throw-down on a California ranch and evolve into a televised global proving ground for the fittest men and women on Earth, as well as hundreds of thousands of lesser mortals.
In her portrayal of the sport's star athletes, its passionate coaches and its “chief armorer,” Rogue Fitness, Herz powerfully evokes the uniqueness of a fitness culture that cultivates primal fierceness in average people. And in the shared ordeal of an all-consuming workout, she unearths the ritual intensity that's been with us since humans invented sports, showing us how, on a deep level, we're all tribal hunters and first responders, waiting for the signal to go all-out.
From the Hardcover edition.
B & W line drawings.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
Mike Weir--considered a good golfer but not a great one--triumphed in The Masters, becoming the first Canadian to win a Major. Jim Furyk emerged victorious in the U.S. Open. In the British Open, Ben Curtis became the only player since Francis Ouimet in 1913 to prevail on his first time out, and Shaun Micheel came from nowhere to prevail at the PGA Championship. How does one moment of glory affect the unsung underdog for years to follow?
In Moment of Glory, John Feinstein returns to the unlikely year of 2003 and chronicles the personal and professional struggles of these four players. With great affection for the underdog and extraordinary access to the players, he then looked to the 2008 season, giving readers an insider's look into how winning (and losing) major championships changes players' lives.