Book Reviews
Go To Hopkins & Company Homepage	Go to Executive Times Archives Go to Book Review List
How I Play Golf by Tiger Woods Recommendation: •••
Click on title or picture to buy from amazon.com
Picture Perfect Practice Just in time for holiday giving, the editors of Golf Digest have published a coffee table book that should generate high sales, How I Play Golf by Tiger Woods. Containing hundreds of photos from multiple angles of Tiger showing the right and wrong way to do different things, readers will be able to compare themselves against the master. Too heavy to fit in a golf bag, this is a book for sitting on a table at home, where it can rest full of its instruction, encouragement and inspiration. Here’s an excerpt of the advice to expect from Tiger Woods. In this case, Tiger Secret No. 3: “The faster you swing the club through impact, the father the ball goes. That’s a simple equation, but obtaining speed and power on the downswing is easier said than done. A problem almost every golfer encounters is rushing the downswing – letting loose with everything you have the moment the backswing is complete. When you do that, however, nothing works in proper sequence. The shoulders outrace the arms, the arms outrace the hands and the hands outrace the club. All that speed is expended too soon and the clubhead if actually losing speed as it strikes the ball, when it should be accelerating. I like to start the downswing by shifting my weight easily back to my left side, and then letting my arms ‘fall’ downward in front of my chest. I don’t want my shoulders unwinding so fast that they get way ahead of my arms. By giving my arms a little head start, they work in concert with my shoulders to create a real package of power coming into the ball. That good timing allows me to hit the ball a mile, and I don’t have to try very hard to do it.” If there’s a golfer on your holiday shopping list, they might enjoy reading How I Play Golf, but they’ll learn quickly that they need to practice as well as read. Steve Hopkins, November 7, 2001
ã 2001 Hopkins and Company, LLC