Swing Like a Pro [Hardcover]

Ralph Mann (Author), Fred Griffin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 29, 1998

In a labor of love, novice golfers and professionals alike take to the practice tee to pursue the most coveted element of the game: the perfect swing. But even with a wealth of pros to model your swing after, the secret of the swing remains elusive. Should you grasp the club with a neutral grip like Jack Nicklaus, or use a traditional Vardon grip like Nick Faldo? If only someone would compile the best elements of the pros' swings to show you how to master the techniques for yourself. Dr. Ralph Mann and Fred Griffin did, and now they're sharing the secrets in this groundbreaking book.

Joined by premier golf instructor Fred Griffin, Dr. Ralph Mann captures the essence of the skills of golf's greatest champions in Swing Like a Pro. For seventeen years, CompuSport International's biomechanics expert Dr. Ralph Mann devoted himself to studying the swings of more than 100 PGA and LPGA Tour players to uncover the keys to a better game and a lower handicap. The results: a breakthrough learning tool, the computer-generated composite Pro.

Drawing on CompuSport's extensive research, the Pro embodies the mechanical elements of the holy grail of the golf swing--efficient, effective, and now achievable. Illustrated with 175 animated 3-D stills of the Pro that pinpoint the exact motions of a body executing the perfect swing, Swing Like a Pro provides accurate, consistent information about how to play the game properly. Dr. Ralph Mann and Fred Griffin break down the exact steps you can take to develop and refine your skills at performing every aspect of the shot. They examine and explain the setup, how to grip the club properly, the seven characteristics of a great backswing, how to impart energy to the club via a powerful transition move, and achieving distance and accuracy through a perfect downswing and timing following the Pro's example.

With its unique cutting-edge, scientific approach and the expertise of its authors, Swing Like a Pro promises to be the best golf Pro you ever consulted to help you improve your swing and shave strokes off your handicap.

Swing Like a Pro ushers in a new era of sports instruction that combines the traits of every golfer's unique, individual swing with the subtle, techniques all great golfers have in common. Featuring CompuSport's computer-generated "Pro," who shoots a 50 every time, Swing Like a Pro embodies the best tactics known to golfers today. Readers match the Pro's scientifically proven tips with their own movements to create a swing mirroring golf's most talented players. Topics include:The Pro Setup, with the secrets of body balance and club alignmentThe backswing's seven essential elements, with drills for improvementThe downswing for distance and accuracy, and how you can have bothTiming and tempo, when the Pro puts it all togetherSwing Like a Pro's dynamic 3-D images far surpass traditional sports photography, making this an unrivaled approach to golf instruction and proving there is such a thing as a perfect swing. -->

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Golfers, as a breed, are willing to pry their unwilling bodies into any ungodly position if they think it will help their game, even more so if that position mirrors the languid power of, say, Sam Snead's, Fred Couples's, Payne Stewart's, or Tiger Woods's. Swing like a Pro tees up a new model, a computer-generated composite of more than 100 swings of the world's best golfers. The theory behind it is to isolate and emphasize those parts of the swings that all good swings have in common--the parts that every golfer, regardless of the entirety of motion, can adapt to his or her own. While the theory may be sound, the presentation is technically complex, as dry as a pot bunker on an August afternoon. If you already play the game, this may help shave a few strokes. If you're just starting out, head back to the range for a lesson. --Jeff Silverman

From Library Journal

This book is the result of 17 years of research on the mechanics of the golf swing. The objective was to determine how the professionals make the swing look so simple, when in reality, according to the authors, it is a complex series of motions: the setup, the grip, the backswing, the downswing. Mann, an expert in biomechanics and founder of CompuSport, and golf pro Griffin have developed a composite of over 100 of the world's top golfers, creating a computer-generated image?a virtual golf pro?that is featured throughout the book. Easy to read and with an assortment of photos, Swing Like a Pro is a useful reference source golfers will enjoy.?LarryLittle, Penticton P.L., BC
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Crown Archetype; 1 edition (December 29, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 076790236X
• ISBN-13: 978-0767902366
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 0.9 x 9.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (70 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #89,832 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding information, but mostly for serious golfers., December 21, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Cheshire, CT USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Swing Like a Pro (Hardcover)

Swing Like a Pro does an excellent job of explaining the teaching system Dr. Mann created and that has been used for many years at the golf school where co-author Fred Griffin teaches. As a former student at that school (whose handicap has dropped from 11 to 5 since attending)I read the book as someone who already believed in the value of their research. After some interesting and easy to read background information from the two authors the serious work begins. Readers have to be prepared to focus on a detailed examination of the mechanics of every aspect of the golf swing. As a result, this book is not a simple or relaxing read. It also needs to be read when you can get up periodically and take a few swings with a real club (don't buy this to read on an airplane!).

For the serious golfer (and probably for golf teachers as well) the information provided here is great. So many things that I have been told by various teachers over the years became understandable as I made my way through the book. I needed every evening for a week to get through it all along with a few trips to my local driving range. There has not been time to apply all that I have learned on the course yet but so far it has brought me to a new level of understanding of what a good golf swing is all about.

After playing a few rounds I will send in an update to indicate how much this book actually helped. In the meantime, it is an excellent but very detailed explaination of a teaching system that has worked for me and a number of others that have gone to one of the CompuSport schools on my recomendation.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars finally!, January 17, 2001

By 

MICHAEL GRAY - See all my reviews

This review is from: Swing Like a Pro (Hardcover)

i have been a serious student of the game for 26 years. i have read most every classic golf instruction book and taken many lessons over the years. this is the most helpful golf book i have ever read. it has put all the pieces together in a way that finally makes perfect sense. it is a pleasure to feel such confidence and conviction as i practice what i have learned. i have asked difficult questions of top players and teachers over the years and until now could not get satifactory answers. the value of this book lies in the author's ability to help a reader understand why some swing mechanics are truly important, and (just as important) why many other classic instruction points are unimportant or dead wrong. the book is based on measurable scientific fact and conclusion, not opinion. i think this book will become the classic golf instruction book of our time. enjoy!

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, a book on the golf swing that answers my questions!, February 25, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Swing Like a Pro (Hardcover)

If I had to recommend one book on the golf swing, this would be it hands down. I've read most of what's out there, and this is the first one that explains the mechanics of the transition and downswing in a manner that is both detailed and understandable (I can't agree with Amazon's reviewer who calls this "technically complex" and "dry"--and I'm a high handicapper who has only been playing for a few years). In fact, the crowning achievement of the book is that it takes somewhat technical material on the golf swing, from start to finish, and makes it easy to understand. The illustrations and drills are excellent, also. I have also purchased the CD-Rom, which can be found on Compusport's website, and it is an excellent product as well, featuring many informative animations. I could have saved a lot of money on golf books if this one had come out earlier. If you are seriously interested in understanding and improving your swing, you won't find a better place to start than here! By the way, the first couple of reviews posted at this site give excellent descriptions of the book--I won't attempt to improve on them (be sure and read them at the bottom of the list of reviews).