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The Impact Zone
Every golfer can improve their game using the instructions in The Impact Zone by Bobby Clampett "one of the most knowledgeable golfing minds in the game." —Tom Lehman, British Open Champion
Impact has long been called golf's "moment of truth," and great golfers have spent countless hours working on their swings trying to upgrade their impact dynamics as the golf club approaches, contacts, then swings through the ball. For the first time, with The Impact Zone , golfers will have a book that focuses their attention on the very same region of the swing on which professional golfers have always concentrated.
The Impact Zone is a unique instructional guide in that everything in it either focuses on or applies to improving a golfer's understanding and execution of impact. Here, acclaimed professional golfer Bobby Clampett concludes that the overwhelming bias and convention of today's contemporary teaching environment is to value swing styles over swing dynamics, and in so doing, the overwhelming majority of golf teachers miss the boat in terms of teaching the game effectively. Ultimately this emphasis on swing style comes at the expense of helping golfers to develop sound swing dynamics, which are the real keys to consistent ball striking and better golf.
With the help of CBS's Swing Vision high-speed camera—using images from many of the game's greatest contemporary players (including Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, John Daly, Vijay Singh, Sergio Garcia, and more)— The Impact Zone takes an unprecedented look at the most important six inches in golf, those that immediately precede, contain, and follow impact. To further demonstrate these principles, Clampett presents photos and drills that convey the five essential dynamics golfers need to produce and reproduce solid impact.
Throughout these instructional pages, Bobby Clampett—teamed with veteran golf writer Andy Brumer—relays his own personal story of straying from swing dynamics and how he found his way back. He recalls memorable stories from the Tour, blending innovative instruction with his colorful, engaging anecdotes.
Clampett and Brumer create an essential instructional guide with clear, concise advice—on creating great swing dynamics through the impact zone—the universally acknowledged key to more consistent and better golf.
Impact has long been called golf's "moment of truth," and great golfers have spent countless hours working on their swings trying to upgrade their impact dynamics as the golf club approaches, contacts, then swings through the ball. For the first time, with The Impact Zone , golfers will have a book that focuses their attention on the very same region of the swing on which professional golfers have always concentrated.
The Impact Zone is a unique instructional guide in that everything in it either focuses on or applies to improving a golfer's understanding and execution of impact. Here, acclaimed professional golfer Bobby Clampett concludes that the overwhelming bias and convention of today's contemporary teaching environment is to value swing styles over swing dynamics, and in so doing, the overwhelming majority of golf teachers miss the boat in terms of teaching the game effectively. Ultimately this emphasis on swing style comes at the expense of helping golfers to develop sound swing dynamics, which are the real keys to consistent ball striking and better golf.
With the help of CBS's Swing Vision high-speed camera—using images from many of the game's greatest contemporary players (including Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, John Daly, Vijay Singh, Sergio Garcia, and more)— The Impact Zone takes an unprecedented look at the most important six inches in golf, those that immediately precede, contain, and follow impact. To further demonstrate these principles, Clampett presents photos and drills that convey the five essential dynamics golfers need to produce and reproduce solid impact.
Throughout these instructional pages, Bobby Clampett—teamed with veteran golf writer Andy Brumer—relays his own personal story of straying from swing dynamics and how he found his way back. He recalls memorable stories from the Tour, blending innovative instruction with his colorful, engaging anecdotes.
Clampett and Brumer create an essential instructional guide with clear, concise advice—on creating great swing dynamics through the impact zone—the universally acknowledged key to more consistent and better golf.
- GenresSports
252 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 3, 2007
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64 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
November 13, 2023
After reading this book, there is only one thing that I want to do when it comes to getting better at the game of golf, and that is to work diligently and patiently on improving my swing dynamics through the impact zone.
And to think that I was thinking about paying a lot of money to take lessons in a simulator on a turf surface! One of my things is feeling self-conscious about taking a divot. I'd be better off practicing on some other course than my home course to get better at playing golf while I practice my swing, like apparently Phil Mickelson does before big tournaments.
