50 Years of Golfing Wisdom. John Jacobs
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HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd.
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Hammersmith, London W6 8JB
First published in 2005 by Collins Willow
Copyright © John Jacobs and Steve Newell 2005
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
John Jacobs asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
Illustrations by Rob Davies
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Source ISBN 9780007193936
Ebook Edition © OCTOBER 2014 ISBN: 9780008118259
Version: 2014-10-02
Contents
Chapter 1: Understanding Golf’s Fundamentals
Chapter 2: Building a Better Golf Swing
Chapter 5: How to Cure Golf’s Most Common Faults
Chapter 7: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions
Chapter 8: Golfing Greats (and what you can learn)
Chapter 10: I Had Some Fun Along the Way!
Nothing meaningful in this life is ever achieved without hard work, but one always needs a little bit of luck. John Jacobs deserves his success in golf, because he invested plenty of the former and, as he freely admits, was blessed with a little of the latter, too. His talent took care of the rest. His journey is extraordinary.
John started his professional golfing life in his father’s shop at Lindrick Golf Club in Yorkshire. He would stoke the fires in the grate on Monday mornings to burn out the snapped hickory shafts of clubs broken over the course of a weekend’s play. He grew up to become one of golf’s most influential figures – tournament winner, undefeated Ryder Cup player, captain of the Ryder Cup team, founder of the PGA Tour, OBE, past President of the PGA of Europe, a member of golf’s exclusive Hall of Fame and also the Teaching Hall of Fame (itself a rare double honour), and winner of the prestigious Geoffrey Dyson Award for Sporting Teaching Excellence in 2002. Most recently Jacobs was awarded honorary membership of the R&A. The list could go on further, were there space.
Above all, though, John Jacobs is one of golf’s all-time great teachers – a true legend of the game who is in the unique position of having taught hundreds of thousands of amateurs around the world how to play better golf, in-between passing on his words of wisdom to the world’s greatest players of the last 50 years. No other coach has had more success in making the best even better. The same could be said for his influence on today’s leading coaches.
John himself is far too modest to even suggest that a list of tributes from great players through the years be included in this book, but as his collaborator on this project I am happy to relieve him of this burden, for I think it is entirely appropriate that within the remit of this foreword there is scope for personal contributions which put in perspective John’s impact on the game of golf.
‘It is an unrelenting insistence on understanding and applying the fundamental objectives of the swing, plus his remarkable ability to explain them clearly, that makes John Jacobs such a great golf teacher. Because his logic is unarguable and his reasoning so understandable, his success rate with all levels of golfers from beginner to tournament player has been and continues to be outstanding.’
Jack Nicklaus
‘John Jacobs has been a friend of mine for many years. He is an outstanding teacher and has also been an excellent golfer and a fierce competitor on the course. However, of greatest importance for me is that he is a true gentleman and an asset to the game.’
Gary Player
‘John Jacobs has contributed a great deal to the game and he is considered one of golf’s premier teachers. In building my own career, he was certainly one of the instructors I studied and he has an outstanding ability to analyse golfers’ problems through their ball flight. He is one of the game’s real grandmasters.’
David Leadbetter
‘John is the nicest person I have met in my 25-year amateur and professional career. He really is a true friend. As a golf teacher he is without doubt The Master. Simplicity is the word I would use to describe his teaching. His theories on the golf swing and the lessons he gives are so crystal clear and understandable that he makes the game of golf seem easy. His advice helps bring better golf within everyone’s grasp.’
Jose Maria Olazabal
‘I was just 14 when