Home > Sports & Games > Golf > Fearless Golf

Fearless Golf: Conquering the Mental Game

List Price: $21.95

Save 30.0%

You Pay: $15.36

Want this eBook?Our eBook Library Software is required to purchase and download eBooks. Download it here.

Tell a Friend

Overview

A detailed plan for conquering the FEAR that sabotages swings and ruins psyches, from the pioneering psychologist whose techniques have benefited Davis Love III, Justin Leonard, and numerous other world-class golfers.As Jack Nicklaus once observed, fear is the golfer's greatest enemy, inspiring Tiger Woods to "refuse" to give in to this debilitating emotion. It can turn professionals into jelly and dominate the games of most amateurs. It alters swing paths, causes "tap-in" putts to go awry, and transforms a golfer from a brilliant shot-maker on the practice range into an incompetent hack on the course.

Editorial Reviews

Sports psychologist Valiante follows in the footsteps of Bob Rotella (Golf Is Not a Game of Perfect) and W. Timothy Gallwey (The Inner Game of Golf) by coming at golf from a psychological perspective. A "mental game consultant" for Golf Digest, the Golf Channel, and the University of Florida, he has worked with some of the PGA's biggest players. In popular parlance, Valiante is golf's equivalent of Oprah's Dr. Phil. Here, he uses real-life examples to demonstrate his operative principles, of which the foremost is overcoming fear: "When I turn my critical eye on all these [gold championships] there is one thing the great champions manage to overcome." He offers quotes from and anecdotes about both historical greats (Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus) and current top performers on the PGA tour (Chad Campbell, Justin Leonard, Davis Love III). The upside to Fearless Golf is that it is highly readable and offers insight for most golfers. On the other hand, following Rotella's seminal book, this breaks little new ground. Libraries with large sports collections might consider.-Steve Silkunas, North Wales, PA Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information. -- PUBLISHERS WEEKLY.

Author Information

Bio of Gio Valiante

Dr. Gio Valiante has worked as a mental game consultant to the PGA Tour's hottest players, including Chad Campbell, Heath Slocum, Justin Leonard, Davis Love III, David Duval, Matt Kuchar, and Chris DiMarco. He is the mental game consultant to Golf Digest, The Golf Channel, and the University of Florida.Mike Stachura has been an editor at Golf Digest since 1992. He has written numerous instruction stories and served as Travel Editor and most recently Equipment Editor. He lives in Connecticut with his wife, Kathy, daughter, Annie Kate, and son, Jack.

Customer Reviews

There are no customer reviews available at this time. To add your review, Register or Sign In to your account using our free eBook Library Software.

Additional Info

Imprint

Doubleday

Filesize

986.75 KB

Number of Pages

288

eBook ISBN

9780385515863

Excerpt from: Fearless Golf by Gio Valiante

Jack Nicklaus once wrote that "fear of any kind is the number one enemy of all golfers, regardless of ball-striking and shot-making capabilities. [Fear] happened to me before my early success enabled me to control my fear."

Nicklaus knew fear can take hold of even the most skilled golfers, leaving them not only unable to function to the best of their physical abilities but also dumbstruck by the basic mental mechanics of the game. Nicklaus knew the power of fear from personal experience. It was the 1960 U.S. Open that taught the young Nicklaus the power of fear and the power of focus. He finished second in the U.S. Open that year, a championship many observers believed he might have won. Even Nicklaus admitted he had a chance, until fear got in the way. Leading the tournament by a shot late in the final round, Nicklaus found himself distracted by the moment. On the sixteenth hole, he struck a short birdie putt too boldly after thinking how hard it would be for others to catch him with a two-shot lead. But it got worse for the young champion. Staring at a short par putt with his fellow competitor Ben Hogan standing by, Nicklaus noticed a poorly repaired pitch mark in the line of his putt. He wasn't sure he could repair it under the rules, though he in fact could. In his book My Most Memorable Shots in the Majors, Nicklaus wrote: