Golf is not a Game of Perfect - Audiobook

Introduction

The speaker introduces himself and talks about his interest in golf and dreams.

• The speaker has a couch in his basement rec room, but no one lies on it. Instead, he asks people to tell him about their dreams.

• He believes that dreams are the goals and aspirations that a golfer carries around in their conscious mind.

• He emphasizes the importance of having great dreams, as they can lead to achieving great things.

• Conversely, small dreams or a lack of confidence can lead to frustration and mediocrity.

Pat Bradley's Dreams

The speaker talks about Pat Bradley's dreams and how they helped her achieve success in golf.

• When the speaker first met Pat Bradley, she had won several tournaments but wasn't convinced she knew how to win.

• She expressed her desire to win more tournaments, including majors, become Player of the Year at least once, and be inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame.

• The speaker worked with her for two days on how she could see herself as a winner, think effectively, play one shot at a time, believe in her putting and herself.

• After their meeting, Pat Bradley went on to win five tournaments that year (including three majors), and eventually qualified for the LPGA Hall of Fame.

Supporting People's Talents

The speaker talks about his approach to supporting people's talents.

• The speaker corrects people who identify him as a "shrink," stating that he is an "enlarger" who wants to support people's talents.

• He believes in human abilities and would encourage someone who shoots 95 but dreams of shooting 70 every day.

• However, he acknowledges that right thinking alone cannot guarantee success; it takes hard work over many years to achieve one's dreams.

Pursuing Dreams

The section discusses how Tom Kite pursued his dreams and became a successful golfer. It also highlights the importance of attitude, commitment, and mental strength in achieving success.

Tom Kite's Dream

• Tom Kite had big dreams and never stopped pursuing them despite facing challenges.

• He worked hard on both physical and mental aspects of his game, endured failures, and bounced back as he pursued his dreams.

Attitude is Key

• Champions have a strong will, dream big, and make a long-term commitment to pursue their goals.

• A player's attitude is crucial in tapping into their potential talent. Those who can maximize their talent by playing well with wedges and thinking positively will beat those who cannot.

Consistency in Thinking

This section discusses the importance of consistent thinking for golfers to achieve consistency in scoring. It uses Nick Price's example to illustrate how inconsistency in thinking can lead to poor performance.

Nick Price's Struggle

• Nick Price was inconsistent in his performance due to inconsistency in his thinking.

• His concentration was shattered if the first few holes went poorly, leading him to become increasingly erratic throughout the round.

Choose Your Thoughts Wisely

• Golfers need to learn to think consistently if they want to score consistently.

• A player needs to decide before the round starts how they are going to think and do it on every shot. They must choose to think well rather than letting events control their thoughts.

Free Will & Self-Determination

This section discusses the concept of free will and how it relates to self-determination. It highlights how golfers can use their free will to control their thoughts and achieve success.

The Power of Free Will

• Free will is the greatest gift anyone could have given us. It means we can control our lives, including our thoughts on the golf course.

• Winners are self-determined, but only winners are willing to admit it.

Control Your Thoughts

• Golfers can choose to think positively about their shots or let negative thoughts take over.

• A golfer must decide how they will think before each shot and stick with that decision throughout the round.

Introduction

In this section, the speaker introduces the concept of golfers struggling to improve their game despite practicing hard. He explains that even professional golfers encounter obstacles and seek help to overcome them.

Golfers' Struggles

• Golfers practice hard but struggle to improve their scores.

• High handicappers have read books and seen multiple pros but still can't understand why they're not consistent.

• The inability to command the body to repeat successful motions is a significant issue in golf.

Fear of Failure

In this section, the speaker discusses how fear of failure affects a golfer's performance. He uses an example of a balance beam sport to illustrate how fear can cause spasmodic movements and inconsistent shot-making.

Balance Beam Example

• A four by four-inch beam on the floor is easy to walk across, but when mounted 40 feet in the air with no net underneath, it becomes mentally challenging.

• Fear of failure causes people to think about mechanical things they don't worry about when the beam is on the floor.

• Thinking about swing mechanics causes muscles to tighten and leads to spasmodic movements and inconsistent shot-making.

