Unconscious Scoring: Dave Stockton's Guide to Saving Shots Around the Green

Quick read. Very instructive.

This is a companion to Dave's first book, Unconscious Putting. In both he claims better golf occurs when you stop thinking about mechanics. That may be true for the golf professional but is often no farther from the truth for the amateur. Fortunately for the amateur and even the struggling professional, Stockton abandons his unconscious philosophy in the second book. He says one thing and then does the other. He presents an excellent simplified approach to getting up and down with only two basic shots, a low shot and a high shot. In other words, a chip and a pitch. He then describes a very precise and mechanical method of stance, grip, set-up and pre-shot routine. He directs all golfers, regardless of eye or hand dominance to "push back" for the low shot with the flat left wrist and to "pull back" for the higher pitch shot or bunker with the cocked right wrist. Nuances of loft, lie, and ball position bring into play additional creativity in determining how far, how high, etc..So I tried it and I liked it. I like this approach precisely because it offers you a consistent "mechanical" approach to the short game even though the author denies being mechanical. The problem I see as an expert in neuromuscular physiology (medical and graduate degrees in biophysics) is that the amateur does not have enough motor experience to just look at a shot and "see it" in his or her mind's eye and then pull the trigger. The same with putting. If you do not have consistent stroke mechanics, no amount of pretending to feel the stroke or see the line is going to make you a better putter or a better chipper. The beauty of his chipping method, ie the low shot, is that you can use the exact same setup every time, vary the loft of the club and the length of the back swing, and as long as you put in some practice, become reasonably proficient in a short period of time. The high shot will take more time because there is more movement and more timing to get a proper release or throwing of the club under the ball, exactly what your instructors do not want you to do in the full swing where this action adds loft and opens the face to create a weak high or low bladed shot. That being said, thank you Dave for taking another 1-2 strokes off my last five rounds here at TPC Champions in Scottsdale. This course provides a perfect layout for both types of short game shots and I found the instruction so easy to understand and apply that the benefit was immediate. Your response may be contingent on your current handicap or time available to practice. This book will be well worth your time and effort. In the interest of full disclosure, my handicap is zero. I had so much fun with this I started missing greens on purpose playing 2-4 balls per hole in order to work on his techniques, an amazing confidence builder. Thank you Dave!

book came in a timely manner, not done reading though

The thing that proved useful to me in this book was the way shots around the green are categorized and then explained. Found the basic bunker shot explanation and execution the best in terms of developing consistency. This has been a problem area and I've tried a lot of methods - club pro instruction, Gary Player's youtube video, Golf Digest tips etc. The Stockton method has by far been the simplest and best for me. He also tells you why. I would buy this book solely for the bunker lesson. Additionally this book helped reinforce the chip shot (low shot) and pitch shot (high shot) fundamentals and most trouble shots. On another note I've found Sieckmann's Putting book comprehensive for that topic. Not so much this one. Why the 4 stars? He shows a picture of all lies in a bunker - good lie, fried-egg and buried and in the text says he will cover the last two mentioned lies in Trouble Shots and never does (I've reread this thrice and cant find it). Plus would have been good if the sidehill lies were covered in Trouble shots - not just uphill and downhill. In short whats covered is well explained, is conducive to self-learning and transferable to the course.

Dave Stockton is one of the true masters of the scoring game, and the short game. In the mid 80s, I used to follow him at the Greater Hartford Open where he played with a former champion's invitation. I had a free clinic on scoring from mid iron to chipping to putting. Although noted for his putting skills and teaching, he regularly scored better than his multi generationally younger playing partners at the tournament, though often outdriven by 30 yards. His Cybervision video on putting should have cult status, in my opinion! But his positive approach to the core of scoring is well presented here. He is far less mechanical than some of the other scoring gurus, but this book is right up there with Ray Floyd's book on scoring, imo! By the way, this book balances the mental and mechanical elements of scoring throughout! There is technique involved, and Mr. Stockton shows you what he did, as well as what you should do, to master the critical shots to score low if you sometimes find the rough, off the tee AND around the green, as I do!

I'm giving this book a three star because the content seems very good. What I don't understand is why I paid an additional $2.00 for the 'Deluxe' edition that was said to have videos and many other electronic content to enhance the instructional material. I have tried to see this content on my Kindle Paperwhite, my Kindle app on my Microsoft Surface and my windows PC and they all say the same thing: "There is content at this location that is currently not supported for your device. The caption for this content is displayed below." I think it should be pointed out in the Kindle Bookstore that the media is not available on Amazon's own Kindle as well as computers using Windows 7 or Windows 8.I've never experienced a situation like this with Amazon/Kindle and am very disappointed. It's not the $2.00, it's that there may be very useful instructional material that I have paid for and am not able to access. I might add that this is probably the most money I have ever paid for a Kindle book in all the years I've owned Kindles.

Primarily known as a putting guru, Dave Stockton's second book is a on the short-game : 30 yards and in.Largely written around his take on two techniques/ key shots : low chips and higher pitches.I am a 19 handicap golfer. Well I was. I have cut at least four shots from my game in a couple of months. And my 'up and downs' are now a regular occurrence rather than once in a while.Thank you Mr Stockton!

I am not one for the "Get fixed quick" and "copy me" instructional stuff printed in books and magazines, but having heard of the success and teaching skills of Dave Stockton I decided to give "Unconscious Putting" a try, with brilliant results, so it was a no-brainer to get the follow-up "Unconscious Scoring". Once again Stockton delivers. Superb instruction and insight into one of the most important parts of the game of golf. I am looking forward to seeing the results out on the course.

It disappointing thing is I bought the deluxe version for the kindle however the additional content was not compatible.Seem a bit pointless given it was sold as an enhanced version for use with exactly such a device.Stockton advice on the short game is practicable and simple.It could do without the regular references to Taylor made equipment, however the core of the teachings are sound and have already improve my approach to my short game and putting.I look forward to putting some if this into practice in the upcoming season.

Good book

Good book and very easy techniques to follow