Homer Kelley's Golfing Machine

Zusatztext "Homer Kelley for years loomed as one of the games last great mysteries! an obscure but important man who reshaped our perceptions of the modern swing. In this substantive and stylish book! Gummer unravels Kelley's elusive personal history and sheds light on his considerable influence. It's a story that will enlighten teachers! enthrall serious players! and entertain golfers at all levels." -Guy Yocom! Golf Digest "Scott Gummer has done a masterful job at a daunting task: solving the riddle of the man who solved (he thought) the riddle of the golf swing. Homer Kelley's Golfing Machine is a sad and funny story beautifully told." -Curt Sampson! Author of Hogan Informationen zum Autor Scott Gummer has written for more than forty different magazines, including Vanity Fair, Sports Illustrated, LIFE, Fortune, Departures, Golf Digest, GOLF , and Travel + Leisure Golf . He is also the author of The Seventh at St. Andrews . He lives, works, and plays a middling game of golf in the California wine country. Klappentext The remarkable true story of a lone genius whose quest to unlock the science behind the perfect swing changed golf forever In 1939, Homer Kelley played golf for the first time and scored 116. Frustrated, he did not play again for six months; when he did he carded a 77. Determined to understand why he was able to shave nearly 40 strokes off his score, Kelley spent three decades of trial and error to unlock the answer and to recapture that one wonderful day when golf was easy and enjoyable. In 1969, Kelley self- published his findings in The Golfing Machine: The Computer Age Approach to Golfing Perfection . The bestselling instruction books of the day required golfers to conform their swings to the author's ideals, but Homer Kelley configured swings to fit every golfer. He found an enthusiastic disciple in a Seattle teaching pro named Ben Doyle, who in turn found an eager student in 13-year-old prodigy Bobby Clampett. Clampett's initial success in amateur golf shined a bright spotlight on Homer Kelley and The Golfing Machine , but when the young star suffered a painfully public collapse and faltered as a pro, critics were quick to blast Kelley and his complex and controversial ideas. With exclusive access to Homer Kelley's archives, author Scott Gummer paints a fascinating picture of the man behind the machine, the ultimate outsider who changed the game once and for all of us.1 How Hard Can It Be? The ball sat motionless on a peg in the grass. Behind it rested apolished block of persimmon wood, significantly larger insize and harder in composition than the ball. Jutting from thewood was a long, shiny, silver shaft of steel. Wrapped tightlyaround the grip at the top of the shaft were the strong hands of athirty-one-year-old man. He took a practice swing. Then another.Weapon at the ready, target open wide, the ball was his for thecrushing. It would have been a different story had the ball been moving.It was not hurtling toward him at blinding speed. It was not camouflaged, made no evasive movements or attempts to elude. Itwas not curving or sinking or knuckling about. It just sat there,ready for takeoff. He had no reason to fear repercussion. What he was about todo was not illegal; in fact, it was encouraged. Give it a ride,said one of the three men waiting and watching behind him. Theball was not fragile and would not shatter or explode. It bore noseams or stitches or other impediments to its trajectory. It wasneither slippery nor spindly nor oblong nor heavy. It was, in fact,quite light and perfectly round. It did not teeter or totter. It justsat there on its perch, completely obediently. What are youwaiting for? cracked another of the men. He was not being timed. The others were not referees or umpires,nor were they there to judge him. His styl...

"Homer Kelley for years loomed as one of the games last great mysteries, an obscure but important man who reshaped our perceptions of the modern swing. In this substantive and stylish book, Gummer unravels Kelley's elusive personal history and sheds light on his considerable influence. It's a story that will enlighten teachers, enthrall serious players, and entertain golfers at all levels."
-Guy Yocom, Golf Digest

"Scott Gummer has done a masterful job at a daunting task: solving the riddle of the man who solved (he thought) the riddle of the golf swing. Homer Kelley's Golfing Machine is a sad and funny story beautifully told."
-Curt Sampson, Author of Hogan

Auteur

Scott Gummer has written for more than forty different magazines, including Vanity Fair, Sports Illustrated, LIFE, Fortune, Departures, Golf Digest, GOLF, and Travel + Leisure Golf. He is also the author of The Seventh at St. Andrews. He lives, works, and plays a middling game of golf in the California wine country.

Texte du rabat

The remarkable true story of a lone genius whose quest to unlock the science behind the perfect swing changed golf forever

In 1939, Homer Kelley played golf for the first time and scored 116. Frustrated, he did not play again for six months; when he did he carded a 77. Determined to understand why he was able to shave nearly 40 strokes off his score, Kelley spent three decades of trial and error to unlock the answer and to recapture that one wonderful day when golf was easy and enjoyable. In 1969, Kelley self- published his findings in The Golfing Machine: The Computer Age Approach to Golfing Perfection.

The bestselling instruction books of the day required golfers to conform their swings to the author's ideals, but Homer Kelley configured swings to fit every golfer. He found an enthusiastic disciple in a Seattle teaching pro named Ben Doyle, who in turn found an eager student in 13-year-old prodigy Bobby Clampett. Clampett's initial success in amateur golf shined a bright spotlight on Homer Kelley and The Golfing Machine, but when the young star suffered a painfully public collapse and faltered as a pro, critics were quick to blast Kelley and his complex and controversial ideas. With exclusive access to Homer Kelley's archives, author Scott Gummer paints a fascinating picture of the man behind the machine, the ultimate outsider who changed the game once and for all of us.

Échantillon de lecture
1 How Hard Can It Be?

The ball sat motionless on a peg in the grass. Behind it rested apolished block of persimmon wood, significantly larger insize and harder in composition than the ball. Jutting from thewood was a long, shiny, silver shaft of steel. Wrapped tightlyaround the grip at the top of the shaft were the strong hands of athirty-one-year-old man. He took a practice swing. Then another.Weapon at the ready, target open wide, the ball was his for thecrushing.

It would have been a different story had the ball been moving.It was not hurtling toward him at blinding speed. It was not camouflaged, made no evasive movements or attempts to elude. Itwas not curving or sinking or knuckling about. It just sat there,ready for takeoff.

He had no reason to fear repercussion. What he was about todo was not illegal; in fact, it was encouraged. “Give it a ride,”said one of the three men waiting and watching behind him. Theball was not fragile and would not shatter or explode. It bore noseams or stitches or other impediments to its trajectory. It wasneither slippery nor spindly nor oblong nor heavy. It was, in fact,quite light and perfectly round. It did not teeter or totter. It justsat there on its perch, completely obediently. “What are youwaiting for?” cracked another of the men.

He was not being timed. The others were not referees or umpires,nor were they there to judge him. His style would not becritiqued; his livelihood could not be jeopardized. They had nomotivation or mandate to thwart him. He had nothing that theywanted, and they had nothing to defend. “Don’t mind us,&…