Trusting Your Swing

In this section, the speaker emphasizes that thinking about swing mechanics during play leads to inconsistent shot-making. He suggests that trusting your swing is essential for consistent performance.

Importance of Trusting Your Swing

• A golfer cannot hit a golf ball consistently well if they think about the mechanics of their swing during play.

• The time to worry about swing mechanics is on the practice tee, not on the course.

• Winners learn to accept the swing they bring to the golf course and score with it as often as possible.

Developing Trust

• Developing thoughts and habits that promote trust is essential for consistent performance.

• Focusing your mind on your target and pre-shot routine rather than swing mechanics helps develop trust.

Confidence

In this section, the speaker discusses how confidence is more effective than doubt. He emphasizes that good athletes create their own realities and put aside past failures.

Importance of Confidence

• Confidence is more effective than doubt, even if irrational.

• Good athletes put aside past failures and believe in their abilities.

Conclusion

• Many weekend golfers need to focus on appropriate targets and strategy instead of swing mechanics during play.

• Trusting your swing with every club is essential for consistent performance.

Trusting Your Swing

The transcript discusses the importance of trusting your swing in golf and how it can lead to a hot streak. It also emphasizes the need for golfers to pick out small targets before taking a shot.

Hot Streaks and Trusting Your Swing

• A hot streak represents a golfer's true capability, which results from trusting their abilities.

• Golfers should strive to replicate the state of mind they have on a hot streak throughout their round.

• Thinking about swing mechanics can interfere with a golfer's game, so they should focus on trusting their swings instead.

Picking Small Targets

• Before taking any shot, a golfer must pick out the smallest possible target.

• The brain and nervous system respond best when the eyes focus on small precise targets.

• Elevated targets are most effective, especially on non-par 3 holes.

• Golfers should avoid picking undulations in fairways as targets since it can be difficult to remember them accurately.

Importance of Small Targets

This section expands upon the importance of picking small targets in golf and provides examples of how professional golfers use this technique.

Ben Hogan Story

• Before taking any shot, a golfer must pick out the smallest possible target.

• The story of Ben Hogan illustrates this principle well. He asked his caddy for a target before hitting his shot and aimed for one specific palm tree behind the green.

Nick Price Example

• Nick Price has seen an increase in consistency and success by committing himself to refusing to hit a shot unless his mind is locked onto the target.

• Once he has picked out a target, he can look back at the ball but continue to see the target in his mind.

Examples of Effective Targets

• Elevated targets are most effective, especially on non-par 3 holes.

• Golfers can use anything that presents something small and precise to aim for, such as a specific branch on a tree.

Tee Shot Strategy

In this section, the speaker discusses how to approach tee shots and how to deal with challenging situations.

Tee Shot Targeting

• It's important to have a target in mind when hitting a tee shot.

• If the ball is likely to go out of bounds or into a hazard, aim for a target in the rough instead.

• Golfers can also pick an intermediate target between the ball and the main target to help with alignment.

Dealing with Challenging Situations

• If the tee is placed in a chute of trees, use a shorter club that can be hit straight enough to get out of the chute.

• When dealing with an unusual or unfavorable lie, take practice swings and make adjustments before addressing the ball.

The Importance of Pre-Shot Routines

In this section, the speaker emphasizes the importance of pre-shot routines for consistency and mental focus.

The Foundation of Consistency

• 80% of any golf shot happens before taking the club back. A sound pre-shot routine is essential for consistency.

• A pre-shot routine helps block out distractions and ensures proper physical and mental setup.

• To develop a reliable routine, golfers must decide on one and practice it until it becomes ingrained.

Elements of a Pre-Shot Routine

• Many golfers begin their routine with a triggering gesture to remind them to focus.

• Club selection should be decisive and confident. Uncertainty indicates an unsound routine.

• Pick a small, precise target and use the pre-addressed phase of the routine to deal with any problems caused by an unusual or unfavorable lie.

Instilling Belief in Your Shots

In this section, the speaker discusses how instilling belief in your shots is essential for consistency and success.

