Swing Like a Pro

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. —>

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.

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

Renowned as a leading expert in the biomechanics of sports performance, Dr. Ralph Mann received his Ph.D. in Biomechanics from Washington State University, then taught for seven years as an associate professor at the University of Kentucky. Using his expertise as a silver medal-winning Olympic hurdler and world record holder, he developed his composite model concept while working with Olympic athletes to improve their performance. Subsequently, he has developed models in baseball, football, and golf while working with elite athletes in each of these sports. In 1983, he founded CompuSport International, a private sports research company.

Golf magazine has recognized Fred Griffin as one of the Top 50 Golf Instructors in America. He was previously awarded Teacher of the Year honors by the North Florida Section of the Professional Golfers Association. He regularly contributes instruction articles to both Golf Digest and Golf magazine. He instructs players on the PGA, LPGA, and Nike Golf Tours, and is the director of the Grand Cypress Academy of Golf in Orlando, Florida.

A highly respected golf writer, Guy Yocom is a senior editor at Golf Digest. He is the co-author of Corey Pavin's Shotmaking.