Book Review: Paper Tiger

A while back, Dave recommended the book Paper Tiger: An Obsessed Golfer’s Quest to Play with the Pros. I just finished it and wanted to share my thoughts.

The book follows author Tom Coyne’s year-long journey from 14-handicapper to his ultimate goal of playing in the PGA Tour Q-School to see if he has what it takes to play with the best. He brings us along for all his trials and tribulations encountered on his quest for greatness.

Let’s jump right in, and below the normal good/bad/conclusion section, I want to talk a little about his quest. You should skip that section if you want to avoid spoilers and would prefer to let the book unfold.

The Good

Coyne’s writing style is one of a kind. His humorous brand covers all parts of the spectrum. At the same time, he finds a way to switch gears when the topic turns a little more toward the serious or sentimental side. Then it’s right back to funny. He puts into print the kinds of things most would be perfectly happy leaving tucked away in their own minds. I found myself laughing out loud a few times. He has a unique way of sharing what’s going on in his mind.
The story line is very interesting, not just because I have similar dreams. The story of a person who follows his dream and lays it all on the line to do so is compelling to me. I couldn’t wait for the story to unfold to find out what was next.
Coyne’s journey is relevant outside of the world of golf. Obviously a golfer would identify best with this material, but I think the purpose, story, and style cross the boundary and a non-golfer would enjoy it.

The Bad

Whenever I do a review of some kind, I have a “Bad” section, because nothing is perfect, but I’m having trouble identifying anything that warrants a mention in the “Bad” section. It would have been nice if it was longer. Not because it was skimpy, but because I just wanted more. I guess that technically belongs in the “Good” section, but this is my blog and I’m not having an empty “Bad” section.

Conclusion

As you probably guessed already, this book gets a rousing endorsement from me. It was just a well told, interesting, fun ride around the world with a regular guy who dropped everything to live his dream. Maybe I like it so much because it hits so close to home, but I still think you’ll like it.

Extracurricular Analysis

Attention: Spoilers ahead. Don’t read any further if you don’t want to know anything about what happens. You should probably avoid the comments too.

I wanted to talk a little about Coyne’s journey. As you found out (or don’t mind finding out, if you’ve ignored the spoiler warning), he doesn’t succeed. In fact, he never even gets the chance to play in the PGA Tour Q-School, though he does play in a few others.

This review comes on the tail end of a lot of mental game material that I’ve been covering, so I want to talk about this story in that context. It’s not my intention to be critical of Coyne, but I really want to understand why he didn’t succeed. As I worked through the book and it became apparent that he wasn’t going to make it, I started thinking about it a lot in between reading sessions.

As regular visitors here know, I’m not a pro (yet), I’m not a sports psychologist, nor am I anything else that makes me qualified to say what makes a person tick. This is just me, Monday morning quarterbacking. Take my opinion for what it’s worth: not much.

That said, as I thought more and more about Coyne’s quest, I came up with three things that I feel contributed to his lack of success.

First, he tried to go with a sort of Steinbrenner strategy: throw a lot of money at it. Don’t get me wrong: he put in a LOT of work. His dedication was impressive. I won’t criticize that. But trips to top teachers, top golf psychologists, top golf fitness trainers isn’t necessarily going to be enough. I sort of got the sense early on that he felt like he had to do that to make it. I’m not saying he didn’t succeed because he dumped money on his dream team, I’m saying that maybe he thought that if he dumped money on his dream team that would be enough to get him over the hump. These days, that seems to be the way of things, but many of the greatest players ever learned golf in their back yards, some even without golf clubs.
He directed his entire goal at Q-School a year out from when he made his decision. I think that’s just not enough time to accomplish what he was trying to accomplish. He came so far, and it turned out to be a one shot deal. Many players have to go through Q-School several times before making it. It was a great ride, and in the end I think he gave up too soon. He had to do what he felt was right, but I think with more experience under his belt, it could have been a little different.
Finally, his biggest reason for not making it, in my opinion, was a lack of confidence. Admittedly, it’s not easy to read a person’s psyche and state of mind from the pages of a book, especially without having the benefit of having been there or of even knowing him personally. It’s also hard to know how much of it is simple self-deprecating humor versus actual state of mind. But throughout the whole thing, I couldn’t help but notice a lack of confidence. He was fixated on the perceptions of others. He didn’t really seem to feel as if he belonged or that he was a good enough player. His handicap got as low as +0.4, and yet in tournament play he was throwing up rounds in the 90′s on occasion. Also, after having successes here or there he seemed to feel a surge of “Hey, I can do this!”, when he should have been feeling that the whole time.

As I said, I’m not really comfortable being critical of Coyne because he did something that the rest of us wish we could have the fortitude to try. He should be proud of himself and of the effort he put forth. If I seem critical it’s because as I was reading the book, I was pulling for him so hard. It was a genuine disappointment in the end to find that he didn’t make it and gave up. He clearly wanted it, but achieving something like that requires a different kind of desire than what most of us are accustomed to dealing with. He’d had enough and had to throw in the towel.

You may wonder whether Coyne’s story made me reconsider my own goals. Nope. If anything I want it more. Now I have the benefit of someone else’s thoughts and experiences to help guide me. Taking a look at his shortcomings gives me some insight into my own.

I don’t know that I’ll ever even try the PGA Tour Q-School, but I’ll play professionally somewhere at some point. That’s all that matters to me right now.