A Classic
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In a few years this book will probably have become one of the classic golf texts. Bob Rotella who recently helped Padraig Harrington win 2 consecutive Opens (British Open) has a simple message: you will never play a perfect round of golf. Even the best pros will only hit 2 or 3 hots in a round really cleanly. Therefore, the golfer has to accept that the game is about good course management and a sharp short game.
This book may change the way you approach golf and will probably stop you beating yourself up over a bad round! A must buy.
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Sharp, inspirational writing
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I don't play golf, I write speeches for golfers, so I thought I'd read a book to see if it gave me any ideas. Rotella uses golf as a metaphor for life, so I found the lessons that he had to offer could be applicable to writing and any other sport or discipline. There is nothing profound or original about this book, but it is well-structured and easy-to-read.
I got out of it, the importance of enjoying yourself when your playing, and not getting too hung-up about mistakes. Change your technique in your own time, just play on the course. Don't allow past disappointments to get you down. Do some 'creative visualisation'. Note that professionals just reduce the number of bad strokes they play to an absolute minimum, they aren't trying to play a winner every shot. (Tennis is a good example of that). Short game is what sorts out the sheep from the goats.
I found it a refreshing read, and I got an insight into a golfer's mind.
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Good advice but a bit long winded
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I like the Bob Rotella books and find them helpful. The advice can be summarised in just a few pages, but he builds his chapters around the points so that they are a bit more memorable. This will help many golfers and I think it has helped me a bit, but nowhere near as much as improving my technique through mixture of coaching, practice and the odd DVD/technical book. Ultimately if you have good technique the mental side becomes a lot easier as you hit good consistent shots a lot better and think less about your technique when on the course as a result. Also many of the mental lessons are learned through experience anyway eg loosing your temper after a bad shot often affects your next shot if you are not careful and you do not need a book to learn this. Nevertheless, a good read that I still ocassionally refer to as a refresher.
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Just Common Sense - probably
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This is an excellent book. I personally have the audio book too which I listen to regularly in the car. There is nothing weird, its not psycho mumbo jumbo. The book is just plain common sense and will just teach you how to execute you golf more thoroughly. Like all things in life the simpler the better and it just sometimes takes someone else to tell you what you already knew. Tom Kite quotes that if you lapse in concentration on 3 or 4 shots per round and if each lapse only costs you 1 shot, that's 12 to 16 shots on a four day tournament and that's the difference between being the all time leading money winner and loosing your card. In amateur land, who wouldn't want to be better by 4 or more shots around just by thinking better?
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It's just common sense
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Dr Bob Rotella is extremely well known in golf education for his advice on how to train your mind to play your best golf. He has helped some distinguished players including Tom Kite.
His basic philosophy is:
1. Believe you can achieve your golfing dream.
2. Have no swing thoughts or any thoughts about swing mechanics when you play.
3. Focus on a target for the ball: the smaller the better.
4. Stay in the present: forget previous shots (good and bad), don't think about the score for the round (good or bad). This will only distract you.
I have awarded this a one star. This is perhaps harsh, perhaps a three star would be appropriate but here is why I did:
My average handicap is 25 (27 in competition). I have been playing for three years and in the past 7 months as much as 5 or 6 times a week. I eat, sleep and dream golf. I devour new books and DVDs from the big names and some of the less well known.
I regularly watched the golf channel UK (RIP) and read Golf Digest online. My best rounds are around 85. My theoretical best (best scores per hole on different days) is 63.
In spite of starting this great game of golf at the age of 40, I've done well in many other sports and activities (squash, snowboarding, fencing, motorsport, aviation) and believe I should be able to play at a good level: regularly in the 80s and why not, with training and perseverance, in the 70s.
In short, my profile matches that of the target reader for this book. I had high expectations of this book and was hoping to discover new information and techniques on how to train my mind to get the best from my golf.
In reality, I found nothing new here. Most of the advice really is common sense and common place in all the golf related material I've encountered. Bob spends too much time covering what not to think. In the audio version, Bob drones on so much he sent me to sleep. Sadly, I have to say, the book is not worth the money and I can not recommend it.
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