{"id":5451,"date":"2011-09-06T19:32:54","date_gmt":"2011-09-07T02:32:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/robertfagan.com\/?p=5451"},"modified":"2011-11-21T09:01:30","modified_gmt":"2011-11-21T16:01:30","slug":"book-review-unconscious-putting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/robertfagan\/product-reviews\/5451\/book-review-unconscious-putting","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: Unconscious Putting"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Dave Stockton’s Guide To Unlocking Your Signature Stroke”<\/strong><\/p>\n

Written by Dave Stockton with Matthew Rudy<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>When Dave Stockton speaks about putting or golf for that matter, I listen.\u00a0 You should too!<\/p>\n

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Dave Stockton was what some might term an over-achiever on the PGA TOUR and Champions Tour winning two PGA Championships and 3 “Senior Majors” among a combined twenty-five victories.\u00a0 Never considered more than an average ball-striker by PGA Tour standards, Stockton\u2019s strong mental approach, and great putting and short game were always the keys to his success in amassing a fairly remarkable playing record.<\/p>\n

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While still in the midst of his playing career, Stockton became the \u201cKing\u201d of the one-day corporate outings with his positive, engaging personality and knowledge of the game.\u00a0 This led to him becoming an equally accomplished teacher\/presenter carrying on the teaching skills of his father, Gail, and then passing them along to his sons Dave Jr. and Ron.\u00a0 The list of professionals that he\u2019s helped reads like a \u201cWho\u2019s Who\u201d and includes Phil Mickelson, Annika Sorenstam, Yani Tseng, Adam Scott, Matt Kuchar, Justin Rose, and many more.<\/p>\n

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\u201cUnconscious Putting\u201d is a terrific addition to your golf library.\u00a0 As an instructor and coach myself, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Stockton is one of the rare golf professionals who follows my same approach to the game.\u00a0 In perhaps the most over-taught game on earth, Stockton thankfully does not indulge in the endless litany of mechanics that barrage you on any bookstore shelf. \u00a0\u00a0Interestingly, when I examined \u201cUnconscious Putting\u201d I almost thought I had coached him or vice versa as our approaches and methods are so closely aligned.\u00a0 Like me, Stockton takes a far more philosophical albeit strategic approach to putting. \u00a0\u00a0If I had written a putting book, I hope it would have read like Dave Stockton\u2019s.<\/p>\n

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Like I endeavor to do in my teachings, Dave Stockton\u2019s approach is to remind ourselves of what we intuitively know and virtually anyone can duplicate.\u00a0 He presents a procedure and strategy for consistently producing our best putting effort time and again. \u00a0Finding your line and \u201crolling\u201d your ball on that line is the key to his presentation.\u00a0 Stockton focuses on how to properly assess or read a putt, and while maintaining the vision of your putt, quickly roll the ball in a consistent fashion.\u00a0 He concentrates upon the thoughts you might employ to do so, but developing touch and feel are a keystone.<\/p>\n

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If you seek a plethora of mechanical tips, you will not find them in \u201cUnconscious Putting.\u201d\u00a0 For me, that is a refreshing departure.\u00a0 Ever the “Anti-Mechanic,” essentially Stockton espouses a relaxed, flowing stroke with plenty of feel in which you return your clubface squarely to the ball and low past the ball, but pay little attention to the path of the putter during the backswing.\u00a0 Stockton includes practical strategies as well as an illuminating section on when your equipment matters and when it doesn’t.\u00a0 There is also instruction on how to grip your putter and how that may impact your feel and stroke.<\/p>\n

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Sons Ron and Dave Jr. continue the Stockton family legacy of golf instruction.<\/p><\/div>\n

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I believe that there are preciously few instructional golf books that will actually both truly and quickly impact your success on the golf course, but \u201cUnconscious Putting\u201d is one of them.<\/em> It might be the putting version of Harvey Penick’s “Little Red Book.”\u00a0 It is a quick read tightly written in just ninety pages.\u00a0 It includes pictures that nicely illustrate the teaching points.\u00a0 At $27.50, it might at first glance appear a bit pricey, but wisdom of this quality does not come cheaply – it felt almost like a lesson.\u00a0 Dave Stockton has managed to simplify and demystify putting while presenting an entertaining, yet effective blueprint of how to become a better putter the rest of your life.\u00a0 It has worked for Stockton and his pupils, and it can work for you.\u00a0 I highly recommend \u201cUnconscious Putting.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Dave Stockton’s Guide To Unlocking Your Signature Stroke” Written by Dave Stockton with Matthew Rudy   When Dave Stockton speaks… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":5453,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2133,2437],"tags":[1154,1052,6474,89823,89822,4797,4298,90668,2807,1197,10836,27553],"class_list":["post-5451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-product-reviews","category-book-reviews","tag-phil-mickelson","tag-justin-rose","tag-adam-scott","tag-ron-stockton","tag-dave-stockton-jr","tag-matt-kuchar","tag-feel","tag-gail-stockton","tag-annika-sorenstam","tag-putting","tag-davestockton","tag-yanitseng"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/robertfagan\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2011\/09\/UnconsciousPuttingNEW1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/robertfagan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/robertfagan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/robertfagan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/robertfagan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/41"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/robertfagan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5451"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/robertfagan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5451\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5461,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/robertfagan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5451\/revisions\/5461"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/robertfagan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/robertfagan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/robertfagan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/robertfagan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}