The Importance of Belief

• Instilling unwavering belief in your shot is one of the fundamentals of a sound pre-shot routine.

• Visualizing the ball flying through the air and landing where you want it can help build confidence.

• A disciplined, constant pre-shot routine helps golfers control what happens before they swing and produce their best golf under pressure.

Pre-Shot Routine

In this section, the speaker discusses the importance of a pre-shot routine in golf and provides tips on how to develop an effective one.

Importance of Last Practice Swing

• The last practice swing should feel right and inspire trust in the swing.

• Being flexible about the number of practice swings taken can help ensure that the last one feels right.

Practice Swings

• Taking too many practice swings can lead to thoughts about swing mechanics invading your routine.

• If you must think about mechanics, take at least two practice swings and let the first one be the one on which you think about mechanics.

Grip and Stance

• The correct grip and stance are important for executing shots correctly.

• It is best to take your grip while standing behind the ball rather than during your address.

Developing a Routine

• Develop a routine that enables you to mentally and physically set up properly every time.

• Focus on the target as soon as you have completed setting up.

Exemplary Routine

• Look at the target, look at the ball, and swing - this core of the routine remains the same for all shots from drives to putts.

• The routine should have a pace that fits your personality yet has rhythm and flow.

Swing Thoughts

In this section, the speaker discusses swing thoughts and how they can affect a golfer's game.

Swing Thoughts

• Many golfers find there is no place in their pre-shot routine for a swing thought.

• If a player must have a swing thought, they should only have one per round and only for shots of 120 yards and longer.

Importance of Concentration

• It is important that nothing interferes with concentration on distance and the target when hitting shots from 120 yards and in.

• Some swing thoughts are more conducive to staying focused on the target and trusting your mechanics than others.

Effortless Motion

• The swing thought should suggest an effortless motion.

Developing a Sound Routine

In this section, the speaker provides tips on developing a sound routine.

Developing a Sound Routine

• You can begin your routine while other members of your group are hitting their shots.

• Trust your first instincts regarding club selection or the break of a putt.

• Develop a sound, simple routine to be faster player even if you occasionally walk away and restart your routine because something interfered with your concentration.

[None] Conclusion

The speaker concludes by discussing how low scores depend on how well a golfer plays once they accept this fact.

Low Scores Depend on Performance

• Low scores depend on how well a golfer plays once they accept this fact.

The Importance of Short Game

In this section, the speaker emphasizes the importance of short game in golf and how it can make a significant difference in scoring.

Short Game vs. Long Game

• Good short shots are extremely productive.

• Payoff for a good short shot is much higher than the payoff for a good long shot.

• Curtis Strange exemplifies the importance of short game in scoring.

Practice Makes Perfect

• Professionals spend 70% of their practice time on shots from 120 yards and in.

• Short game requires an uncluttered mind, focus on target, and discipline routine.

• Adjustments in grip and stance may be required for some shots.

Trust Your Feel

• Optimal wedge distance should be known to lay up to that distance if necessary.

• Trust your feel when facing a wedge from other than your optimal distance.

• Envision the shot, consider how the ball will roll once it hits the ground, and adjust target accordingly.

Be Decisive

• Approach pitches and chips like Michael Jordan approached scoring in basketball - just look and react.

• Think about holding your short shots instead of getting up and down.

• Be decisive above all in the short game.

Putting Attitude

In this section, the transcript discusses the importance of confidence in putting and how it is largely a mental game. It also talks about the significance of attitude towards putting and how it can affect one's performance.

Confidence in Putting

• Locke believed that he didn't have to see the putt to make it, as he could hear it.

• Physically, putting is the simplest golf stroke, but hitting a putt with doubt can be fatal.

• To become a good putter, you need to fill your mind with thoughts that will help you instead of making excuses for poor putting.

• Memories of missed putts in crucial situations can cause players to lose their confidence.

Attitude Towards Putting

• Having a positive attitude towards putting is essential. Players should love putting and view every hole as an opportunity to use their putter.

• Gary Player's attitude towards greens illustrates how important attitude is when playing golf.

• Losing foolishness is what happens to players when they get "The Yips." Most players start out as confident putters but struggle to maintain this attitude over time.

