Houdini Shots: The Ultimate Short Game Survival Guide - Hardcover

Martin Hall; Dave Allen

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1118308379 ISBN 13: 9781118308370

Publisher: Trade Paper Press, 2013

Synopsis

One of Golf Digest's 10 Best Teachers in America (No. 7) helps you master the most difficult short-game shots in golf, just the way Seve Ballesteros did

Here's one golf book you should definitely own if you want to improve your game and lower your scores. Top golf instructor Martin Hall, host of Golf Channel's weekly TV show, School of Golf, teaches you how to conquer challenging short-game shots as played by one of the all-time masters of the short game, Seve Ballesteros. By the time you're done with this book you'll have a fresh arsenal of short-game shots to choose from, whether it be running the ball through a bunker or hooking it around a tree, or hitting a super-high, super-soft flop shot that lands on the green like a butterfly with sore feet. You'll uncover the secrets that made Ballesteros the most dominant and respected short-game player of his era—and put them to work to boost your own game.

• Presents easy-to-follow techniques for improving your short game, with more than fifty shots inspired by five-time major winner Seve Ballesteros
• Offers valuable insights into the imagination and thought process of Ballesteros, one of golf's greatest innovators, as well as tips for the average golfer on how to escape the most difficult short-game situations
• Written by Martin Hall, one of Golf Magazine's Top 100 Teachers and the 2008 PGA Teacher of the Year
• Draws on Hall's hours of experience watching Ballesteros hit balls and create shots up close while playing on the European PGA Tour
• Includes never-before published photos of Ballesteros at the peak of his career, hitting many of the shots in the book

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

The late, great Seve Ballesteros could drive the ball with the best of them, but it was his short game that played a pivotal, often-spectacular role in his eighty-seven lifetime victories, including five majors. Seve was at his very best when the situation seemed hopeless. Beginning with the sensational parking-lot shot that ensured his victory at the 1979 British Open, he became famous for his "Houdini shots," great escapes he accomplished whether his ball was behind a tree, embedded in a bunker, or nestled down in the deepest rough. These were shots that not only led him out of trouble, but saved pars, enabled birdies, and won championships.

In Houdini Shots, 2008 PGA National Teacher of the Year Martin Hall shows you how to conquer even the most challenging short-game shots by emulating one of the all-time masters of the short game.

With the help of more than sixty instructional photos of Seve in his prime—many of which have never been published—Hall demonstrates the great champion's secrets for some of his most dazzling escapes, from hitting the ball out from under the lip of a bunker to whacking an intentional hook around a stand of trees and making the green. You'll learn how to play fifty of the hardest shots in golf, many of which might seem too risky and too difficult to even attempt. Hall also includes tips geared specifically toward mid- and high-handicappers to help you extricate yourself from trouble.

In this short-game shot-making guide, you'll discover the keys to:

• Pitching from 50 yards and in
• Great sand escapes
• Long, short, and breaking putts
• Various other Houdini-like escapes
• Improving your short game with practice drills

The most important insight you'll gain from this user-friendly guide is just how important your short game is. If you routinely shoot 90 or higher, your tee shot is not the cause of those bogies and double bogies that plague you. Those blown strokes are the result of mistakes made within a hundred yards of the hole. With Houdini Shots as your guide, you'll be amazed how much more often you'll get the ball up-and-down, and that first putt will drop into the cup with a very satisfying thunk.

From the Back Cover:

Escape the most difficult short-game situations the same way Seve Ballesteros did

In this one-of-a-kind short-game primer, top golf instructor Martin Hall, host of GolfChannel's weekly TV show School of Golf, teaches you how to conquer challenging short-game shots as played by one of the all-time Houdinis of the short game, Seve Ballesteros. By the time you're done with these lessons, you'll have a fresh arsenal of short-game shots at your command, including running the ball through a bunker and hitting a super-high, super-soft flop shot that lands on the green like a butterfly with sore feet. You'll uncover the secrets that made Ballesteros the most dominant and respected short-game player of his era—and put them to work to boost your own game.

Inside you'll find:

• Easy-to-follow techniques for improving your short game, with more than fifty shots inspired by five-time major winner Seve Ballesteros
• Valuable insights into the imagination and thought process of Ballesteros, one of golf's greatest shotmakers
• Never-before-published photos of Ballesteros at the peak of his career, demonstrating many of the shots in the book
• Careful analysis of each shot, based on Hall's thirty-plus years as a golf-teaching professional and hundreds of hours observing Ballesteros hit short-game shots

About this edition

• Publisher: Trade Paper Press
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1118308379
• ISBN 13: 9781118308370
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 192