I went to a local pro that I knew casually for a lesson, and he told me after 10 swings that I was fine physically. I told him about my troubles. He confirmed that I had mental issues on the course, and instead of nitpicking a with a solid swing, he recommended I read this book. He even gave me his copy. I got through it in 2 sittings, bought my own, and now refer to it often. I have attained a tremendous level of consistency and rediscovered my confidence. My USGA handicap has dropped back to the 4′s. I am thrilled, because I went as high as 9 after a month of complete futility last season. The only reason it stayed that low was because they toss out your 10 highest scores from your last 20 rounds when computing the handicap. My average score was almost 12 shots higher than the previous year.

I don’t have the vocabulary required to adequately praise this book. All I can say is BUY IT! I still can not believe what it did for me. I haven’t had any funky spells since reading it, and my entire approach to the game has changed for the better.

Good luck.
Rating: 5 / 5

The book was written in 1995, so justifications can be made for its style and lack of innovation. Perhaps these ideas have just been so thoroughly accepted into the mainstream that in hindsight they seem obvious. Perhaps sports psychology was such a bizarre notion in 1995, that Rotella felt compelled to continually hammer us with how “ordinary” his advice is and how accepted it is among his PGA friends. Regardless of what the book was in the 90′s, to the 21st century buyer, it is singularly un-useful. One copy each of Golf Digest and Golf Magazine will give you the same tips on the mental approach and will be far more entertaining to boot.

The most wearisome aspect of the book is author Rotella’s incessant name-dropping of famous clients, friends and associates. Rotella seems more intent on telling you how successful and right HE is than on how to improve your own thinking and ultimately your golf game. Anecdotes have a place in instruction books, certainly; but they need to be entertaining and informative. Very little of this book is really entertaining, and the copious anecdotes tend to simply support the underlying theme that the author has befriended golf’s elite.

In a typical example, Rotella opens Nick Price’s eyes with the flabbergasting revelation that when things go wrong on the course, Nick could envision things going right, rather than getting down on himself. Rotella closes the tale by saying, “After listening to this for awhile, Nick said, ‘If I had known this was what you were going to talk about, I would have come to see you a long time ago.’
‘Why didn’t you?’ I asked.
‘I was afraid you’d be into something weird. I didn’t realize it would be this logical and sensible.’

Rotella spends most of the first three chapters convincing you that he is logical and sensible, and dropping as many names as he can to support his claim. The entire experience reads like a pitch to a publisher or the inside flap of a dust cover more than a book on how to improve my own mental approach to golf. Similar “me” stories continue to pop up throughout the book, drawing your attention away from any few helpful tips and brings that attention back squarely onto the author, which appears to be where Rotella really wants it.
Rating: 2 / 5

the seminal work on golf (and perhaps) sports psychology from Dr. Bob Rotella. The book works on a number of levels as follows: #1. as a rare and excellent guide on how to prepare oneself mentally for the game and how to remained focused during a match; #2. as a series of anecdotal chapters covering a number of the game’s top name players and how they are using Rotella’s straight forward and insightful techniques to play better golf; #3. as an instructional piece and #4. as a guide for getting the most out of your practises.

Any one of the above would make it good, all 4 in combination make it a must have for golfers at all levels.

(ps I’d also recommend as essential golf reading Jack Nicklaus’s “Golf My Way,” Tom Watson’s “Getting It Up and Down from 40 Yards and In” and, of course, Harvey Penick’s “Little Red Book)
Rating: 5 / 5