You work on your swing. But how much time do you spend working on your decisions?
You spend hours on the driving range. You try to improve your ball striking, gain a few extra yards off the tee, and make your swing more consistent. You watch instructional videos, experiment with new techniques, and listen to advice from coaches, friends, and golf experts.
Yet one important question often goes unanswered:
How many strokes are you really losing because of your swing — and how many are you losing because of your decisions?
Choosing the wrong club, aiming at an unnecessarily difficult target, attempting a low-percentage shot, misjudging your distances, or reacting poorly after a mistake can all have a significant impact on your score.
This is where Think Before You Swing begins.
Written by Laurent Agostini, founder of MyGolfMedia, the book offers a different approach to golf improvement: understanding what really influences your performance, learning to make smarter decisions, and developing a game that works with your abilities rather than against them.
An independent, practical, and accessible golf book designed to help you play smarter — not chase the perfect swing.
Available in paperback and Kindle editions on Amazon.
Also available: Think Before You Swing — Volume 2, an independent guide to understanding and choosing golf equipment.
Why Your Swing Doesn’t Tell the Whole Story
Golf has a frustrating habit of rewarding players who understand the game, not simply those who produce the prettiest swings.
You can hit several excellent shots during a round and still walk away with a disappointing score. Meanwhile, another golfer with a less impressive-looking swing may score better through smarter club selection, realistic expectations, and more effective course management.
That doesn’t mean technique doesn’t matter. Of course it does.
But technique is only one part of performance.
For years, golf instruction, equipment manufacturers, and the golf media have focused much of their attention on swing mechanics, technological innovations, and products designed to improve performance.
Yet on the course, you never play a swing in isolation.
You choose a target. You select a club. You assess the lie, the distance, the wind, and the consequences of a miss. You decide whether to attack or play conservatively.
And after every shot, you have to make another decision.
Improving at golf isn’t just about learning to hit better shots. It’s about learning to play better golf.
That distinction runs throughout Think Before You Swing, from the opening tee shot to the final putt.
What You’ll Learn from This Book
1. Understand What Really Influences Your Scores
Why can two shots struck with the same club produce such different results? Why do certain mistakes keep coming back despite hours of practice? How can you distinguish a swing problem from a poor decision?
The book encourages you to examine your game differently by connecting technique, impact, ball flight, and the situations you face on the course.
Rather than offering another universal swing theory, it helps you ask better questions about your own performance.
2. Make Smarter Decisions Before Every Shot
Should you attack the flag or aim for the center of the green? Is that risky recovery shot really worth attempting? What should you do after a poor drive?
Good course management isn’t reserved for professional golfers.
By understanding risk, reward, and your own abilities, you can begin making decisions that give you a better chance of avoiding costly mistakes.
3. Understand Your Distances and Shot Dispersion
Knowing how far you can hit your best 7-iron isn’t enough to choose the right club.
You also need to understand your typical carry distance, how much your shots vary, and what happens when you miss short, long, left, or right.
The book explores why realistic expectations and a better understanding of shot dispersion matter more than relying on your occasional perfect strike.
The goal is to play the game you actually have — not the game you produce once every ten swings.
4. Make Your Practice More Effective
Spending more time at the driving range doesn’t automatically lead to lower scores.
What should you practice? How should you structure a session? And how can you develop skills that transfer from the range to the course?
Think Before You Swing explores ways to make practice more purposeful, without overwhelming you with drills or promising overnight transformations.
5. Build a Healthier Relationship with Mistakes
Even the world’s best golfers hit bad shots.
What matters is not just the mistake itself, but what happens next.
Understanding what you can control, accepting uncertainty, and avoiding the temptation to compound one bad shot with another poor decision are essential parts of playing better golf.
This book doesn’t promise to take five strokes off your handicap in thirty days.
It offers something more useful: a framework for understanding your game and identifying opportunities to improve.
What Readers Are Saying
Readers of Think Before You Swing have highlighted its practical insights, accessible writing, and the value of approaching golf from a different perspective.
“Awesome book. Actually provides great tips and strategies. There’s a section regarding irons, and it really helped me understand about compressing the ball.”
Robert Dunning — Verified Amazon purchase, United States, May 2026
“Very interesting to have the perspective of an international journalist through his lines of questioning.”
Myriam Grandjean — Verified Amazon purchase, United States, April 2026
These reviews reflect the book’s central ambition: to offer ideas that golfers can question, test, and apply to their own games.
Eighteen Chapters to Help You Understand Your Game
Think Before You Swing isn’t a collection of quick fixes or a step-by-step method for rebuilding your swing.
Across 18 chapters, it examines the major areas of golf performance and, more importantly, how they connect to the decisions you make on the course.
The long game: Understand the driver, irons, fairway woods, and hybrids, along with the mistakes that influence ball flight and performance.
The short game: Explore chipping, pitching, wedge play, bunker shots, and putting — areas where sound decisions can be just as important as technical execution.
Course management: Learn to choose better targets, understand risk, account for shot dispersion, and avoid decisions that turn manageable situations into costly mistakes.
Practice and improvement: Discover how to make better use of your practice time and develop skills that are relevant to actual rounds of golf.
Equipment: Put your clubs into perspective. Equipment can help, but it cannot make every decision or compensate for every weakness in your game.
The book is built around one central idea:
Improvement = Skills × Decisions × Adaptation to the Course
You can improve your technique without necessarily improving your score if your decisions remain poor.
And sometimes, you can play better golf without dramatically changing your swing — simply by making better use of the skills you already possess.
