FOREWORD
JUSTIN ROSE, HAMPSHIRE, ENGLAND
I somehow cannot believe that it was over five years ago that Nick asked me to write the Foreword for The 7 Laws of the Golf Swing. I am glad to report that it has been massively popular, won awards and become one of the bestselling golf books this century! At the PGA and European Tour events Nick attended with me, there was rarely a time when I didn't see a golf fan shaking his hand to thank him for the birth of the 7 laws and tell him how it has benefited or saved their game.
I believe Nick managed to achieve that sometimes unobtainable combination in a book whereby you deliver a feeling and a strong image or concept in one hit. I know, having worked with Nick for three years, how valuable these images and concepts are for creating a framework that you can always revisit. Nick's concepts and images are based around common sense; they are formulated from the sound techniques of past champions that have worked so well in the past.
In any golf book there must be some text, but I have always felt that any wording should not distract from a strong image or feeling. (Now watch Nick bring out a book with just text!). Nick reduces the amount of description by bullet-pointing his way around the book and not delivering any more description or understanding than is genuinely needed. When you have a lesson with Nick, you experience less talk and more doing and thus more understanding through your body.
In November 2007, I had the chance to capture the European Tour Order of Merit title; to do this, I essentially had to win the Volvo Masters, the final and closing event on the tour. That week, Nick and I worked through some of the images and concepts from The 7 Laws that have served me well in the past. I particularly remember the 7-iron I hit into the 17th hole (one of the most treacherous green complexes in golf) to set up an essential birdie. Armed with some very simplistic feels, I went on to win the tournament and secure the order of merit. Sentences and reams of information are simply not what's needed in those pressured circumstances.
I know this new-look 7 Laws will find its way into the hands of many golfers, beginners and pros alike. View it as your true north, a book to develop your swing from and to reference for when things are inconsistent. With Nick's concepts, I achieved one of my golfing dreams, and I have no doubt that The 7 Laws will improve your game too.
