Golfing Out Of Your Mind

Moving Beyond Swing Mechanics (Just Hit The Damn Ball ) - Volume 3

Non-Fiction - Sports
121 Pages
Reviewed on 12/05/2014
Buy on Amazon

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Author Biography

B.A., Psychology, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Twenty-five-year member of the Canadian Professional Golfers Association.
Director of Instruction (32 years), Bloomington Downs Golf Club (Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada).

Author: Just Hit The Damn Ball! book series.

Based on results from over eleven-thousand lessons, this easy-to-read, non-technical book will help you discover the natural ability that lies beyond swing mechanics.

Have you ever hit a perfect shot? Every golfer, at every skill level, knows the effortless feeling of perfect contact. The secret to re-creating those shots is overcoming common misconceptions about how the game should be played.

Golfing Out Of Your Mind will help you develop the beliefs to elevate your game beyond swing mechanics and discover the natural ability every golfer has when they forget proper technique for one-and-a-half seconds and just hit the damn ball!

Are you ready to play better than you ever thought possible?







    Book Review

Reviewed by Stefan Vucak for Readers' Favorite

On the way to his usual Wednesday golf game, Jonathan meets Dave, who is gathering material for a book about playing golf. Dave offers to observe how Jonathan plays over nine holes, and the skeptical Jonathan plans to show this chair expert how a pro plays. He bogeys the first hole, the easiest hole on the course, which doesn’t get him into a good mood for the next hole, where he makes a double bogey. Dave starts a discussion, analyzing Jonathan’s shots, choice of clubs, and his expectations with each shot. He introduces Jonathan to the idea of evaluating each shot out of ten, rather than concentrating on making par, which automatically sets the player into a life or death mental framework. Jonathan thinks the idea is crazy.

On the third par 5 hole, Dave urges Jonathan to use the 5 wood instead of the driver. Jonathan has more control with the wood and the driver shot usually goes into the rough. Jonathan believes that distance is more important, but reluctantly uses the 5 wood and still shoots a good distance. Dave tells Jonathan to use the club he is most comfortable with rather than using a club he has problems with simply to try to achieve greater distance. Concentrate on consistency. Jonathan bogeys the hole, but he hit solid shots. As they progress through the remaining six holes, Dave gradually introduces new ideas for Jonathan to consider, slowly bringing the skeptic around. At end of nine holes, Jonathan makes 42, far better than he expected, and admits that Dave’s observations and pointers really do make sense.

What can I say. Dave Johnston’s Playing Out Of Your Mind: Moving Beyond Swing Mechanics is an astonishing book that every part-time golfer should read. I know it will help me with my game – provided I stick to Dave’s tips. Instead of presenting his observations, conclusions and recommendations in a dry textbook style, by using a real event story, observing how Jonathan plays, immediately engages the reader in a way that educates and entertains. I sympathized with Jonathan, reflecting on my own golf play, nodding as I read the book, realizing I was caught in the same mental traps. Playing Out Of Your Mind: Moving Beyond Swing Mechanics is a brilliant analysis of golf play and the importance to approach every shot positively, banishing the negative demons.

Stephen Fisher

Playing Out of Your Mind: Moving Beyond Swing Mechanics by Dave Johnston is a guide to lowering your golf scores. The book begins with Jonathon, a golfer obsessed with spending hours of practice while trying to correct errors in his swing. When his usual golfing buddies leave him because an author was signing books at the golf course, Jonathon decides to work on the latest swing technique that he saw on YouTube. Since Jonathon doesn’t like to play alone, the author approaches him at the practice tee and offers to accompany him for a round of golf. Jonathon accepts with the thought of exposing the author as a fraud. And so the fun begins, because Dave is not going to play, or offer advice on Jonathon’s swing. He does, however, ask lots of unexpected questions that get under Jonathon’s skin, so to speak, especially after Jonathon has two disastrous holes to begin the round.

Dave Johnston is taking notes as he talks to Jonathon, telling him that he is just gathering material for his next book. The questions Dave asks seem really stupid to Jonathon, so his answers are sarcastic anecdotes that will have you laughing out loud. Dave begins making simple suggestions about Jonathon’s choice of clubs, and gives him alternative options for each shot. What’s more, he has Jonathon get rid of his score card, and has him write down in a note book a different type of score. One that rates his shots. Suddenly Jonathon starts getting better scores than usual, but in an unorthodox way. Most of Jonathon’s problems were in his mind, so Dave asks all the right questions that help Jonathon to change his way of thinking. Jonathon’s stubbornness subsides when he realizes that moving beyond his swing mechanics gives him food for thought as he begins Playing Out of his Mind, so to speak. As an avid golfer, I totally agree with Dave Johnston’s common sense methods. This book is a hilarious must-read for golfers of every level.

Jack Magnus

Playing Out Of Your Mind: Moving Beyond Swing Mechanics is Volume 3 of Dave Johnston's golfing series, Just Hit The Damn Ball. The course described in the book is a real course at Cedarbrae Golf and Country Club. Jonathan's a high-par golfer whose game is pretty consistently in the low to mid nineties. He's ready for a workout when he notices a crowd as he approaches the club. He's unable to get his favorite parking spot and is building a head of steam when he notices a line of golfers approaching a table where some guy is signing his book about yet another method of playing golf. To make matters worse, his golfing partners all bail out on him after having their copies signed. Jonathan picks up a copy of the book, has the author sign it, and resigns himself to working on the practice range. The author follows him out to the range and asks if he can tag along as Jonathan plays nine holes. It's taking a lot of self-control as Jonathan puts up with the questions Dave poses, but somehow the things he suggests actually work.

Dave Johnston's golfing book, Playing Out Of Your Mind: Moving Beyond Swing Mechanics: Just Hit The Damn Ball, Volume 3 will not only show you how to stop working against yourself when playing golf; the tips and wisdom shared within these pages can be put to use in just about any other sport or aspect of your life. I was fascinated by how Dave sometimes subtly, and other times not-so-subtly alters Jonathan's mindset, expectations and strategies while he plays out the nine holes. As I read, I thought to myself how much sense it all made, and I started visualizing how I could make use of the skills I was learning. I'm also quite impressed with the way Johnston coaches both Jonathan and the reader. It's never preachy or overly metaphysical, and Dave's delivery of his knowledge entertains while it educates. Moving Beyond Swing Mechanics: Just Hit The Damn Ball, Volume 3 is highly recommended for anyone who wants to improve their performance in golf, sports and life.