I can wholeheartedly relate to the authors' comments about hitting a lot of golf balls on the range and how it can lead to a reduction of performance on the course.
The bottom line is that I should have read this book a long time ago. PGA HOPE is famous for roping in veterans into its program and then "graduating" them with free clubs, and that is great, but Clampett goes a long way into describing how deleterious an effect bad equipment can have on a golfer's game.
To their credit, I remember the PGA Met Section describing somewhere we vets could go for club fittings, and now that I am in it to win it when it comes to golf, you can bet your bottom dollar that when I have the means, I am going in for a club fitting and some PGA Pro personal guidance on new equipment.
Thank you, Bobby Clampett and Andy Brumer.
And to think that I was thinking about paying a lot of money to take lessons in a simulator on a turf surface! One of my things is feeling self-conscious about taking a divot. I'd be better off practicing on some other course than my home course to get better at playing golf while I practice my swing, like apparently Phil Mickelson does before big tournaments.
I can wholeheartedly relate to the authors' comments about hitting a lot of golf balls on the range and how it can lead to a reduction of performance on the course.
The bottom line is that I should have read this book a long time ago. PGA HOPE is famous for roping in veterans into its program and then "graduating" them with free clubs, and that is great, but Clampett goes a long way into describing how deleterious an effect bad equipment can have on a golfer's game.
To their credit, I remember the PGA Met Section describing somewhere we vets could go for club fittings, and now that I am in it to win it when it comes to golf, you can bet your bottom dollar that when I have the means, I am going in for a club fitting and some PGA Pro personal guidance on new equipment.
Thank you, Bobby Clampett and Andy Brumer.
December 9, 2019
Bobby Clampett played on the PGA tour for a few years and he is now a TV commentator. I have read many golf instruction books but this one for me was very helpful. One of his 5 "Dynamics" is focusing the eyes about 2-4 inches in front of the ball for all shots except the putter (Dave Stockton makes a case for also doing this for putting). This is the swing "bottom" and it helps one swing slightly down on iron shots and level with a teed ball.
Golf is an endlessly complicated game and what works for one player may not work for another, but this and his other "Dynamics" certainly have helped my game.
Golf is an endlessly complicated game and what works for one player may not work for another, but this and his other "Dynamics" certainly have helped my game.
May 27, 2017
I have studied the golf swing for years. I have personally recorded and analyzed hundreds of golf swings. I find the science of the swing very interesting.
This book assisted in my understanding of the swing, and clearly the Impact Zone is the only part of the swing that really matters. This book had great visuals and solid drills to help you improve your swing.
This book assisted in my understanding of the swing, and clearly the Impact Zone is the only part of the swing that really matters. This book had great visuals and solid drills to help you improve your swing.
September 2, 2017
Very helpful
This book has helped me for the first time to stop worrying about my swing but instead understanding the impact zone. I am seeing more improvement in my game. Wish I had this book when I started golf!
This book has helped me for the first time to stop worrying about my swing but instead understanding the impact zone. I am seeing more improvement in my game. Wish I had this book when I started golf!
November 7, 2018
A light on the way to self improvement
This book would benefit anyone seeking improvement.Follow Bobby,s teachings and learn how to improve yourself and make the most of practice.
This book would benefit anyone seeking improvement.Follow Bobby,s teachings and learn how to improve yourself and make the most of practice.
January 6, 2015
published in 2007 ...
oh oh oh ... as usual i have tons to say, mostly good.
first, i think this book is meant for golfers with some understanding of the golf swing. i don't think it would be very helpful to a beginner. however, if you are a beginner, do read it, just after you've got some of the basics like grip and stance down.
second, bobby clampett is interesting because he was an amateur phenom, the likes of tiger and jack, but his pro career was less than what many expected. he speaks to this in the book, saying that when he got on the pga tour he developed that dreaded "rabbit ears", a well known tour disease where players that were good enough to make the tour start listening to tour swing gurus, change swings and plummet.
