Player's Handbook: A Study Guide for in His Grip : Foundations for Life and Golf

This book can improve your life in a thousand ways. Jim Shead and Wally Armstrong take the bible and apply it to the game of golf and to life in manner that is unobtrusive and realistic. For Christians and non-Christians alike, this book competently teaches the reader the benefits of living in God’s Word.
Shead and Armstrong have divided this book into chapters, with each chapter relating a message of Christianity to a specific aspect of golf, which is then related to a specific aspect of life. Some examples of the chapters are; balance, timing, perseverance, and power sources. The chapters work in a progressive order, the following one expanding or adding to the preceding chapter.
Perhaps the most effective aspect of this book is the way the reader is kept from becoming lost as they learn about Christianity. The progressiveness of the chapters allows the readers to grasp or understand a concept before they are introduced to more. As well, Christianity can be confusing, and Shead and Armstrong reduce the confusion with the quality of examples they use. Each and every example is realistic and most likely been experienced by the reader. In other Christianity books, examples may seem to come from fairy tales, where only a few have ever heard or have themselves experienced the examples being used. For example, most golfers have found themselves at one time or another facing a shot out of a sand trap. This example is something that most people can identify with. “In His Grip” explains how life can also put you in a bunker, and uses God’s Word to explain how to get out or prevent you from going in.
The bible passages that accompany every page also provide a means for the reader to expand upon what they have just read and learned. What makes this unique is the availability of secondary sources that go into greater detail and may provide further insights. If the reader was sufficiently impressed with “In His Grip” and wanted to know more about living with God, they would only have to look in a bible (which is not difficult to attain).
Shead and Armstrong also did a good job of keeping it light enough so the reader does not get discouraged. This book was written in a manner that provided the reader with both encouragement and hope. The wholehearted encouragement leaps of the page, creating the impression that the authors’ goals are to help you instead of writing to make a buck. The only drawback is the length. A book that makes you feel this good should be longer.
So before you spend money on a book, stop and think what you’re getting out of it. Entertainment from a book is one thing, lifelong self-fulfillment is another. “In His Grip” is an incredibly solid read. Anyone (golfer or non) looking to find themselves and sincere happiness could learn a lesson or two from this book.


Player's Handbook   November 14, 2000
 2 out of 2 found this review helpful

I would recommend this study guide to any golfer that would like to take their Game for both Golf and Life to the next level. Jim and Wally did a wonderful job of showing us how the foundations of life and golf are so similar. I am excited to share with you that we are now using the study guides in our church to reach out to golfers and help them take their game for life and golf to a whole new level. Well Done!