• Golfers who are eager to stop leaving their putts short or running them too far past can lose focus on the real goal, which is putting the ball into the cup.

Establishing a Good Routine

• When helping touring pros with their putting, establishing a good routine is essential.

• The putting routine differs somewhat from the full swing and short game routines because it has to allow for reading the green.

• Once you've made a decisive read, you need to think about it or visualize the line of the putt.

• For breaking putts, pick a particular spot in the cup as your target. For uphill and downhill putts, improvise a target to make all putts seem straight.

• After picking out a line or target, take a couple of practice strokes with your eyes on the target to ensure that you feel the right stroke for the distance.

Proper Alignment for Putting

This section discusses the importance of proper alignment when putting.

The Eyes See the Putt Better When Aligned Over the Ball

• Proper alignment is crucial for successful putting.

• The eyes see the putt better when they are precisely over the ball.

• If you take your stance, look at the target, and start wondering whether you're aimed correctly, you need to walk away and start the process over again because you can't putt decisively if you're questioning your aim.

Core Principles of Putting Routine

This section discusses two core principles of a successful putting routine.

Two Core Principles for Successful Putting Routine

• Look at the target, look at the ball, and let the putt go.

• Your brain and nervous system work best when your brain simply reacts to the target.

• The longer a player stands over the ball before hitting it, the more likely he is to allow mechanical thoughts to intrude.

• The run-and-shoot attitude exemplifies this principle.

Rhythm of Looking at Target and Ball

This section discusses how there is a rhythm to looking at the target, looking at the ball, and letting go of putts.

Rhythm of Looking at Target and Ball

• There is a rhythm to looking at the target, looking at the ball, and letting go of putts.

• It's almost like a mantra - "look at target, look at ball, let it go."

• If you miss a short putt ask yourself why you missed it. Did you misread or get speed wrong? If so forget it. But if you missed it because you were afraid of missing it and got tentative and careful, redouble your effort to be trusting and decisive.

Aim to Make It

This section discusses the biggest fallacy players make when putting.

Biggest Fallacy in Putting

• The biggest fallacy is aiming for a three-foot general target.

• Always aim to make it.

Confidence in Golf

This section discusses the importance of confidence in golf.

Importance of Confidence in Golf

• Good golf requires confidence.

• Confidence at the level of any single shot is nothing more than thinking about your ball going to the target.

• Negative thinking is almost 100% effective by its nature.

• Golf will try to sap your confidence on every round.

• Try to feel that your confidence is increasing over the course of every round, tournament, and season.

Monitoring Your Thinking

This section discusses how monitoring your thinking can help you grow more confident.

Monitoring Your Thinking

• Players have to learn to monitor their thinking and ask themselves whether an idea that springs to mind is likely to help them or hurt them in the effort to grow more confident.

Concentration During Tournaments

This section discusses how concentration during tournaments can affect performance.

Concentration During Tournaments

• The difference between leading money winners and losing cards comes down to concentration during tournaments.

• Even if every lapse costs you just one stroke, that's 16 - 20 shots a week.

• In conference tournaments, players might hit the same shot and overreact because they're not as relaxed as they are during practice rounds.

Golf is Not a Game of Perfect

In this section, the speaker discusses how striving for perfection in golf can be detrimental to one's game. He emphasizes the importance of accepting mistakes and moving on.

Acceptance is Key

• Striving for perfection is essential, but demanding perfection from oneself on the golf course is deadly.

• Tom Kite's response to hitting a bad shot at Bay Hill was impressive because he accepted his mistake and focused on making the next shot count.

• The best tour players make a remarkable number of birdies from out of the woods because they know that escape from the woods demands that they become even calmer and more sharply focused than they normally are.

Having Fun and Managing Expectations

In this section, the speaker discusses how managing expectations can help golfers enjoy their game more. He emphasizes having fun and focusing on the process rather than results.

Throw Away Your Expectations

• As soon as you step onto the golf course, throw away your expectations and just play.

• Two immediate goals should be to have fun and focus on the process of playing, not just results.