see, bobby, now a long-time CBS golf announcer, was a student of bob doyle, who was the main proponent of homer kelley's "golfing machine" book and teaching method. it was and is highly controversial and particularly "technical". bobby gives credit to bob and homer and states that if he'd have stuck with their teachings he'd probably have had a better career. so, it is very interesting to look at an instructional book from a great golfer who was a dedicated "golfing machine" student ... what does he keep from his years of learning from bob? how did he filter what he learned into this book?
i believe the core principles of this book are PURE GENIUS and they arise from bobby's resentment regarding his movement away from what he was taught as a kid.
he creates a dichotomy: there are swing STYLES and there are swing DYNAMICS. Styles are things like whether you flare your front foot, your particular grip choice, whether you are shut, open or square at the top. These are secondary to the swing dynamics, and, bobby claims (and i agree), failure of teachers to make this distinction and to spend too much time on style instead of dynamics, is a failure of teaching pros.
if that bit of information isn't genius enough, there is more! bobby gives us more. these are the dynamics, and he takes us though them in the natural progression from putting, to chipping, to pitching to full swing. it makes my heart flutter to think of how beautiful this teaching method is: to start the student with putting then chipping then pitching and then the full swing ... like a ballet, so natural ... each movement complimenting and building on the other. so here they are:
DYNAMIC 1: flat left wrist (putting)
DYNAMIC 2: forward leaning club shaft (chipping)
DYNAMIC 3: loading in the backswing (pitch)
DYNAMIC 4: lag in the downswing (full swing)
DYNAMIC 5: straight plane line (full swing)
and, even though each dynamic is taught in the corresponding swing type, each one builds on the other, so the full swing involves all 5 dynamics.
and if you are a student of the swing like me, you know that LAG and a corresponding forward strike is the beautiful result along with distance and trajectory, etc. so bobby gives us with the golf swing what dave pelz gave us with putting-- a number to remember. dave pelz' was 18" (the optimal speed to him a putt is so that if it missed it would roll 18" past the whole --because of the 'lumpy donut, etc.). bobby's number is 4". 4", 4". 4" i tell you! it's the optimal distance where a divot should start in front of the ball. i will never forget it!
so i do have a couple complaints: first the photos are disappointing. he uses CBS swingvision slow mo stills and, quite frankly, they suck. second, while i like some of his stories, he could have used an editor. there is a lot of repetition. these are minor criticisms and i still give it five stars.
thank you bobby!!
oh oh oh ... as usual i have tons to say, mostly good.
first, i think this book is meant for golfers with some understanding of the golf swing. i don't think it would be very helpful to a beginner. however, if you are a beginner, do read it, just after you've got some of the basics like grip and stance down.
second, bobby clampett is interesting because he was an amateur phenom, the likes of tiger and jack, but his pro career was less than what many expected. he speaks to this in the book, saying that when he got on the pga tour he developed that dreaded "rabbit ears", a well known tour disease where players that were good enough to make the tour start listening to tour swing gurus, change swings and plummet.
see, bobby, now a long-time CBS golf announcer, was a student of bob doyle, who was the main proponent of homer kelley's "golfing machine" book and teaching method. it was and is highly controversial and particularly "technical". bobby gives credit to bob and homer and states that if he'd have stuck with their teachings he'd probably have had a better career. so, it is very interesting to look at an instructional book from a great golfer who was a dedicated "golfing machine" student ... what does he keep from his years of learning from bob? how did he filter what he learned into this book?
i believe the core principles of this book are PURE GENIUS and they arise from bobby's resentment regarding his movement away from what he was taught as a kid.
he creates a dichotomy: there are swing STYLES and there are swing DYNAMICS. Styles are things like whether you flare your front foot, your particular grip choice, whether you are shut, open or square at the top. These are secondary to the swing dynamics, and, bobby claims (and i agree), failure of teachers to make this distinction and to spend too much time on style instead of dynamics, is a failure of teaching pros.
