Best Psychology Book

[xltsk8]

Does anyone have any suggestions for the best Golf Psychology book?

[trek1500]

I don’t know if these books would qualify as “psychology books†but they are definitely a good read with many helpful tips and anecdotes…

 

Harvey Penick’s:

 

Little Red Book

 

The Game of a Lifetime

[swingseeker2]

Fred Shoemaker's book "Extraordinary Golf" is especially good for learning how to put the fun back in the game and take the fear element out.

[xltsk8]

I was looking for more of a competitive psychology book. One that may be used on tour or written by a mental guru on tour. thanks.

[BeautifulNice]

Take a look at Valiante's Fearless Golf. Never read it, but it seems to take the approach you're interested in. Might also check The Artful Golfer blog or Geoff Shackleford's website. Might be something there as well.

[KF_Tower]

I gotta say that the book that really helped me the most was Rotella's "Golf is not a Game of Perfect". I finally stopped beating myself up and spiraling down after a bad hole and am just now getting back to consistently shooting under par. All of his books have been good, but that was the best for me.

Hope that helps

[glcoach]

Dr. Mac Powell Golf's Inner Game

 

This guy is great. Has a lot of great ideas. Also he is a PGA pro as well as a PhD. in Psychology, so he knows both ends.

[mikpga]

The Bible.

[swingseeker2]

"The 30-Second Golf Swing" by TJ Tomasi might be what you are looking for. It helps you analyze your own tendencies and avoid mental game pitfalls while playing under pressure. It helps you "put the wheels back on" when they start falling off during a round. It seems to be geared towards the higher level player.

[againstthegrain]

I have read of the books in this thread and I would have to say it is one not mentioned so far and that would be "the Inner Game of Golf" by Gallwey.

[jza80]

I was looking for more of a competitive psychology book. One that may be used on tour or written by a mental guru on tour. thanks.

I was looking for more of a competitive psychology book. One that may be used on tour or written by a mental guru on tour. thanks.

 

a very respectable man in the field of golf psychology is dr carey mumford, who's worked with heaps of pros. he's written a few books, such as 'the double connexion'

 

his methods are deceptively simple, like all good ideas, but if i was to crudely paraphrase them, it be would be that he has found and understood the way in which we can run on autopilot. have you ever just swung at a ball without any swing thoughts and perfectly executed it and then wondered why the heck can't i just do that every time?

[hillster32]

I second the Rotella suggestion. Love his stuff.

[NTufnel]

second the Inner Game of Golf suggestion.

[The Boom Bapp]

ZEN GOLF: Mastering the Mental Game - by Dr. Joseph Parent

 

The Golfers Mind:Play to Play Great - by Dr. Bob Rotella

 

The Pro: Lessons from My Father About Golf and Life - By Butch Harmon

 

Amazon Listing of all

 

 

I really enjoyed these.

[wrathuc]

Another Rotella book you may want to consider, "Putting Out of Your Mind".

[samvan]

to me, the following books are very good (I don't keep mechanics books at all):

 

"Extraordinary Golf" and "Extraordinary Putting" by Fred Shoemaker

 

"Zen Golf" and "Zen Putting" (I haven't finished this one though) by Dr. Joe Parent.

 

You can listen to interviews of these 2 authors at http://smarterpodcasts.com/golfsmarter/golfsmarter.html

(3 appearances for Joe Parent, 1 appearance for Fred Shoemaker)

So that you can get some ideas about what they are preaching.

 

"Zen" emphasizes more on traditional Eastern wisdom (often refer to martial arts and Buddhism) and sometimes while I was reading it confused me a little (not a lot, but a little). If you have only experienced Western culture in your life, I would suggest that you really "empty your cup" while reading it (empty your cup is explained in the book). It really opens my mind and I see a lot of possibility in my golf game and feel a lot less stress. It gives you drills to improve your mindset and this in turn helps your game.

 

"Extraordinary" are very easy to understand and digest. You just keep an open mind and enjoy the ride. It really helps expand my awareness (knowing what you are really doing at the exact moment you are doing it), and it proves to be very very beneficial to my game. It gives you exercises to let you discover your ability and this in turn helps your game.

 

Both series of books are alike (several of their opinions are the same). One common idea found in both is "you already have the ability to swing the golf club very well, and you just need to remove self-interference to experience the game". So, instead of learning something new (techniques, tips, training aids) to improve, you remove something that has been your burden to improve.

 

The organization of these 2 series are very different. Zen is organized like Harvey's little red book, and Extraordinary is organized like a common western instructional book (like "the now habit" or "getting things done" or the likes).

[belote]

Rotella's book is best if you can't forget about those lousy shots you hit, it's really helped me a lot.

[sebastian]

I really like "Golf is not a game of perfect" as well. Rotella is great.

[sandwedge]

All of Rotella's books have helped me on the course.

[alibab2001]

Bob Rotella's books realy helped me. I was a good ball striker but poor scorer. Rotella's books emphasize the importance of focusing on scoring, rather than focusing on the swing, if you get what I mean. Recomend them to anyone.

[hbear]

All the Rotella books are a staple of mine. I even have a heavily modified version of "Rotella's rules" that he puts in each of his books that I slip into my yardage books to get me in the right frame of mind to play well.

 

Parent's Zen Golf is good...a different take, but good.

I also have Dr. Gio's book, but didn't care for it as much...too much technical talking that was not setup to be easily applied.

 

Rotella's books are easy reads, and have helped me tremendously, especially with competitive golf.

[bjackson]

Golfer's Mind by Rotella. he writes great stuff.

[w8liftr]

Another vote for Rotella's books. I have the audiobook versions on my Ipod, I listen to them while doing cardio or driving.

[titleistnutter]

ive read golf isnt a game of perfect, what next? another dr bob or zen golf?