FINALLY: THE GOLF SWING'S SIMPLE SECRET - A revolutionary method proved for the weekend golfer to significantly improve distance and accuracy from day one (1) [Kindle Edition]

I bought this book a couple of weeks ago. Reading the other reviews and the Camilo Villegas' quote directed to the weekend golfer, I had no doubt this was a great book but I was skeptical it was also good for intermediate or advanced golfers.

I am an 8 handicap and without a doubt, this book was the biggest surprise I have had in a long time. I have played golf since I was a kid, practice regularly and had a two-plane swing. I decided to try the one-plane backswing explained by Tamayo as the proposed shoulder turn swing thought appeared very simple to perform and to repeat. In fact, it was the easiest backswing I have ever tried and the results where incredible and immediate. Not only many more of my golf shots are now hit solidly, but my accuracy and distance judgment improved dramatically. I am making at least 1 or 2 more birdies per round.

Regarding the lag chapter, I finally understood the technical reason of why making a good transition instead of coming over the top has such a huge impact on the distance attained. As I have my swing on tape, I could check that I was making a pretty good lag which explains why I have always hit the ball long. Anyhow, I learned that holding the club a little softer increased the lag I produced and I started hitting my driver around 8-12 yards longer with the same effort.

Bottom line, I HIGHLY recommend this book to all golfers of all skills that are really interested in improving. After reading many golf books, golf magazines and taking lessons for years, I truly believe this book can help your game more than anything else.

Like some of the other reviewers, I have read my share of popular instructional titles out there and gained a little something from most of them. But this book did more for me than any of the others. I have to admit being a little skeptical about the recommendations since I did not know of the author. But when I incorporated these simple principles into my swing, I had an immediate and dramatic improvement in my ball striking quality. If you will just do what Tamayo says, you will be astounded by the improvement. He has managed to boil down a mountain of instructional advice into a few truly golden nuggets that can be applied with great success. Its my honest opinion that you could go for years and not get advice this good.

Mr. Tamayo has created an interesting little pamphlet here. He claims that you can improve your golf swing when you stop focusing on the little details, and just follow his three simple steps toward the secret of the golf swing. He says himself that his book is intended as a "quick fix" book... so if you want to shave a couple strokes off your handicap, you should be able to in short order if you read this.

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. That's the case here. The tips and advice he gives are sound, and the golf pro I discussed them with agreed with me. However, you won't go from being a 25+ handicap to a 10 handicap in one weekend.

This book is intended for someone who is inconsistent off the tee and in the fairway. It helps to break the golf swing down into simple elements, and allows you to begin crafting a more consistent swing, due to focusing on the checkpoints he gives. You will hit the ball straighter and longer, but like he says, you'll need to engrain his advice into your muscle memory first. Like everything, it will take work. if you are below a 10 handicap, don't bother with this. Possibly buy it as a gift for one of your fellow golfers who struggles a little more.

As many golfers know, however, the true way to really start lowering your scores is to putt, putt, putt, chip, chip, chip, and pitch, pitch, pitch. This book gives little advice on the short game, but that's okay. It's not what its intended purpose is. Combine this book with Secrets of the Short Game and you'll have a good one-two punch to start improving your game.

In summary, if you struggle to swing the club consistently off the tee or with your irons from 120 yards out or further, this would be a good book for you (especially if you have a Kindle... it's only $.99). It will teach you more consistent ball striking and give you a technique that will lower your scores. Combine it with some good short game advice for a true complete instruction.

UPDATE: 7/29/10

I've continued to implement Tamayo's methods over the summer, and there has been some good improvement. My handicap has dropped from 20 to 16 in the last couple months. I am able to get from tee to green with much more consistency now.

However, I wished I had taken video of my swing right when I started using this method. In following Mr. Tamayo's back swing instructions, I developed a severe flaw in my swing that was not perceptible to me. Thanks to the significant upright shoulder turn that the backswing calls for, I was bringing the club head far to the right of where it should have been. It was almost directly over my head. I only noticed this because I asked my wife to video tape me swinging a club in the back yard. The next day, I went to the range and focused on keeping my club head more to the left during the back swing. I asked someone at the driving range what it looked like, and he said the back swing looked right where it should be, even though for me, it felt like it was extremely flat. My ball striking became even more consistent, and the next time I played a round, I broke 85 for the first time in my life. At this rate, this could be the summer of 80.

So, I would encourage everyone trying this method to have someone video tape or otherwise monitor your swing, in order to see if it looks right.