Co-incidence, or not, Norman took on the services of Pete Draovitch in 1993 and played golf just about as well as it can be played, for over 5 years. This quality was achieved despite back problems that have curtailed Norman’s golf since the turn of the century.

There is always a commitment point or barrier to how well anyone responds to exercise, to changing their lives. With Norman, the attention to detail combined with a focus of the most aggressive playing of the game was why the man became so good. He would have responded to expertise instantly and made the dedication needed to change his lifestyle. If this book is the story of that change, as part of a guide that anyone can use, why not review the book on the basis of its performance as being useful for anyone?

Detailed writing does not have to be verbose and repetitive. ‘Complete Conditioning’ is typical of the very highest standards that do come from Human Kinetics published books. It’s easy to read and it doesn’t waste words.

Detail through pictures and illustrations needs to be informative, inspirational and effective – ‘Complete Conditioning’ is full of pictures of normal people (rather than models) demonstrating a range of exercise that are grouped within each chapter for style, facilities needed and direct application to one part of the golf swing – from gym work through to home exercise and routines which can be done at the course. The book has extra review ‘marks’ for its sectioning of illustrations.

Indulging a reader is a common trait. ‘Being like’ Greg Norman simply doesn’t happen with this book. If you have ever bought a book that offers to impart a piece of a superstar onto your game, the commitment and the cost mean that lending a name and no more is a regular occurrence. It’s the expertise of the author and whether the person (or persons) named has actually been responsible for the words and the pictures you see which adds extra quality or actually makes the book worth reading. Professionalism is evident throughout ‘Complete Conditioning’.

Finally structure – does a book offer advice that is easy to access as well as easy to read? Is the message structured or are some chapters added on as a fill-in? Does the book give impartial help, not slanted to sell some particular chapter or passages? ‘Compete Conditioning starts with why fitness, goes through evaluation, then flexibility, strength, stability and co-ordination before giving illustrations of workouts outside the context of each individual section – 10 out of 10 for structure to go with 10s for expertise.

Worth adding to your golfing library – or taking down the gym? Definitely!

Complete Golf Conditioning is available from all good books shops and from www.humankinetics.com

The ISBN No is 0-88011-986-1