Golf: The Mental Game

Often you hear golfers say, "I've got the game; it's something psychological that's holding me back. I don't know what it is, it's just psychological."

Well, that "something psychological" involves either thinking (concentration, visualization, thoughts about the swing, etc.), feeling (confidence, pressure, emotional control), or action (strategies, routines, practice techniques, etc.). Thinking, feeling, and action. When something goes wrong (or right) on the golf course, the cause is going to be found in one of these three areas. In Golf: The Mental Game, Tom Dorsel looks at more than sixty-five issues that can impact a golfer's success and happiness.

The book is divided into five sections. Section one presents the basics: getting started right, using the clubs correctly, and scoring. Section two is about thinking clearly: concentrating, what to think about, eliminating negative thoughts, keys to developing a great swing, and visualizing doing it right. Section three is about controlling emotions: building confidence, sharpening mental toughness, making your personality work for you (not against you), relieving stress through talking to yourself, handling pressure, and preventing choking. Section four is about effective action: practicing your skills, warming up, playing the game, and improving your game through setting goals. Section five is about the mental mysteries of golf: slumps, the effect of your good moments and bad, the mental gymnastics of putting, and collapses.

Golf: The Mental Game is the culmination of more than twenty-five years of writing about the psychological side of golf for national golf magazines such as Golf Illustrated, Golf Digest, Golf Magazine, and Golfweek.