"Driven"

Where do parents send their kids if they want them to be the next Tiger Woods?  One of the many choices is the David Leadbetter Academy on the IMG campus in Bradenton, Florida.  The school is the subject of Kevin Cook’s new book, Driven:  Teen Phenoms, Mad Parents, Swing Science and the Future of Golf.  Karen Given has a review of the book.

No one disputes that Tiger Woods has changed golf in a number of significant ways.  Woods has been a celebrity since the age of two when he sunk putts with Bob Hope on “The Mike Douglas Show” in 1978.   What might be a bit more surprising is how much Tiger Woods has changed how kids today see the sport.  No longer is golf a slow-paced sport for the older generation, today’s young duffers see excitement, power, and dollar signs. Kevin Cook’s new book, “Driven: Teen Phenoms, Mad Parents, Swing Science and the Future of Golf,” isn’t about Tiger Woods.  But, Woods’ name appears on nearly every page.  So does the name of David Leadbetter, the golf guru responsible for the swings of pro-golfers Nick Faldo and Nick Price, as well as teen burn-outs Ty Tryon and Michelle Wie.  Every teen who attends the David Leadbetter Academy on the IMG campus in Bradenton, Florida hopes to be the next Tiger, not the next Ty.  Cook tackles Leadbetter’s failures with the same unflinching view with which he celebrates his successes.