Updated version of Golf Magazine Private Lessons out just in time for golf season

Unless you’ve been hording Golf Magazine since 2002, you’ve probably let all of the best tips just slip out of consciousness once you tossed the issue away.

To be honest, I read over most of them, too, without a second thought. I once had a friend call me out: “How can you read all those golf magazines and not be any better?,” he accused.

I was caught red-handed. I tend to read over the instruction pieces too quickly. They can be too technical, too boring.

But I’ve learned that approach won’t get you anywhere with your swing. Playing the game is technical. Working on it can be less of a thrill than playing. But it is entirely necessary to play better golf.

Golf Magazine has done us all a favor this month by releasing Golf Magazine Private Lessons: Revised & Updated Edition. The 304-page collection of tips features 375 full-color illustrations like those at the back of the regular magazine. Magazine editor and book author David Dusek has organized them by themes, such as putting, driving, fairway woods and chipping and pitching.

The first edition of the book became a best-seller for Abrams, the publisher. This version, which has more than 60 new pages that have been replaced with fresh material, should be just as popular. It retails for $29.95, a much cheaper price to pay than lessons. A few of these tips should come in handy with the real golf season just around the corner.