Customer Reviews

The Feeling of Greatness: The Moe Norman Story

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As recently as 10 years ago, Moe's Norman's very existence was considered apocryphal. A few American golf pros, Paul Azinger and Lee Trevino come to mind, told stories about an eccentric Canadian with a strange swing so accurate he could stand on a driving range and hit the 250 yard sign repeatedly with his driver. Or they told of the time he hit three balls off the tee that were later found huddled together like mushrooms in the middle of the fairway. Then there's the time that, upon hearing someone in the gallery say he was a poor putter, he proceeded to hit a hole-in-one, boasting "I guess I won't be putting today." They said he was so good that if a hole called for a 3-wood and an 8- iron, he'd play it 8-iron/3-wood just to keep it interesting. The stories always held the not-so- subtle claim that if Norman had played the US tour, no one would have ever heard of Jack Nicklaus.

But nobody had seen him recently. He was a ghost. Finally, in 1995, Golf Digest ran a cover story that brought Moe and his strange swing back to life. By that time he had become the poster boy for a new golf movement called Natural Golf, and the leaders of that company were splashing Moe's image around as much as they could. This biography soon followed.

Fortunately, readers of "The Feeling of Greatness" will discover not an advertising piece, but a balanced look at a complicated man. Because of a childhood head injury, or perhaps just because genetics occasionally breeds the strange and unusual, Moe Norman represents obsessive-compulsion applied to golf. He is described as golf's "Rain Man", a savant-like creature of habit who found solace in striking golf balls -- hundreds a day for thousands of days -- but who was so shy, he wouldn't appear at awards ceremonies. He muttered a continuous stream-of-consciousness monologue and played so quickly that he often struck his shot before his partner had pulled his tee out of the ground. He never paused over putts, but rather hit them in full stride. He was not your typical golf pro.

However, while he was very successful on the Canadian tours of the 50s and 60s, he was a flop on the US PGA tour and, in fact, was reprimanded by fellow pros for boorish behavior. The book is honest enough to make it clear that any notion of his tearing up the US tour if only given a fair chance is just false. While he is generally regarded as one of the finest ball strikers of all time, he never came to terms with the real scoring clubs in his bag - his wedge and putter. In the end, Moe Norman was most at home on the driving range, where he gives impressive demonstrations to this day.

Having lived in the North Florida town where Moe and Craig Shankland give golf clinics every Wednesday of the winter, I have watched Moe in action many times, continually to my amazement. One day, during my 1000 balls a day stint, Moe gave me a lesson I will never forget. He's wonderful. I only wish the jerks on the tour could have accepted his idiosyncracies and made him feel comfortable out there. But who wants to make someone who can beat the pants off you feel comfortable?

This is a great story of a relatively unknown personality who could not be a part of the "system". His whole life is unconventional; however, his golf is exceptional. An upolished man, Moe Norman never achieved PGA greatness in the US, but is a legend in the amateur ranks in Canada, owning 33 course records and several rounds shot in the 50's. I was fascinated by the many examples of his ball striking capabilities, like hitting over 1500 drives in one afternoon. Each one traveled over 220 yards and each was in a 30 yard wide fairway. The average golfer loves this story. A guy like you and me CAN hit the ball well! That is what we all want.

Moe Norman's incredible, tumultous life is thoroughly chronicled in this book, complete with photographs. If you use the natural golf system and are as passionate about it as I am (and most natural golfers are) you will thorougly enjoy this book. Conventianal golfers will also enjoy learning about Moe, the greatest ball striker ever. His life was full of ups and downs, and certainly was never dull!

i have read this book three times, moe is the average person with above average desire. if he can become the great golfer that he is with the adversity he had, it should make anyone with the ability to swing a club try harder. most of this book is about moes selfimposed barrers of selfconsciousness moe did it his way and was successful. a must read for any serious golfer

Moe Norman has enabled me to change my whole attitude about the game of golf. I spend less time on the range and more time enjoying the game that everyone would love if they only would try Moe Norman's methods. I look forward to playing now and before I would say to myself I really wasted my green fees this round no more get this book and anything else you can on Moe Norman because you'll never regret it.

This book is a great look into Moe Norman...his career and life. Tim O'Connor does a great job tying together many loose ends of Moe Norman lure. I recommend this book to any golf fan.

This book is easy to read and gives us a good look at Moe's life. He was a showman, shy, unpredictible but I think his extreme sensitivity hurt him the most. One of my business associates was playing golf here in Kitchener and Moe was playing six balls at once behind him. He said all six balls would land within a three foot diameter. This is December 2007, There are people here asking about Moe Norman. They plan on shooting a movie about him in the spring. Todd Graves will teach the main actor how to swing like Moe. The screen play will be written by the same person that wrote "Rainman"

If you're interested in striking a golf ball with consistency, rather than spraying it all over hell's half acre 80% of the time, you should learn about Moe Norman, and his unorthodox, unequaled swing. While this book is more about his life, and his obsession with the golf swing, rather than an instruction manual, it will lead you to an understanding of how he developed his methods, equipment modifications, and results than any other book on the market. Using it, you can learn his swing, but that is NOT the primary focus of the book.

All you ever wanted to know about Moe Norman the man, but the Kindle version is missing a page of photos showing part of Moes swing sequence. There is a page of photos showing his backswing, followed by a blank page and then a page of photos of his post impact follow through.

As a biography its right up there with Phillip Reed's biography on Mike Austin, another great 'ball striker'.