Golf Is a Game of Confidence

by Bob Rotella, Bob Cullen

Overview

Confidence, or “playing with your eyes,” can be the difference between making par and a bogey, one-putting and three-putting, winning and losing. To help readers revolutionize their own course management and mental game, Rotella relates stories of the game’s legendary figures, from Byron Nelson’s unsurpassed streak of eleven wins in a row and seventeen wins in a year in 1945 to inspirational rounds in the careers of Brad Faxon, Tom Kite, and Davis Love III. Rotella tells of golfers playing when the pressure is most intense and confidence most required, and depicts in detail their most personal thoughts and challenges. In essence, Rotella allows the reader not only to get inside the ropes but also to get inside the heads of the game’s greatest players in their most important moments.

In this highly instructional and motivational book, Rotella shows all golfers how they can use the same mental processes to achieve their own dreams, taking every bit as much joy from their triumphs as Tom Kite did in his US Open win at Pebble Beach. Filled with lore about the great players, great courses, and great tournaments, Golf Is a Game of Confidence inspires golfers to reach new heights in their games and their lives.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781439137109
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster
Publication date:	05/20/1996
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	96,825
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Dr. Bob Rotella was the director of sports psychology for twenty years at the University of Virginia, where his reputation grew as the person champions talked to about the mental aspects of their game. His client list includes Hall of Fame golfers like Pat Bradley, Tom Kite, and Nick Price as well as stars of the present, such as Darren Clarke, Keegan Bradley, Padraig Harrington, Graeme McDowell, Mark Wilson, and Rory Mcllroy. A writer for and consultant to Golf Digest, he lives in Virginia with his wife, Darlene.

Table of Contents

	Introduction	9
No. 1	How Brad Faxon Stayed in the Present	13
No. 2	How Fred Arenstein Broke 80	37
No. 3	How Jay Delsing Kept Trusting	43
No. 4	How Davis Love III Got Back to the Masters	56
No. 5	How Val Skinner Won the Sprint	76
No. 6	How Paul Runyan Beat Sam Snead 8 and 7	84
No. 7	How Patsy Price Broke 90	94
No. 8	How Tim Simpson Battled the Yips	100
No. 9	How Byron Nelson Won Eleven Straight	111
No. 10	How Bill Shean Prepared for the Club Championship at Pine Valley	119
No. 11	How Billy Mayfair Rebuilt His Confidence	138
No. 12	How Dicky Pride Crossed the Fine Line	151
No. 13	How David Frost Learned to Close	164
No. 14	How Guy Rotella Came to Golf	175
No. 15	How Nona Epps Learned to Come Through in the Clutch	184
No. 16	How Pat Bradley Finished Her Victory Lap	194
No. 17	How Claude Williamson Got from Stumpy Lake to the Cascades	204
No. 18	How Tom Kite Honors His Commitment	213
	Appendix: More Rotella's Rules	235

Editorial Reviews

Director of sports psychology at the University of Virginia, Rotella (Golf Is Not a Game of Perfect) writing with freelancer Cullen, offers advice not unlike that preached by Harvey Penick, which is to visualize each shot before it is made. But he has other words of wisdom as well: have an overall game plan; practice enough so that in tourney play it is almost automatic; learn when to be patient and when to be aggressive; and, above all, have fun. Rotella illustrates his lessons with chapters based on 18 golfers he has worked or talked with, some famous like Byron Nelson, Pat Bradley, Davis Love III and Tom Kite, but others less well known, like a New Jersey accountant who finally broke 80, a Virginian who won that state's Senior Amateur tournament and his own father, whom he introduced to the game at age 63. He also has observations on controlling anger, bouncing back from defeat, coping with near-disabling illness and learning confidence. Links addicts at any level can learn from Rotella's recommendations. (May)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly