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The Big Miss
- My Years Coaching Tiger Woods
- Narrated by: Hank Haney
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
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Summary
The Big Miss is Hank Haney's candid and surprisingly insightful account of his tumultuous six-year journey with Tiger Woods, during which the supremely gifted golfer collected six major championships and rewrote golf history.
Hank was one of the very few people allowed behind the curtain. He was with Tiger 110 days a year, spoke to him over 200 days a year, and stayed at his home up to 30 days a year, observing him in nearly every circumstance: at tournaments; on the practice range; over meals, with his wife, Elin; and relaxing with friends.
The relationship between the two men began in March 2004, when Hank received a call from Tiger in which the golf champion asked him to be his coach. It was a call that would change both men's lives.
Tiger - only 28 at the time - was by then already an icon, judged by the sporting press as not only one of the best golfers ever, but possibly the best athlete ever. Already, he was among the world's highest paid celebrities. There was an air of mystery surrounding him, an aura of invincibility. Unique among athletes, Tiger seemed to be able to shrug off any level of pressure and find a way to win. But Tiger was always looking to improve, and he wanted Hank's help.
What Hank soon came to appreciate was that Tiger was one of the most complicated individuals he'd ever met, let alone coached. Although Hank had worked with hundreds of elite golfers and was not easily impressed, there were days watching Tiger on the range when Hank couldn't believe what he was witnessing. On those days, it was impossible to imagine another human playing golf so perfectly.
And yet Tiger is human - and Hank's expert eye was adept at spotting where Tiger's perfection ended and an opportunity for improvement existed. Always haunting Tiger was his fear of "the big miss" - the wildly inaccurate golf shot that can ruin an otherwise solid round - and it was because that type of blunder was sometimes part of Tiger's game that Hank carefully redesigned his swing mechanics.
Hank's most formidable coaching challenge, though, would be solving the riddle of Tiger's personality. Wary of the emotional distractions that might diminish his game and put him further from his goals, Tiger had developed a variety of tactics to keep people from getting too close, and not even Hank - or Tiger's family and friends, for that matter - was spared "the treatment".
Toward the end of Tiger's and Hank's time together, the champion's laser-like focus began to blur, and he became less willing to put in punishing hours practicing - a disappointment to Hank, who saw in Tiger's behavior signs that his pupil had developed a conflicted relationship with the game. Hints that Tiger hungered to reinvent himself were present in his bizarre infatuation with elite military training, and - in a development Hank didn't see coming - in the scandal that would make headlines in late 2009. It all added up to a big miss that Hank, try as he might, couldn't save Tiger from.
There's never been a book about Tiger Woods that is as intimate and revealing - or one so wise about what it takes to coach a superstar athlete.What listeners say about The Big Miss
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- Neil
- 13-07-12
Great Listen
I'm really enjoying this. It is a great insight into Tiger Woods and specifically how he plays golf. It is not the tell tale expose people might expect and although there are some colourful details about Tiger's character in the main these are things people already know, he's sullen, super focused etc etc.
There is brilliant stuff about how Tiger learns, how he adapts to change and how he prepares to play. His relationship with Haney and how Haney felt during his association with Tiger is fascinating stuff.
There are few account of golfers playing in their prime that are written from such a close perspective. Golfers themselves are not necessarily able to disengage enough to write such a detailed and insightful account of what made them play the way they played or act the way they acted (Mark James' book on the Ryder Cup for example...). Haney's position as coach makes him a brilliant observer of Tiger and the account he gives feels remarkably authentic.
It would be churlish to say that Haney's narration lets the book down, however his narration is very much in the good not great category. Also, some of the editing of the audio is clunky and should really have been better.
Overall, if you are interested in Tiger this is a fantastic book. If you interested in gossip and tittle tattle about his lifestyle then there are other places to get that info.
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- Skelly1golf
- 05-11-19
Excellent
When you think you know what happened to tiger and the people around him. You don't. An excellent book highly recommended
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1 person found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 09-02-24
Even the sun go(a)t spots
The importance of how a small detail can make such a big impact on how you can perform. We are always want to have that flow when we play and avoid the big miss. And the awakening of the Swedish Valkyrie didn’t help in the end. But great to see tiger play golf with his kids
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- Alfie B
- 21-12-23
Interesting insight to a legend
An interesting insight to the human emotion of personal and professional relationships. The book has a good pace to it and is set out to tell a chronological perspective of Tiger’s development under the management of Haney. I found it very interesting and well written.
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- Ben C.
- 22-01-23
Fascinating insight into Hank and Tiger Woods
Really enjoyed this book. A fascinating insight into Professional golf instruction, Hank, and Tiger Woods.
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- Paul
- 16-05-22
Hank Haney - The big Miss
And it will be a big miss if you fail to read or listen to this book. A fantastic insight… Thanks Hank.
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- Amazon Customer
- 15-04-21
Brilliant
As a golf and Tiger fan I loved it, the detail is unreal and Hank is so easy to listen to, gutted its over.
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- Colin
- 30-01-21
Very enjoyable listen
Very balanced, interesting listen from a great coach. if Tiger had listened more to Hank he'd undoubtedly have won more. thank you Hank 👍
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- Cherryblossom
- 13-10-20
Meh
It's not bad but I thought it might be a bit more detailed. Not bad though
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- luke chellingworth
- 16-11-19
Great Insight..
Great insight into not only Tigers Wood’s’s life and game but the professional game in general.
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