The Big Miss

My Years Coaching Tiger Woods

By: Hank Haney

Narrated by: Hank Haney

Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's 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.

©2012 Hank Haney (P)2012 Random House

A Sports Psychological Thriller

This book my have been intended to tell a story about Coaching a genius,Tiger Wood, but it's more about the genius than the coaching. It brought out many emotions. It made me happy, sad, frustrated and and much more. I don't think I'll ever get closer to an athlete with as much super human ability, fierce determination, incomprehensible stubbornness and inferior social skills. Tiger never had a chance, he was a celebrity since he was 8 and never was able to do things mere mortals take for granted like pumping gas.[ See PS below.]

I listened to this book just before the PGA Tournament started at Valhalla in Louisville not knowing if Tiger would play. After he announced he was going to play, based on the authors analysis there was no way Tiger would contend. He played hurt and didn't have enough time to prepare. Haney's words were like that of wise old sage.

Tiger expected to win, fans flocked to see him, hoped for a miracle, even me, didn't happen.

If the author and a healthy Tiger could get back together there's no telling how great he'd be in the future but that's not happening. I pray Tiger gets healthy and contends every time he tees it up, Golf needs him but he needs Golf much more!

PS: I just read an article that showed a picture of a young girl with Rory McIlroy as he got gas after he played 18 holes today. He was portrayed as being friendly and approachable.
I doubt Tiger would or could have been done it. His personality and fame would have been prevented him of being a regular guy. That's so sad. This is a great book, a sports psychological thriller.

Love all of it except adding up

What a great book. Well thought out, great stories and gives a better understanding of an iconic team. I think he spent a little too much time justifying his personal greatness compared to Butch Harmon, but outside of that this is a great read.

Fantastic

This book was one of my absolute favorites. It give you an amazing perspective of Tiger and Hank that you wouldn't get anywhere else.

Very Mixed Feelings

First let me say that I am an ex-professional golfer and totally understood everything Hank says. But, I seriously doubt that the average golfer will understand or comprehend the vast amount of technical swing comments made in this book.

Secondly, I do not agree with the fact that Hank felt the need to write this book. There is so much personal trust in the relationship between athletes and those that surround them that there is an unspoken code that must be respected. I feel that Hank shattered that code and I will never respect him for that... only time will tell how Hank's reputation is effected.

But, thirdly, for those out there who want to get a glimpse of the intense work and pressure that a world class athlete is under, Hank does a nice job of getting that across. Had there not been the stigma of "kiss and tell", I would have thoroughly enjoyed the book. And, of course, this was Hank's opinion and story... I'm sure Tiger's recollection would be much different.

Was the book fair... maybe. Should it have been written... absolutely not.

I would also like to make a technical comment about the narration. Hank did a great job which is unusual for a writer who chooses to narrate. But, there were times in the narration, that there seemed like another voice came in like a voice over... I'm not sure if it was Hank doing a voice over or some other narrator cleaning up mistakes. Whatever, it wasn't annoying.

A Great Story About Tiger By His Whiny Coach

This is a great book. a little dry, but with great info about Tiger Woods behind the scenes. It is worth the time. the only really difficult part was the author trying to prove that he was important too. if you skip the chapter "Adding it up" it would make the book even better, unless you want to listen to Haney go through the process of going through various statistics until he proved he was good.

Great book about Tiger

It’s a great book about Tiger and his golf game as well as how he appears to those closest to him. I’m getting very into golf and with Tiger coming back this book seemed right up my alley and it was. He goes into details of some of his rounds but also talks about the time he spent with Tiger. The only slight negative I might have is that Hank’s tone can be a little mundane at times but it’s just a small negative and shouldn’t stop someone from reading the book.

Great read and insight into Tiger Woods

Great insight into what it's like to be (one of) the greatest golfer of all time and the pressure to come with it. Hank gives a spot on assessment of the life of a swing coach managing not just the game of a pro but the attitude, mood and ego of one of the greatest winners of all time. The story reads a little technical at times when Hank discusses the swing down to the minuscule detail but all in all one of my favorite books.

sports

well written and seems an honest attempt to let the reader know what has happened to Tiger

great story but too many audio changes

Hank did a great job telling the story but the audio changes were very distracting.

Great book about Tiger Woods coaching

Obviously, Tiger woods is the key player for this book. There are Good attitude building stories. We need more performance techniques, technology, technical problems solving skills highlights so on.