Winning Golf

L. Miller Saul

Description

In Winning Golf, Dr. Saul L. Miller, one of the world's leading sport psychologists, describes eight of the most common problems limiting golfing performance and in the process gives readers powerful, practical techniques to overcome these challenges. With his guidance, you'll learn the performance mindset and emotional management to play with more impact, consistency, and pleasure. Do you want to discover what the pros do to prepare mentally and excel under pressure? Winning Golf's mental training program comes with input from over 70 of the world's top golfers. There is specific advice on how to improve your short game, develop an effective shot routine, tune out negative and anxious mental chatter, play calm and strong, master the 'yips', and use performance-enhancing self-talk and imagery to strengthen confidence and develop a more competitive golf identity. You will also get insights from the Sub-60 Club - the elite set of PGA golfers who shot sub-60 rounds on regulation courses

Informations

• Publié par: Ecw Press
• Date de parution: 20 octobre 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 3
• EAN13: 9781778520419
• Langue: English

Extrait

Winning Golf The Mental Game (Creating the Focus, Feeling, and Confidence to Play Consistently Well)
Dr. Saul L. Miller





Contents Praise for Winning Golf Dedication Section One: Introduction Chapter One: Mapping Out the Mental Game Chapter Two: The Problem Section Two: Right Feeling Chapter Three: Managing Emotions — Conscious Breathing Chapter Four: Changing Programs — The Release Reflex Section Three: Right Focus Chapter Five: Power Thinking Chapter Six: High-Performance Imagery Chapter Seven: Exceptional Performances — The Sub-60 Club Section Four: Right Attitude Chapter Eight: Commitment Chapter Nine: Confidence Chapter Ten: Identity Chapter Eleven: Balance and Lifestyle Chapter Twelve: Individual Differences Chapter Thirteen: Transferring Mental Skills Chapter Summaries The Remarkable Cast of Characters in Winning Golf Acknowledgments Notes About the Author Copyright


Praise for Winning Golf
“ Winning Golf provides readers with several practical training exercises that they can put into use immediately to improve their scores. The compilation of mental advice by Dr. Miller, with input from world class athletes and yesterday’s and today’s stars, makes the book entertaining and relevant. It is a must read for any level of golfer trying to bring their game to the next level!”
— Derek Sprague , past president of the PGA of America and general manager of TPC Sawgrass, Ponte Vedra Beach, FL
“Saul Miller brings to bear his extensive experience working with athletes from many sports on ways of rising to the mental challenges that golf provides. He has worked with golfers of all abilities, studied how the best players manage themselves and their games, and offers practical suggestions for a winning mental game. If you want to develop what Dr. Miller terms ‘right feeling, right focus, and right attitude,’ this is the book for you.”
— Lorne Rubenstein , author with Tiger Woods of The 1997 Masters: My Story and winner of the PGA of America’s Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism
“Golf is a game where you can go from feeling very relaxed to experiencing stress within minutes. Conscious breathing is just one technique Dr. Miller describes in this fascinating book that will help everyone reduce their stress level before an important shot and generally play with more consistency and impact.”
— Bob Gelesko , Golf Professional, Rams Hill Country Club, Borrego Springs, CA
“Guaranteed to improve you as a player! Winning Golf simplifies the mental game and has many practical applications for everyday life.”
— Eric Wang , CPGA Teaching Professional, Victoria Golf Academy
“ Winning Golf: The Mental Game provides great insight into the mental side of succeeding on the golf course and in everyday life. Saul has really touched on several areas where high level players and weekend warriors struggle whether they actually realize it or not. A great read and for me a great tune up to regain my mental edge on the course.”
— Rhein Gibson , PGA Tour Pro and Guinness record holder of the lowest score in a round (55)
“Dr. Saul Miller has written another wonderful book about the intricacies of performing at the highest levels. He has worked with many athletes from many different sports and has helped them to realize the importance of understanding themselves, their emotions, their minds and, most importantly, the intimate connection of mind and body.
Winning Golf dives into the golfer’s mindset: an area that is so often overlooked. It offers some real solutions to performance anxiety. There’s also great advice from golfers, as well as athletes in other sports, regarding improving performance by developing greater self-awareness. Being a player who competed at the highest levels, I always knew how important the mind is, and I read numerous books on the subject. Every golfer who wants to succeed to the best of their abilities must include the knowledge of how the mind/body connection works. Dr. Saul does a good job of bringing the player back to ‘center’ with mindful breathing. Yes, it takes discipline — anything worthwhile does. This is a book that every serious golfer needs to have on his or her bookshelf to help start on this journey of self-awareness that is so important not only in golf, but in life.”
— Jim Nelford , Lifetime Member of the PGA Tour, TV golf analyst, innovative instructor, and member of Canada’s Golf Hall of Fame
“Dr. Saul’s techniques helped me play the best hockey of my career, particularly during our winning Stanley Cup season. These techniques continue to serve me in life and on the golf course. Reading Winning Golf and continuing to work on the exercises prescribed will improve your performance and pleasure playing golf.”
— Bret Hedican , 17-year NHL veteran, two-time Olympian, TV broadcaster, and recreational golfer
“I enjoyed working with Dr. Saul Miller in my formative years as a professional on the PGA Tour. Saul’s book, Winning Golf: The Mental Game , is an excellent resource for a better understanding of the mental side of golf performance. I highly recommend reading and following Saul’s guidance.”
— Richard Zokol , PGA Tour winner, member of Canada’s Golf Hall of Fame, and MindTRAK creator
“Dr. Miller’s book Winning Golf is a must-read for all golfers and covers all the internal challenges we confront in the game of golf on a daily basis.”
— Keith Maxwell , PGA Professional, Sunningdale Golf Club, Berkshire, England
“This is a very clear, comprehensive, and well-organized approach to developing a player’s mental game. Any serious competitor would do well to follow Miller’s suggestions and practice his exercises as much as they work on their mechanics and their physical fitness. I will recommend this work to everyone and I think it could be especially useful to young kids who are mature enough. It’s a great plan for life in general.”
— Jim Petralia , member of the California PGA Teaching Hall of Fame and one of Golf Magazine ’s top 50 American instructors
“ Winning Golf: The Mental Game will improve the quality of your golf . . . and your life. Trust me, this stuff really works.”
— Cliff Ronning , 18-year NHL veteran and sub-70 recreational golfer
“This book can help you to strengthen your mental game and play happier, better golf.”
— Nancy Lopez , a true golf icon, LPGA and World Golf Hall of Fame member (48 LPGA victories)