if that bit of information isn't genius enough, there is more! bobby gives us more. these are the dynamics, and he takes us though them in the natural progression from putting, to chipping, to pitching to full swing. it makes my heart flutter to think of how beautiful this teaching method is: to start the student with putting then chipping then pitching and then the full swing ... like a ballet, so natural ... each movement complimenting and building on the other. so here they are:
DYNAMIC 1: flat left wrist (putting)
DYNAMIC 2: forward leaning club shaft (chipping)
DYNAMIC 3: loading in the backswing (pitch)
DYNAMIC 4: lag in the downswing (full swing)
DYNAMIC 5: straight plane line (full swing)
and, even though each dynamic is taught in the corresponding swing type, each one builds on the other, so the full swing involves all 5 dynamics.
and if you are a student of the swing like me, you know that LAG and a corresponding forward strike is the beautiful result along with distance and trajectory, etc. so bobby gives us with the golf swing what dave pelz gave us with putting-- a number to remember. dave pelz' was 18" (the optimal speed to him a putt is so that if it missed it would roll 18" past the whole --because of the 'lumpy donut, etc.). bobby's number is 4". 4", 4". 4" i tell you! it's the optimal distance where a divot should start in front of the ball. i will never forget it!
so i do have a couple complaints: first the photos are disappointing. he uses CBS swingvision slow mo stills and, quite frankly, they suck. second, while i like some of his stories, he could have used an editor. there is a lot of repetition. these are minor criticisms and i still give it five stars.
thank you bobby!!
May 27, 2015
Does a better job of breaking down the different things your trying to make the club due instead of the normal approach of how you stand or swing that throws out a lot of a person's unique physical differences. Not that any book can really get you to fix this game after a read, but as in any book of this type if it helps with just a few pieces of your game then its worth the read. In this case this book is bound to help you with at least one difficulty. For me, I no longer top the ball like I used to.
September 23, 2016
This is an entire book that explores the path of a golf club in that one-foot zone as it passes through the golf ball. Sound dull? Then you are not serious about the game. To those of us who are obsessed, Bobby Clampett's well-written analysis is an eye opener. In fact, I'm headed to the range early tomorrow morning with a list of new swing techniques to try out. All golfers tinker with their swings. If I learn one little tweak that helps me improve accuracy, then my time with this book was worthwhile.
July 18, 2012
This was a very readable treatise on the intricacies of the golf swing. It reinforced the importance of hitting down through the ball leaving the digit 2 - 3 inches in front of the ball. The principle that came clearly to me is "THAT THE ARMS ARE SUBSURVIENT TO TO THE LEGS AND SHOULDERS" as the body turns through the swing. The Impact Zone is a very practical addition to my golf library as I pursue the golf swing.
June 19, 2016
Great book
Within the short period of time that I purchased this book I have improved the impacts on both my chipping and pitching. My putting has improved considerably just from recognizing one sentence within this book on putting. I realize I still have much more improving for my golf game and that it takes time to get it done right. Anyone that would give this book a low rating has a lot to learn about golf. Thank you MR. CLAMPETT for this great book.
Within the short period of time that I purchased this book I have improved the impacts on both my chipping and pitching. My putting has improved considerably just from recognizing one sentence within this book on putting. I realize I still have much more improving for my golf game and that it takes time to get it done right. Anyone that would give this book a low rating has a lot to learn about golf. Thank you MR. CLAMPETT for this great book.
July 18, 2016
This book is a bit dated however the information and the delivery was worthwhile for golfers of any skill level. What I found particularly unique is his view on swing style, and while some many harp on the minutiae, the one fact that remains is that the 'impact zone' is what really counts and in this case the destination can be more important than the journey.
You will not be disappointed with the information in this book.
You will not be disappointed with the information in this book.
October 30, 2018
Learn how to correctly strike a golf ball.
Bobby Clampett gives a clear explanation of swing " dynamics" that can give anyone the tools needed to strike the golf ball the way the pros do. His impact zone concept makes sense out of what most instructors make confusing. Make the kind of contact you always wanted to from putting to driving. Good read,too.
Bobby Clampett gives a clear explanation of swing " dynamics" that can give anyone the tools needed to strike the golf ball the way the pros do. His impact zone concept makes sense out of what most instructors make confusing. Make the kind of contact you always wanted to from putting to driving. Good read,too.
May 18, 2011
GREAT!!
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews