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

The Final Chapter Explains the Reason for the Book

I can honestly say that, except for exceptionally poor editing where the voice changes so much it sounds like another person is reading the book, I enjoyed Hank's version of his interaction with Tiger Woods. Overall, I found his viewpoint balanced and quite complimentary towards his student.

During my listen, I considered this book a rendition of Mr. Haney's experience working with Tiger and the dificulties he had as his coach. But just as a suspense novel reaches it's conclusion in the final chapter, so does this book. In my view, this was not a book written to relate Hank's experiences with Tiger. The final chapter makes it obvious that Hank is very concerned about comparisons of his record with Tiger vs. that of Tiger's record when being taught by Butch Harmon.

The last chapter breaks down Tiger's records in numerous ways and detail just to show that Hank Haney's record with Tiger was just as good, or even bettter, than Tiger experienced with Butch Harmon. Being experienced in finance, I know there are many ways people manipulate information to make it show results the way the want it to. I came away feeling that was what Mr. Haney was doing in order to prove he is every bit as good a coach as Butch Harmon.

Why was this book written? For me, it was more to promote Mr. Haney's legacy as a coach than to relate what it is to work with one of the greatest athletes in history. It makes me wonder if Mr. Haney's coaching methods were less to do about making Tiger Woods the best golfer he could be and more about trying to beat Butch Harmon's records with Tiger. Essentially, just as Tiger Woods was trying to beat Jack Nicklaus's record in Majors, Hank Haney was trying to better Butch Harmon.

As an amateur athlete in baseball and tennis, I competed at levels that required lots of practice and dedication to my sport. Ultimately my success was based on Playing to Win rather than Playing Not to Lose (aka Avoiding the Big Miss). It seems like Hank Haney taught more of the latter and I am curious if that is why Tiger Woods is now struggling.

verry intersting and allways wanted more

If you could sum up The Big Miss in three words, what would they be?

very interesting a side of Tiger that I did not know

What other book might you compare The Big Miss to and why?

na

What about Hank Haney’s performance did you like?

yes I did very good

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

yes i would off

Any additional comments?

na

Fascinating

Couldn't stop listening. Great story and insight about being a coach around a sportsman of that level.

Great Look Inside

In part, this book helped me call the return of woods to major championship winning. I just won a bunch of money and woods just ended an 11 year draught. Such a great book regardless and Tiger Woods is back on his mission. Thanks Hank.

INSIGHTFUL

If you could sum up The Big Miss in three words, what would they be?

MISUNDERSTOOD, SAD & CAREING

What did you like best about this story?

Hanks & Tigers true love of the game....

What about Hank Haney’s performance did you like?

Well read and truely inspirering....

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

no

Any additional comments?

none

Disappointing

Whiny is the only word that comes to mind. I don’t understand why Haney chose to sacrifice insight for self-posturing and complaining. It ultimately came off as a gossip piece to me.

Hank sounds

Hank sounds very genuine in this book and I'm impressed with his work ethic with Tiger

My Husband Made Me Read It! (But I'm Glad.)

It is so rare for him to want to read anything that I willingly obliged, plus I am fascinated by Tiger and Hank. This was remarkable insight into Tiger's character, even if only from a couple of peoples' perspectives. I would like to read the same story from his viewpoint, but know that is highly unlikely since Tiger is far from being an open book or the type of person to tell his (real) story. It's part of what makes him a champion, an addict, an icon. Even during the parts that were golf-technical, I remained interested and it produced good conversation.

Conflicted

The author’s willingness to disclose intimate details about a trusted relationship seem strangely at odds with his lack of candor about his own life during this time. For example, he mentions his own divorce in a single sentence, and doesn’t acknowledge how that may have played a role in his interactions with Tiger. While he shares some insights about coaching and golf, in the end this book felt like a gratuitous tell-all in defense of his coaching.

pretty good

I was very interested to hear Hanks side of the Tiger years. I'm interested in seeing how Tiger's autobiography differs in tone.