Golf My Own Damn Way: Playin' the Game and Lovin' Life [Hardcover]

This is a mixture of instruction and John's observations of the golf scene, told in his unique, irreverent and amusing way.
I found myself laughing out loud on a number of occasions, although, as the book is "ghosted", you wonder how much of the witty prose he is actually responsible for!
The instruction side is well put over and full of sound common sense to the experienced golfer eg. the opening part about practice before a round helping you enormously. Most of the rest of the instruction is to be found in countless golf books but not given in quite the same way! His views on other golfing matters, such as changing various rules (eg making "gimmes" compulsary in certain situations) will no doubt have a lot of support among the golfing fraternity.
A book for every golfer's bookshelf!

Being a John Daly fan I picked this book up with some interest as to what words of wisdom or useful tips and instruction this man, has to offer. Its John Daly after all the fat, beer swilling, cigarette smoking, McDonalds eating Golfer who barely makes a cut these days let alone win anything.

I began to read the book and found it as expected to be totally different from Golf Coaching Books from the likes of Leadbetter or Harmon. This book assumes you are already playing golf or if not then get yourself off to a Professional and have lessons as you won't learn anything from a book. Those are Daly's words not mine. Instead this book focuses on what an already golfing golfer can do to shave some shots off their score.
Some of John's tips and instructions seem almost hypocritical at times when you think about Daly and his wild ways but as the books title says this is "Golf His Damn Way" and he does the things he suggests however hard to believe. The very first tip or instruction he gives on how to warmn up correctly 30 minutes before a round, to shave some strokes off the first 4 Holes of your round which can usually make or break you, just has you wondering if its really Daly writing this. Later when he starts talking about leaving the Driver out the bag and playing without it, you really do wonder if you're reading the right book. John Daly the 300+ yard long drive expert telling us to leave the driver at home. Daly covers every aspect of the game in a fun way and his instructions are simple to understand.

Amid the tips and instruction Daly provides some additional material his views on things like Slow Play in Golf and how to tackle it (Play to 18 Holes or 5 Hours whichever occurs first then hit the bar), His view on Private Members Clubs that don't allow the public to play, Why 'Gimmies' should become a proper part of golf especially on the PGA Tour. He also provides answers in the books to common questions he's asked in daily life and interviews, What are his favourite courses? What are his favourite holes in Golf? Why does he hate Par 3s? What does he really think of Pro-Ams?

This book was quite surprising to read and unlike most Coaching Books, theres no diagrams or drawings no right or wrong way to do anything. I'd compare it somewhat to books by Bob Rotella or Karl Morris really. Daly suggests things to help improve your game and thats both the physical and mental side of it. Yet does so in a way that makes it your decision whether to listen and take on board what he offers and makes it possible for you to pick out the bits relevant to you. Above all what I like is that this book much like Tiger Woods' is a look at how a Professional Plays and at no time does it ever say it is the one and only way to play or the correct way over another method. Daly even mentions in one chapter that if you read most Golf Books his swing is labelled a big No-No due to him taking the club past parallel with the ground at the top of his swing and being so long with his backswing. However as John says, "Who made the rule the club must be parallel at the top of the swing?"

Give it a read if your a golfer you may be able to take something from it and if not you might have a laugh or a smile reading it. Especially when Daly starts comparing Golf to Sex.