The Golfer's Mind, Bob Rotella
(Pocket Books, 2004)
"At the level of a given shot, confidence is no more than the ability to focus the mind and think only about the ball going to the target".
Having felt a bit blue yesterday I turned to Bob. In an ideal world I'd have been on the phone to him in the States and we'd have chatted for an hour or so on the phone and he'd have help me realise the need for greater belief and positivity. Unfortunately, I don't have a 'Batphone' connection, but I do have 'The Golfer's Mind'.
If 'Your 15th Club' was a tool to enable you to learn how to better improve your confidence day by day, 'The Golfer's Mind' is a quick refresher course. Taking all the best bits of his previous works, and distilling them into one simple refresher volume Rotella has created arguably the second must own book of his collection.
So feeling despondent I turned to the section on confidence, reflected on yesterday and realised that maybe, just maybe I was being more than a tad harsh on myself. A core part of my practice yesterday was hitting half swing PW approaches. I know the ball travels 100 yards with these, so I paced the distance out and started hitting 21 balls at the green. Hit the green with 8 shots both times that's 38%. I missed six shots to the right of the target, duffed a couple well short put one in a bunker and left the rest a bit short of green.
But I'd set myself a tough task as I was aiming at the front portion of the green, when I actually play I aim for the middle/back portion which would have meant that I would probably have had another 5 on the dancefloor (61.9%)
So why am I beating myself up? Probably reading about other players who are in great nick and whose handicaps/performances are steadily (or even rapidly) improving and applying additional pressure to myself. So this morning I'm giving myself a little refresher course with key chapters of 'The Golfer's Mind' and after I play on Sunday I'll update this review and post my book rating.
Well I've played now and had an absolute mare. It's not Bob's fault it's mine, I was just completely unable to adhere to the fundamental principles. That said it's still a good book.
Having felt a bit blue yesterday I turned to Bob. In an ideal world I'd have been on the phone to him in the States and we'd have chatted for an hour or so on the phone and he'd have help me realise the need for greater belief and positivity. Unfortunately, I don't have a 'Batphone' connection, but I do have 'The Golfer's Mind'.
If 'Your 15th Club' was a tool to enable you to learn how to better improve your confidence day by day, 'The Golfer's Mind' is a quick refresher course. Taking all the best bits of his previous works, and distilling them into one simple refresher volume Rotella has created arguably the second must own book of his collection.
So feeling despondent I turned to the section on confidence, reflected on yesterday and realised that maybe, just maybe I was being more than a tad harsh on myself. A core part of my practice yesterday was hitting half swing PW approaches. I know the ball travels 100 yards with these, so I paced the distance out and started hitting 21 balls at the green. Hit the green with 8 shots both times that's 38%. I missed six shots to the right of the target, duffed a couple well short put one in a bunker and left the rest a bit short of green.
But I'd set myself a tough task as I was aiming at the front portion of the green, when I actually play I aim for the middle/back portion which would have meant that I would probably have had another 5 on the dancefloor (61.9%)
So why am I beating myself up? Probably reading about other players who are in great nick and whose handicaps/performances are steadily (or even rapidly) improving and applying additional pressure to myself. So this morning I'm giving myself a little refresher course with key chapters of 'The Golfer's Mind' and after I play on Sunday I'll update this review and post my book rating.
Well I've played now and had an absolute mare. It's not Bob's fault it's mine, I was just completely unable to adhere to the fundamental principles. That said it's still a good book.
86%
ISBN 978-1-4165-0229-6