• Shooting your best score requires becoming your own best friend or caddy by staying optimistic and enthusiastic.

• Acceptance allows a golfer to be patient, which is one of the necessary virtues in golf.

Handling Anger and Self-Evaluation

In this section, the speaker discusses how anger can negatively impact one's game. He emphasizes self-evaluation as an important tool for improvement but warns against doing it during a round.

Don't Let Anger Take Over

• When golfers fail to meet their expectations, they begin to judge how well they are doing against how well they expected to do, which can lead to anger and frustration.

• Tough self-evaluation is important for improvement, but it should not be done on the golf course.

• After a shot is done, the only constructive thing you can do about it is to hit the next shot as well as you can.

• If you must have expectations about results, expect to make some mistakes.

Having Fun and Remembering Memories

In this section, the speaker discusses how memories of past shots can affect one's game. He emphasizes having fun and forgetting bad shots.

Forget Bad Shots

• Golfers have a vast store of memories that can affect the way they play.

• The inability to forget past shots is infinitely more devastating than the inability to remember them.

• Having fun and being patient are key to enjoying golf and playing your best.

Remembering Good Shots

The section discusses how golfers can learn to forget bad shots and remember good ones. It emphasizes the importance of enjoying good shots, savoring them, and celebrating them to make the game more enjoyable.

Focusing on Good Shots

• Golfers should permit themselves to enjoy their good shots.

• Remembering good shots helps make the memory of them stronger.

• Celebrating a great golf shot makes the game more enjoyable.

Selective Memory

• Good golfers have a selective memory that helps them forget bad shots.

• They tend to get very little joy or satisfaction from their good shots.

Fred Couples' Mental Game

• Fred Couples shared his mental game strategy with others.

• He tries to remember the best shot he ever hit in his life with whatever club he has in his hand.

• This approach helps him relax and perform better.

Successful Strategy for Golfers

The section discusses successful strategies for golfers at every level. It emphasizes hitting the shot you know you can hit, not attempting bold shots that you are not confident you can execute.

Arnold Palmer's Misleading Shot

• Arnold Palmer's drive in the final round of the U.S Open at Cherry Hills in 1960 misled many golfers.

• Palmer could have done no worse than par each round if he had hit a two iron off the tee instead of trying to drive the green.

Conservative Strategy and Confident Swing

• A key to successful strategy is hitting the shot you know you can hit, not attempting bold shots that you are not confident you can execute.

• A conservative strategy with a cocky aggressive swing produces better results than a bold strategy with a tentative swing.

Tommy Armor's Story

• Tommy Armor's story illustrates the importance of a conservative strategy and confident swing.

• Armor backed his pupil in a wager on the condition that he be allowed to walk the course with him during the round and offer advice.

• Armor advised his pupil to play an eight iron to the fairway 30 yards short of the green instead of attempting a long shot.

• The pupil followed his advice and won the bet.

Golf Game Plan

In this section, the importance of having a game plan in golf is discussed. The professional golfer plans ahead of time to avoid analyzing and improvising on the course. Walking or mentally reviewing each hole backward helps to reveal more about the hole and think strategically.

Importance of Having a Game Plan

• A game plan encompasses target and club selection for each tee shot, preferred landing area on every green, and hazards to be avoided.

• Professional golfers prepare a plan ahead of time to leave their mind clear and free to focus on each target.

• Walking or mentally reviewing each hole backward reveals more about the hole than standing on tee and looking at the green. It shows more tricks and deceptions that the architect may have built into the hole, forcing one to think strategically.

Example: Hole 10 at Augusta National

• Standing on the green facing the tee reveals how much Hole 10 favors a tee shot played down the left side. The downslope in the fairway is much more significant on the left side, making it 100 yards shorter than a tee shot down the right side.

• Hitting left leaves a professional with a six or seven iron while hitting right can be a long iron or fairway wood from a side Hill lie.

• For an amateur, calculations would be somewhat different as they would take note of potential problems caused by right bunker, trees on either side of fairways which could catch drives if swung hard trying for distance, large bunker in middle of fairways about hundred yards short of green which rarely affects master's golfer but if amateur laid up he would be safest to lay up short of that bunker.

