Mastering Golf's Mental Game: Your Ultimate Guide to Better On-Course Performance and Lower Scores

Exited to keep testing the tools I’ve learned in this book. It should be a must for any college kid who wants to try a career in this sport

I read this book about 2 months ago, but have been waiting to review it because I wanted to give the system a real-world test first. The game of golf has often been extremely frustrating for me, but also very rewarding at times. Without ever quite being able to put my finger on why, I've always felt that I should be a better player than what my score shows. Now I've tried Dr. Lardon's pre-shot pyramid and mental scorecard 3 times so far, and each time it has lowered my score. This method really does work, not only for the pro players talked about in the book, but also for a high-handicap, recreational player like me! Now, it will take a certain minimum effort. Once I got in the habit of doing the pre-shot pyramid, that part seemed to become almost automatic at times. The mental scorecard part, as long as you're marking a normal scorecard, I found that it doesn't take too much more effort to just mark that down also at the same time. For a mostly public course player like me, there are often times when you have to wait on the next tee box, and that to me was the perfect time to do the mental scorecard.The case studies of the various professional athletes that Dr. Lardon uses to illustrate his chapter topics are enjoyable and enlightening. In Dr. Lardon's first book "Finding Your Zone", it was the chapter on Dreams I found most intriguing. Here, it was the chapter on Motivation that really hit home for me. In fact, there were several times while reading the book where I found myself saying "oh no, that's me!" or "I'm glad I don't do that anymore!". I think just about any player of any level will find something in one of these topics that really hits home for them as well.

Dr. Lardon's "Mastering Golf's Mental game" is a valuable book. When I saw on Amazon that it was released I immediately ordered a copy and while waiting for it to arrive I reread his first book, Finding Your Zone, which I had read several years ago. In that first book I had found the concepts of process oriented vs results oriented thinking and intrinsic vs extrinsic motivation interesting and helpful to my endeavors as a weekend golfer and as a businessman. And now here was a book specifically applying these concepts to golf, which is a game that I am addicted to, like so many others. I was ready. I read it through in one sitting and started practicing the exercises. I find the use of the pre-shot pyramid and mental scorecard very practical and helpful. Now I have a specific exact repeatable routine and also a way to analyze my performance. I have only been able to play 2 rounds of golf with the new system so I have yet to see a dramatic improvement in my scoring but I feel more in control of my game and am enjoying each shot on each hole more than I was before. I have also started applying the concepts to my business, where I primarily discuss research with clients over the phone. I've created a pre-call routine and keep a scorecard on the quality of each conversation. As I have just started this recently it is difficult to judge if it is improving my business, but I feel more in control of my activities and simply feel better after each call. In addition to the helpful mental instruction you will find for your sport, activity, or business, "Mastering.." is also quite an enjoyable read. Highly recommended.

After 2 years straight of getting out and practicing/playing and reading so many books out there on improving all aspects of the game, and watching everything I could find on YouTube, getting coached via app, and getting coached in person from a former tour player and multiple equipment changes, I was still flat-lining in my ability to improve. I was most times having rounds that were no better, than previously when I only played a couple times a year. It was my coach that first pointed it out, in little ways, then I started to recognize anxiety in my rounds the more I worked at it, as I expected more from my game and didn't get it. This book showed me how to think of my rounds in a completely different way. For a data collection guy like me, it gave me things to focus on that cause improvement, WITHOUT being so focused on the score. It's very useful if you feel like you've topped out your game whether that's as a 25 or a 5 hcp. I printed out 9 pages of highlights from my kindle and am using them to re-think everything about how I approach the game. This very possibly saved me from calling it quits altogether as the game lost it's fun, and as frustration with score became the over-riding disappointment.

I enjoyed this book a lot. I have only read it once, quickly, but I know that I will refer back to it many times.Golf is a great game on many levels. After playing for many years, I am convinced that the game is played "in one's mind/between the ears" and not really "on the course"! Think about putting, and making that 5 footer on 18 to win the match, or make a closing par, or even the bogey to tie your friend and not be responsible for his beer at the 19th hole! That putt was a physical act only in a very small way. It was more about what you are saying to yourself in the moments leading up to that final stroke. Everybody who golfs knows what a pre-shot routine is. Well, I believe that "self talk" is the most important part of anyone's pre-shot routine!And who might be better than the author of this book to help one understand "The Mental Game" of golf? (I read the author's earlier book about "The Zone" (I had had a personal "zone" experience in my late teens).) An athlete and psychiatrist who works with PGA Tour player/clients would seem to me to be an undoubted expert on the "The Mental Game" of golf.So as a 4 handicapper who loves the game, I look forward to using this book as a reference that will help me understand this critical component of this great game of golf.

A GREAT read and exactly what I was looking for - good methods to develop my mental approach to the game!

Ok

This book is straight forward and practical. The mental scorecard is sound and most low handicappers will have most of it in their game. The trick will be the discipline of using it for a sustained period. If it works I will be back to increase my rating.

Mental scorecard is perfect. Pay the man for the book, skip the justification psychological stuff you can find in any performance psychology book, and read the mental scorecard section. Then apply it to your game. Wonderful wonderful idea skilfully applied. You can probably google it, but don’t. Pay the man for it.

Good book for technical golfers