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| In Search of the Greatest Golf Swing: Chasing the Legend of Mike Austin, the Man Who Launched the World's Longest Drive and Taught Me to Hit Like a | 
 enlarge | Author: Philip Reed
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
Buy New: $8.88
You Save: $6.07 (41%)
New (8) Used (5) from $7.62
Avg. Customer Rating:  31 reviews
Sales Rank: 546402
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 240
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 6.6 x 4.6 x 0.9
ISBN: 078671624X
Dewey Decimal Number: 796
EAN: 9780786716241
ASIN: 078671624X
Publication Date: October 20, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: In stock - Sent fast from British booksellers.
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
When author Philip Reed met ninety-year-old Mike Austin, he knew that Austin held the record for the longest drive everan awesome 515-yard shot during a Senior PGA event. What he didnt know was that he was forging a bond with a man whose amazing life he chronicles in a book that is charming, funny, and wise, and cherished by amateur and pro golfers alike. In their sessions together, Austin spins yarns about winning wagers on trick shots, sharing a Hollywood apartment with Errol Flynn; giving secret lessons to Howard Hughes; and matching shots against Sam Snead and Ben Hogan. And Reed records them all while carefully transcribing the secrets of the most powerful swing in the history of golf. Through Austins wavering health and implausible storytelling, Reed has written a book that has the golf world buzzing and readers who savor heartwarming stories of unexpected friendships smiling.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 26 more reviews...
Terrific Value August 3, 2008
Philip Reed's "In Search of the Greatest Golf Swing" reveals his elevating but daunting experience as a student, friend, and biographer of the amazing Mike Austin. Mr. Reed's humbling yet successful quest to learn the keys to super-human drives endured the gauntlet of Mike Austin's piercing, super-energized, indomitable personality. At the age of 64, over 33 years ago during competition, Mr. Austin achieved the still-standing Guinness Book of World Records standard of 515 yards for longest recorded drive. Curiously, until now, Mike Austin was largely ignored in conventional golf history though knowledgeable insiders believe he was a half-century or more ahead in power-golf technique. Philip Reed's documentary has filled a significant gap in our golfing lore. For the dedicated golfer who seeks an honest inside-the-ropes story, "In Search of the Greatest Golf Swing" is a terrific value.
A fascinating read for any golfer -- and a touching story, too April 21, 2008
Ostensibly this book is half biography of little-known long driver Mike Austin and half technical discussion of Austin's revolutionary swing, many aspects of which run counter to conventional PGA wisdom. But as the artfully written narrative progresses, a third element emerges as well -- the touching story of the friendship that develops between Austin and author Reed during the writing of the book.
No avid golfer could read this book and fail to feel inspired to work on his or her game (I finished it yesterday and headed straight for the driving range today); some might even want to try out Austin's unorthodox mechanics. Yet there is a human-interest story here as well, the story of a larger-than-life golfing god who smacked a 515-yard drive at age 64 but somehow couldn't putt to save his life; lived it up with Hollywood celebrities and was respected by the best golfers in the world; studied the human anatomy and wore a skeleton suit while giving golf lessons to demonstrate proper body movement; and forged an unlikely friendship with a journalist decades his junior who weathered Austin's steely gruffness until it gave way to genuine respect and affection.
Highly recommended -- not just for golfers, but also for anyone interested in a well-crafted feel-good story about a fascinating man and his iconoclastic genius.
A great book about a great golfing hero January 30, 2008
I've just finished reading this book and I have to say it is a great read and is well worth buying.
It is a story of how the author, Philip Reed, sets off to document the world's longest ever drive in a tournament set in 1974 by Mike Austin, and along the way wants to learn enough about this swing so he can transform his own drive of 200 yards into a more manly 300 yards.
The books gets off to a shaky start but I stuck with it. And after a couple of chapters I could no longer put it down. He helped me get to know more about Mike Austin, his history and his achievements.
It made me want to be there in the place of the author since Mike seems like a real character and a throwback to a different age and a different world.
It even gave me a few tips, and some hope, on how I might possibly be able to improve my own swing to give 300 yard drives. Now that would be nice.
Read this and give yourself a pleasant break from all those golf instruction manuals out there while enjoying a good golfing story.
Magnificent Book and a Fascinating Story December 7, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book is absolutely wonderful. I picked it up out of curiosity after learning about Mike Austin's record-breaking achievement (longest drive in professional golf competition history), and ended up being completely drawn into the story. With a straightforward, honest writing style that moves at a nice pace and never gets bogged down, Philip Reed does a masterful job of portraying a complex man filled with both flaws and greatness, who not only achieved a stupendous feat that no one has ever topped, but also lived a fascinating life that plays like a great movie. Reed deftly weaves Austin's story together with his own journey by bringing the reader along with him as he describes his efforts to get to know Mike Austin and learn his swing secrets. He sets out not only to write about Austin, but also to experience for himself the power of Mike Austin's swing, hoping to harness it to achieve a personal goal of hitting the ball 300 yards. As we learn about Austin's amazing life and unmatched golf swing alongside the author, we are simultaneously drawn into a surprisingly touching story of how Reed came to develop a bond of friendship with Austin. Viewed through the lens of Reed's relationship with Austin, we come to understand and truly appreciate Mike Austin at a much deeper level, and also come away with important lessons about life. This is a magnificent book, and I can't recommend it highly enough.
wonderful reading November 16, 2007
The other reviews say it all - that this is a wonderful book on many different levels. I trust that some day it will be recognized as a sports classic.
I just want to add that Reed's book is an invaluable companion to Dan Shauger's 'The 21st Century Golf Swing'. This latter book has such an odd and uncomfortable style (my opinion only, of course) that it was hard for me to know whether to take the technical parts of it seriously. After reading this fine book it became clear that, yes indeed, you can.
It would be great if Shauger and Reed could collaborate on a second edition of '21st Century...'. I'll put up some front money, if that would help.
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