Fifteen Years of Reporting, Research, and Real-World Experience
I didn’t write Think Before You Swing to introduce another golf swing method.
For more than fifteen years, through MyGolfMedia and my work as an independent golf journalist, I’ve had the opportunity to meet coaches, researchers, equipment engineers, industry executives, and specialists from different areas of the game.
I’ve visited research and development facilities, tested equipment, interviewed professionals, and tried to understand why some explanations hold up under scrutiny while others sound convincing but prove less useful in practice.
My work has led me to explore the research and ideas of specialists such as Adam Young and Sasho MacKenzie, along with different approaches to biomechanics, course strategy, short-game performance, and putting.
But this book isn’t simply a collection of expert opinions.
It’s an attempt to connect those perspectives and answer a question I’ve been asking throughout my career:
What actually helps an amateur golfer improve?
Experience has also taught me to be skeptical of overly simple answers.
Advice that works for one golfer may not work for another. A measurable improvement on the driving range doesn’t automatically translate into lower scores. And buying a better club doesn’t necessarily make someone a better player.
I wanted to write a book that respects those realities, including the uncertainties and contradictions that make golf such a fascinating game.
Laurent Agostini
Author of Think Before You Swing
Founder of MyGolfMedia
Who Is Think Before You Swing For?
This book is written for amateur golfers who want to understand their game more deeply, regardless of handicap.
It may be particularly valuable if you’ve been practicing consistently but feel stuck, struggle to transfer your range performance to the course, or want to make smarter decisions without completely rebuilding your swing.
It’s also for golfers who enjoy learning, questioning conventional wisdom, and understanding the reasoning behind advice.
Coaches and golf enthusiasts interested in different approaches to performance may also find useful perspectives throughout the book.
If you’re looking exclusively for a technical swing manual filled with step-by-step drills, however, this isn’t that kind of book.
The goal is to help you become a golfer who better understands what to do, why to do it, and when a different choice might produce a better result.
Get Your Copy of Think Before You Swing
Think Before You Swing — Volume 1
Understand Your Body. Make Better Decisions. Play Smarter Golf.
By Laurent Agostini.
Available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions.
Continue Your Journey with Think Before You Swing — Volume 2
Understanding Golf Equipment. Making Smarter Choices. Playing Better Golf.
The first volume of Think Before You Swing explores how your skills, decisions, and course management influence your scores.
Volume 2 tackles another essential question: If golf equipment keeps improving every year, why aren’t average golfers improving at the same pace?
Every season brings new drivers, irons, shafts, golf balls, and promises of greater distance, improved forgiveness, and better performance.
But how much of that progress translates into measurable gains? And how much of those gains actually helps an individual golfer shoot lower scores?
Drawing on fifteen years of independent golf journalism, equipment testing, interviews with engineers and industry executives, and firsthand experience with launch monitor data, Laurent Agostini examines the relationship between golfers, their equipment, and the marketing messages that influence their purchasing decisions.
Inside Volume 2, you’ll explore:
- What technological innovation really changes in golf equipment.
- How to distinguish measurable gains from meaningful improvements in your game.
- Why equipment testing and rankings deserve careful interpretation.
- What custom fitting can — and cannot — do for your performance.
- How manufacturers’ marketing influences the way golfers evaluate new clubs.
- How to choose equipment based on your actual needs rather than the latest promises.
This isn’t an argument against golf equipment manufacturers or technological progress. It’s an invitation to become a more informed, independent golfer.
Think Before You Swing — Volume 2 is available now in English, in paperback and Kindle editions on Amazon.
Two Books. One Philosophy: Think Before You Swing.
Volume 1 — Understand Your Game
Explore the relationship between your skills, swing, strategy, practice, and decision-making. Learn to make better use of the abilities you already have.
Volume 2 — Understand Your Equipment
Explore technological innovations, equipment testing, fitting, and marketing. Learn to identify what can genuinely benefit your game before investing in new clubs.
Read either book independently, or discover both for a more complete understanding of how to play — and choose — smarter.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is This Book Suitable for Beginners?
Yes, especially for golfers who have already spent some time on the course. Beginners can develop better habits and expectations, while more experienced players may find additional value in the discussions of strategy, shot dispersion, and practice.
Will This Book Fix My Golf Swing?
Not directly. It helps explain important aspects of performance and common mistakes, but it isn’t a substitute for personalized instruction from a qualified golf coach.
Do I Need a Launch Monitor or Special Equipment?
No. Although the book draws on research, measurements, and practical experience, you don’t need a launch monitor or any specialized equipment to understand its main ideas.
Is This Book Only About Course Management?
No. Course management is an important part of the discussion, but the book also explores technique, ball striking, the long game, short game, putting, practice, and equipment.
Its purpose is to connect those subjects rather than treat them as unrelated parts of golf.
What’s the Difference Between Volume 1 and Volume 2?
Volume 1 focuses on how you play golf: your skills, decision-making, practice, strategy, and ability to adapt to the course.
Volume 2 focuses on how you choose your golf equipment: technological innovations, equipment testing, custom fitting, marketing claims, and the relationship between equipment performance and your actual scores.
Both volumes are available in English and can be read independently.
Where Can I Buy the Books?
Both Think Before You Swing — Volume 1 and Think Before You Swing — Volume 2 are available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions.
Think Before You Swing — Volume 1: Play Smarter.
Think Before You Swing — Volume 2: Choose Smarter.
Because improving your golf game isn’t just about what you do with your clubs. It’s also about understanding why you choose them.