• The intelligent amateur might well conclude that he must play this hole as a short par 5 rather than a long Par Four. He would want to hit his first ball somewhere into the fairway and his second shot short of the big fairway trap, a total distance of perhaps 360 yards that would leave him an easy wedge or nine iron to the green with a chance to sink a putt for a par and a realistic plan to make no worse than five on the hole.

English Golf Strategy

This section discusses golf strategy and how to make decisions based on the course layout, distance, and potential hazards.

Making Decisions Based on Distance and Hazards

• The carry over the water is only 140 yards to a broad fairway. A reasonable seven iron will leave a simple pitch of 60 or 70 yards to the green.

• Most amateurs might think they can carry the ball that far, confusing carry with total driving distance which includes roll.

• Problems of strategy require detailed knowledge of yardages to solve. Only walking the course and annotating your scorecard will give a golfer many of the distances he needs.

• Unless you know the precise distance between the tee in a particular hazard or to the corner of a dogleg, you will face an extra and unnecessary element of doubt as you prepare to hit your shots.

Planning for Adversity

• Your game plan must also prepare you for adversity so you're ready for the best happening and ready for the worst.

• If you've prepared, you will forget about it tee up a new ball and swing even more freely. You might really catch the shot pure and see it trickle into the fairway trap.

• In general, anytime you're not sure I recommend making more conservative choices.

Choking Under Pressure

• Sooner or later most golfers move up to the level of competition and pressure when they reach this level they often find that they perceive the game very differently.

• A golfer chokes when he lets anger, doubt, fear, or some other extraneous factor distract him before or during a shot.

• The successful golfer knows that rather than trying to eliminate nervousness he must learn to use it. Being nervous can help performance.

Coping with Pressure in Golf

This transcript discusses how golfers can cope with pressure situations and avoid common mental mistakes that can lead to poor performance. The transcript uses the example of Arnold Palmer's collapse at the 1966 US Open to illustrate these points.

Accepting Misfortune and Learning from Mistakes

• Making a bad shot in a pressure situation is part of the game.

• Coping with pressure is a skill that must be learned and constantly maintained.

• Even great players make mental mistakes, and all golfers can learn from studying those mistakes.

Arnold Palmer's Collapse at the 1966 US Open

• Palmer made three common mental mistakes under pressure: dwelling on his score, introducing a new mechanical thought about swing tempo, and trying to be too bold.

• In his prime, Palmer was loose and trusting, as illustrated by his response to a small boy's interruption during a playoff at the Colonial in 1962.

• Four years later, when he was being supplanted as the best golfer in the world by Jack Nicklaus, Palmer was not quite so loose. He gave one standing instruction to his caddy Mike Reeser: if his swing tempo got too fast, he wanted Reeser to tell him.

• By number 13 of the final round of the US Open at Olympic Club in San Francisco, Palmer had lost most of his seven-stroke lead over Billy Casper due to his mental mistakes under pressure.

Lessons for Coping with Pressure

• Stay in the present and keep your mind sharply focused on the shot immediately in front of you.

• Don't let extraneous thoughts distract you, as Palmer did when he started thinking of the open scoring record.

• Avoid trying to be too bold under pressure, as Palmer did on the 15th and 16th holes at Olympic Club.

• Coping with pressure is a skill that can be learned and constantly maintained, whether you're playing in a two-dollar Nassau or the final holes of a club tournament.

Palmer's Lessons

In this section, Arnold Palmer shares some of his lessons on how to improve your golf game and mindset.

Avoid Mechanical Thoughts

• Palmer advises avoiding mechanical thoughts such as worrying about tempo. Instead, strive to become looser, freer, and more confident.

• Trust your swing more on the 18th tee than you did on the first.

Stick to Your Routine and Game Plan

• Stick to your routine and game plan to give yourself a chance to post your lowest possible number.

• Have a conservative strategy and an aggressive swing.

• If you fall behind early, don't try to make up that deficit with bold risky strategy. Play steadily and well, giving your opponent a chance to make mistakes of their own.

