With temperatures hitting just about frigid, here in the Northeast, I can surely say that my 2010 season has come to a close. Looking back, it's been nothing but an enjoyable learning experience, with lots of highs and lows. Now as we enter into hibernation for the next four months or so, I turn to the reading material. This book by Dr. Bob Rotella was a great quick read, that really stresses the importance of the 'right mind' while playing. I can honestly say, that I've fallen victim to many of these great excerpts, especially #4. This has probably effected my potential throughout the season. Lots to work on!
- To play golf as well as he can, a player must focus his mind tightly on the shot he is playing, in the present.
- A player who is committed to the process of hitting good shots will never draw a club back until he knows where he wants the ball to go and believes that the club in his hands will send it there.
- Nearly all golfers would be better off if they forgot about the score as they played.
- A golfer cannot score as well as possible if he is thinking about swing mechanics as he plays.
- A golfer has to train his swing on the practice tee, then trust it on the course.
- In putting, the challenge is to make a free stroke to a specific target. Guiding, steering, or being too careful with a putting stroke are faults bred by doubt.
- A golfer's brain and nervous system perform best when they're focused on a small, precise target.
- The right choice is the decisive choice.
- Acceptance is critical after a bad shot. An angry player can't really execute a pre-shot mental routine.
- As long as the rules reward getting the ball in the hole on the fewest strokes, golf will be about playing well with the wedges and the putter.
- Sometimes, golfers forget that the object of the game is not to have a great swing, but to put the ball into the hole.
- The disease called the yips doesn't exist, except in the mind.
- Every individual goes through periods when he does a lot of the right things—practicing efficiently, thinking well—and gets no immediate tangible results. This is the point at which successful people people bring to bear the powers of faith, patience, persistence, and will. Faith is the ability to believe without any tangible evidence.
- A conservative strategy joined to a cocky swing produces low scores. Reckless boldness joined to a doubtful swing is a formula for disaster.
- Athletes who become self-critical perfectionists are flirting with trouble.
- The best remedies for a golfing slump are putting things back in perspective, dwelling on the positive, looking for something good to happen—and rededication to the short game.
- It's not very important where you've been. Life is about where you're going.
- The optimal state of mind is something a player must work on patiently every day.
- It's not what happens to golfers, but how they choose to respond to what happens, that distinguishes champions.
- Which comes first, confidence or winning? The implication, in some minds, is that you can;t win until you have confidence, and you can;t get confidence until you've won. But if that were the case, no one would ever win for the first time. The fact is that the confidence required to win can be learned.
- The best way to introduce a kid to golf is casually.
- A child of almost any age can't spend too much time playing golf and practicing. But children burn out if they're doing it because someone requires it and they're not having fun.
- A golfer has to learn to compartmentalize. The happiest players are the ones who do.
- If you can win the battle with your mind and emotions and play your best game, then you can't really lose.
- Most dreams are attainable if the dreamer is ready to devote consistent, intelligent effort to them.
- The difference between a dream and a fantasy is commitment.
- To improve, a player must practice in the right way, working on both his swing and his mind.
