Homer Kelley's Golfing Machine: The Curious Quest That Solved Golf Paperback – May 4, 2010

This book is a good read. It's not an instructional book, but tells a fascinating story about Homer Kelly and his quest to explain the golf swing in scientific terms. It's amazing to read how much focus and energy Homer put into this task. Sure, there are some swing tips in between, but if you are looking to improve your golf swing you should look somewhere else. My problem is now I want to read the original The Golfing Machine, which unfortunately is not available for Kindle.

Great read for those who have a burning passion regarding history of golf science and its application to golf teaching. The connections made between a lone eccentric (Homer Kelly) who fashioned this science and its adoption among professional players and teachers who followed is fascinating. Even more interesting is that one can go to youtube.com and see these principles taught by those involved with promoting and incorporating it as a most valuable science. I was particularly taken with the science of the two main hinges of the golf swing. Always wondered why good players were looking back at their backswing position and down at their hand position at contact. What were they looking for? You'll find the history of these developments in the book, but you'll need to go to youtube to understand the importance of these findings as applied to actual swing mechanics.

I must agree with many of the other reviewers that this book is a complete waste of time...unless you are a natural born biography reader, regardless of the subject bio-graphed. This is a biography, nothing more. To boot, Homer Kelley, while he produced an excellent piece of work in "The Golfing Machine," was not a professional golfer, golf instructor, nor even a golfer until later in life. He simply did scientific research not done so comprehensively to date that produced a true bible. His life is not that of story or legend.His life is not very interesting, nor something I was interested in when I mistakenly purchased this book. Like many others in rural America during the first half of the 20th century, he simply did everything he could to get by. Nothing interesting there. However, what is interesting is that he decided to take a scientific look at the golf swing and write it down. This is what is interesting...i.e., the book "The Golfing Machine." Buy that one.Save your money on this one.

The author has done a really nice job of detailing Homer Kelley and his life. It is a history book more than anything else. The book sheds light on why all the mechanical teaching is going on today with the PGA players and teachers. This explains why the feel players are going away. That was the most interesting aspect of the book. Homer Kelley is the mark in time when teaching methods changed in golf to the pros and the every day joe. The book is very well written by the author. If you are looking more than just a golf time marker/history book, this is not the book for you.

It's surprising so many people are angry that this book is not Kelly's book. Kelly's book requires close observation and close reading, and readers would have to share those capabilities to begin with.The book could be said to present two main stories, with minor arcs about a large supporting cast of characters who were tangentially involved with the second story about marketing and promotion of Kelly's book in the golf industry. There is much to learn from the book about some dynamics of golf education. The first main story, however, is about how Kelly went about his research and the articulation in a book of his findings.As an academic and teacher for 3 decades in university, I could have done with far less exposition about the many supporting character backgrounds and experiences. After about 50 pages, I scanned those pages of personality and background description. The book could have easily been 70 pages shorter at least. (So many writers seem to think that description is writing, Scott.)Scott Gummer's book in my view is worth the price and effort to read it. It exposes what seems patently obvious to anyone who has any experience in golf and golf instruction: there seems to be really no one right way to do anything. Golf seems to present a set of issues that need integrating and resolving at a system-level (as Kelly argued repeatedly). That is, there seems to be no silver bullet that will "fix" a golf swing. Instead, there seems to be relationships among issues and techniques. As a result, in my view, Kelly's book damns the unending list of golf-education solutions that we are all aware of in almost everything we read and see and experience from pros and golf literature.Academically--that is, given the individuality of golf swing solutions that Tiger, Jack, Gary, Arnold, (and the long list of reputable teachers) give the golfing community--I'd say it's important for a discriminating reader to understand the fine-grained efforts and diligence that a researcher makes in coming to his or her findings. Other than golf scores, it seems impossible to verify and validate which golf instructions are suitable for an individual. (Effects are not causes.) For comparison, anthropology presents the same challenge to its researchers: readers will judge a study based upon how careful and systematic and detailed a research study is. Kelly's work, as Gummer's book shows, is nothing if not careful, detailed, and systematic. (It also seems incomprehensible to many readers.)I'm enthusiastic about recommending this book to other readers, but the book will not be for everyone. I'd say a reader needs to be open to the same orientation as Kelly was (although not as devoted as Kelly was for 44 years).

A great look into the history of golf in America. An inspirational story that I am grateful to have heard.

This book has little or nothing to do with explaining the Golf Machine, just the life of its creator. Unfortunately, Homer Kelley's life was not particularly interesting. Had the author simplified and explained the Golfing Machine and imbued his story with at least a modicum of excitement he might have better succeeded.As it stands, "Homer Kelly's Golfing Machine" was simply not worth the effort. I found myself skimming large parts of the book thirsty for interesting anecdotes or useful insights into Kelly's method. No such luck.Save yourself the time and effort and forgo this book. "The Green" or anything by Mark Frost far far surpasses this mediocre effort.