Dedication
To those seeking more success and enjoyment playing golf, a sport they love.


Section One Introduction
“A strong mind is one of the key components that separates the great from the good.”
— Gary Player


Chapter One Mapping Out the Mental Game
“Success in golf depends less on strength of body than upon strength of mind.”
— Arnold Palmer
Excellence in any sport is the result of the successful integration of physical, technical, and mental factors. While most athletes and coaches would agree that success on the golf course is at least 50 percent “mental,” there remains a disproportionate emphasis on training the physical and technical aspects of the game, while mental training is underrated.
But not by winners. As Jim Flick, one of golf’s most prolific and influential instructors, stated, “I’ve found that the player with the best mind trumps the player with the best swing.” 1
The way I see it, the mind is a supercomputer, capable of processing tens of thousands of thoughts, images, and feelings every day, and it’s always on. Most golfers I work with are healthy people, with sound, high-functioning minds. As such, they are capable of running positive, empowering mental programs. My job as a sport psychologist is to show my clients how to develop and run high-performance programs and how to eliminate negative, anxious, and limiting thoughts and feelings. That’s what Winning Golf is all about.
Max Homa put it this way: “I really enjoy working really, really hard. That’s kind of my MO. And I realized that I wasn’t spending enough time working on my brain. And that can get to you out here. It’s a grind. We have an awesome job, but it’s very lonely in your brain at times on the golf course. You have bad shots and you start kicking yourself. . . . If I’m going to work as hard as I do on the range, on the chipping green, on the putting green I need to be putting that time on myself. And that’s been cool because now I feel like I’m just walking around enjoying my opportunity to compete.” 2
Managing Excellence
There are three key operating principles for managing excellence that apply to everything in life — including golf.
The first principle, already stated, is that the mind is like an amazing supercomputer. It’s your supercomputer. You are able to control the flow of thoughts and feelings streaming through your mind and body. You are in charge. If what you are thinking and feeling is not positive, if it does not give you power or pleasure, change the program. Being attentive and committed to running positive programs on your mental computer is a matter of choice, and it is a critically important part of developing a winning mindset. With training and practice you will be able to do that.
The second principle is that you get mo