Dealing with Nerve-Wracking Distractions

• Nerve-wracking distractions are not peculiar to the U.S open; they can occur even in a casual round.

• The only effective response to bottlenecks on the course is deciding that they will not bother you. If you have to wait, walk around to keep warm.

• Get your mind off golf between shots if possible. If there's a rain delay, distance yourself from golf until play resumes.

Coping with Opponents

• The play of opponents can be a nervous distraction for many players.

• Assume that your opponent will hit the best possible shot so that you'll be prepared if it happens.

• A golfer's first opponent in competition is the game itself. The course, club, and ball are all idiosyncratic foes that will humble even the best golfers occasionally.

• The second opponent is the golfer himself. Can he discipline his mind to produce the best score his body is capable of?

Practicing Effectively

• To understand how to practice, you must first understand that there are two states of mind in practice: the training mentality and the trusting mentality.

• In the training mentality, a golfer evaluates their shots critically and analytically. In the trusting mentality, they simply accept them.

• The best athletes always spend some time in the training mentality during practice, but the trusting mentality is essential.

Practice Time and Mentality

This section discusses the importance of dividing practice time between the trusting mentality and training mentality. It also provides guidelines for how much time to spend on each mentality depending on the player's goals.

Dividing Practice Time

• At least 60% of practice time should be spent in the trusting mentality, where the mind is shut down except for thoughts of target and routine.

• More time should be spent in the training mentality at the beginning of the season when restoring mechanics and rhythm.

• A player preparing for a tournament should hit 70 to 90 percent of his practice shots in the trusting mentality before competition begins.

• No good pro tries to fix his swing while warming up before a round.

Short Game Practice

• Any player should spend most of their practice time on short game shots from 120 yards and less.

• Good players should practice chips every day until they sink two, while weekend players can drop a dozen balls at various spots around the green and see how many they get up and down using their full routines with every shot.

• Players should have fundamental short shots in their arsenal such as chip, flop shot, and sand explosion.

• Shots from 40 to 120 yards should be practiced with different trajectories, pitch-and-runs, knockdowns, always aiming at small targets.

Full Swing Practice

• As a general rule, no more than 30% of practice time should be spent on full swings. The bulk of this time should be spent with clubs that are used to put the ball into the fairway.

• Good putting is primarily a function of attitude and routine. A golfer should not spend hours practicing putts but rather focus on attitude and routine.

• Useful putting drills include using a reel of chalk string to lay down a line from the hole to the ball, taking nine putts with decreasing intensity, and putting to the fringe from all possible distances.

Mental Preparation

This section discusses how mental preparation can help golfers simulate their goals and improve their performance.

Mental Simulation

• Golfers can mentally simulate reaching their goals by making their head a practice range. If done vividly enough, it can help them achieve their goals.

• In the pre-round practice period, if you warm up with longer shots and hit the ball well, you must believe that this is how you will hit the ball once the round begins. If you cannot find your clubface as you warm up, you must believe that you are saving your good shots for the golf course.

How to Improve Your Golf Game

In this section, Dr. Bob Rotella provides tips on how to improve your golf game by focusing on mental preparation and commitment.

Mental Preparation

• Imagine yourself calmly refusing to get distracted when your buddies tell you after nine holes that you're on track to shoot in the 80s.

• Make a regular habit of lying down, closing your eyes, and simulating all the sensory experiences of playing a round of golf before an important round.

Commitment

• To become a low handicapped golfer, make a long-term improvement plan that includes how many times a week you will practice, what you will work on, and for how long.

• If you have a handicap of 25 and make up your mind to trust your swing when you're on the course, follow a sound routine, and learn to accept your results without getting angry, you can quickly lower your handicap over a summer from 25 to 15.

• People who play in the mid 70s find time to practice with purpose. They never waste time mindlessly hitting balls.

Rewards

• Golf can give happiness whether it's your profession or hobby. It challenges you and gives you a chance to test yourself.

• You'll find wonderful people who love golf and will be happy to share your commitment with you. They are part of the game's rewards.

• In the end, you realize that you love golf because of what it teaches about yourself.

The transcript ends with music playing at 1:30:53.