Tài liệu The Ten Commandments of Mindpower Golf: No-Nonsense Strategies for Mastering Your Mental

TEN

COMMANDMENTS

MINDPOWER

GOLF

the

of

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TEN

COMMANDMENTS

MINDPOWER

GOLF

the

of

NO-NONSENSE STRATEGIES FOR

MASTERING YOUR MENTAL GAME

ROBERT K. WINTERS, Ph.D.

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DOI: 10.1036/0071442685

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This book was inspired by my wife, April Jeanine Winters. She

has always maintained a strong belief that what you really want

in life is yours for the making if you work hard to achieve it. I

dedicate the ideas and strategies in these pages to all golfers

who share her zeal for success and personal accomplishment.

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Foreword • ix

Preface • xi

Acknowledgments • xv

Introduction • xvii

Commandment 1

Thou Shalt Have a Great Attitude • 1

Commandment 2

Thou Shalt Always Believe in Thyself • 13

Commandment 3

Thou Shalt Play Thine Own Game • 25

Commandment 4

Thou Shalt Play One Shot at a Time • 35

vii

Contents

For more information about this title, click here.

Commandment 5

Thou Shalt Play with Patience • 43

Commandment 6

Thou Shalt Commit to Every Shot • 51

Commandment 7

Thou Shalt Keep Thy Game Simple • 61

Commandment 8

Thou Shalt Play with No Expectations • 71

Commandment 9

Thou Shalt Play with Trust • 79

Commandment 10

Thou Shalt Never, Ever Give Up • 89

The Short Version

The Ten Commandments of Mindpower Golf • 101

Index • 103

viii

How often have you heard that “the game of golf is all between

the ears,” or that a golfer “has a good head for the game,” or

that a player “is a mental case”? Without question, golf is a

mental game, and to play well requires concentrating, focus￾ing, relaxing, having the will to win, controlling your nerves

and emotions, being in the present moment, coping with pres￾sure, being confident, and many other qualities. Having taught

some of the world’s great players through the years, I firmly

believe that they have been successful largely because they won

the battle within themselves and mastered the mental game.

Certainly, having good technique and understanding one’s own

mechanics is vital and is a foundation for focused profession￾als. There is a tremendous depth of talent in today’s golf game,

but what separates the good from the great is that all-important

organ between the ears.

A strong mental game is a crucial ingredient of success for

golfers at every level. Even recreational players will benefit

from understanding how their thoughts affect their game. Being

realistic, knowing your capabilities, thinking clearly, and enjoy￾ing the game all contribute to playing better golf and shooting

lower scores. Some golfers seem to have been born with a good

temperament to play this demanding game; others have to learn

the art of thinking well.

ix

Foreword

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Whether you feel you are mentally strong or weak, The Ten

Commandments of Mindpower Golf will help you play and score

better. I have known sport psychologist Dr. Robert Winters, or

“Dr. Bob,” as he is affectionately known, for quite a few years.

His concise message on how to apply oneself mentally in play￾ing the game and how to improve oneself has helped an enor￾mous number of players of all levels. Dr. Bob is the resident

sport psychologist for my David Leadbetter World Teaching

Headquarters in Orlando, Florida, and he has made a huge dif￾ference in our program. Whether young or old, seasoned pro￾fessionals or avid weekend golfers, all who have attended my

academy have benefited from his simple approach to thinking

great thoughts and transferring that mental focus to the golf

course—and now, so can you. You will begin to look at the

game differently as you apply Dr. Robert Winters’s ten com￾mandments of mindpower golf. The game will become enjoy￾able instead of frustrating, easy rather than difficult. This book

will help you to reach your potential. And who knows? The

benefits may go far beyond just golf.

Enjoy the read.

—David Leadbetter

x

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Hall of Fame golfer Ben Hogan once remarked that golf is 100

percent mental and 100 percent physical, and the two factions

of golf cannot and should not be separated. I agree. By its very

nature, golf is both physical and mental. It also has a strong

emotional component that makes it the toughest and greatest

game ever created. On the professional golf tours, what sepa￾rates winning golfers is the strength of their mental game and

emotional resiliency. This is why a growing number of ama￾teur and professional players have been seeking the assistance

of sport psychologists and mental coaches to help them develop

mental toughness.

A number of books have offered information about the

mental game in the past few years. Sadly, a number of these

books are filled with complicated psychological theories or

vague references to how a certain touring professional would

react in a given situation. After golfers read the material, they

are often confused about how to use the information. Even

though these books may offer sound philosophical and psy￾chological viewpoints, many golfers miss the message and are

left asking, How does this information apply to me? How do I

apply this information specifically to my game?

The Ten Commandments of Mindpower Golf is about the

mental and emotional side of golf—more to the point, about

xi

Preface

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