Mr A. Allwright. Philistine. My advice - A MUST BUY., 16 Sep 2008
Mr Allwright seems to have missed the point in its entirety (see his (weak) amazon review). He is clearly a (golfing, humour, general) philistine.

Managed to nick this literature from husband who was annoying me by laughing every page, per night, up until Chapter 3. So I swooped. It was mine.

I laughed until it was completed, and like the best books, looked forward to getting to bed to savour the next unfolding.

Cox depicts the soul destroying nature of life on (Europro.........if you say it quick enough it sounds like European.....) Tour heart wrenchingly and acutely. Cox is self depreciatingly honest throughout. His conclusions are appropriately respectful, but endearingly reassuring that real life exists above and beyond life on tour....... if that's what you want....

I think why this book appeals is rooted in the fact the challenges, magic, frustrations and joy of golf are the same whether you are Tiger Woods or Jim Bob Novice Amateur. This is why the book is so clever. It tells a story of golf at a very specific level, but anyone at all who has experienced any level of the game will empathise with the tale it tells - with all the up and downs along the way (no pun intended).

So buy it, and ignore Mr Allwright who has clearly had a personality and soul bypass.




MUST READ FOR ALL GOLF FANATICS, 08 Aug 2008
A great, great read. A real pleasant change from autobiographies and coaching manuals. Tom's year as a professional is a real emotional rollercoaster and the caracters in Tom's book relate to people in golf clubs the length and bredth of the UK. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

I'm glad somebody did it for me, so I didn't have to!, 04 Feb 2008
A hugely enjoying and highly entertaining read from start to finish.

Once Tom got my interest in the opening pages of the book, my interest only intensified as I got further and further into the book. The anticipation of seeing what new mini disaster he could get himself into, coupled with the slight glimmer of hope that there would be some success for him towards the end, just meant that I couldn't put the thing down. Quite literally read in a day!

There is some success for him in the end, although not quite in the way you expect. I guess ultimately the real success to come from Tom's experiment is this brilliantly witty and self deprecating warts and all account of his trials and tribulations throughout his year of swinging with the big boys.

This comes highly recommended.

Great Golfing read!, 03 Feb 2008
A very funny and honest account of another bite at the pro circuit cherry! If you like golf, or even if you don't you will enjoy this book. The ups and downs of the human emotions are all here and it was a pleasure to read. A must for the bedside table or plane or swimming pool!

Great title - dull read, 31 Jan 2008
The Best thing about this book is its title. A dull read from start to finish and provides little insight other than in to the degree of naivety of its author about tournament golf.

Mr A. Allwright. Philistine. My advice - A MUST BUY., 16 Sep 2008
Mr Allwright seems to have missed the point in its entirety (see his (weak) amazon review). He is clearly a (golfing, humour, general) philistine.

Managed to nick this literature from husband who was annoying me by laughing every page, per night, up until Chapter 3. So I swooped. It was mine.

I laughed until it was completed, and like the best books, looked forward to getting to bed to savour the next unfolding.

Cox depicts the soul destroying nature of life on (Europro.........if you say it quick enough it sounds like European.....) Tour heart wrenchingly and acutely. Cox is self depreciatingly honest throughout. His conclusions are appropriately respectful, but endearingly reassuring that real life exists above and beyond life on tour....... if that's what you want....

I think why this book appeals is rooted in the fact the challenges, magic, frustrations and joy of golf are the same whether you are Tiger Woods or Jim Bob Novice Amateur. This is why the book is so clever. It tells a story of golf at a very specific level, but anyone at all who has experienced any level of the game will empathise with the tale it tells - with all the up and downs along the way (no pun intended).

So buy it, and ignore Mr Allwright who has clearly had a personality and soul bypass.




MUST READ FOR ALL GOLF FANATICS, 08 Aug 2008
A great, great read. A real pleasant change from autobiographies and coaching manuals. Tom's year as a professional is a real emotional rollercoaster and the caracters in Tom's book relate to people in golf clubs the length and bredth of the UK. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

I'm glad somebody did it for me, so I didn't have to!, 04 Feb 2008
A hugely enjoying and highly entertaining read from start to finish.

Once Tom got my interest in the opening pages of the book, my interest only intensified as I got further and further into the book. The anticipation of seeing what new mini disaster he could get himself into, coupled with the slight glimmer of hope that there would be some success for him towards the end, just meant that I couldn't put the thing down. Quite literally read in a day!

There is some success for him in the end, although not quite in the way you expect. I guess ultimately the real success to come from Tom's experiment is this brilliantly witty and self deprecating warts and all account of his trials and tribulations throughout his year of swinging with the big boys.

This comes highly recommended.

Great Golfing read!, 03 Feb 2008
A very funny and honest account of another bite at the pro circuit cherry! If you like golf, or even if you don't you will enjoy this book. The ups and downs of the human emotions are all here and it was a pleasure to read. A must for the bedside table or plane or swimming pool!

Great title - dull read, 31 Jan 2008
The Best thing about this book is its title. A dull read from start to finish and provides little insight other than in to the degree of naivety of its author about tournament golf.

S Browne, 04 Oct 2008
What can I say ..... I shot 16 shots less this weekend after only reading the first 7 chapters. The author has set this book out in a logical manner and the thoughts to rember at the end of each chapter are a great concept. I am ready to purchase yet another book written by DR BOB ROTELLA

I lost five shots in six months!, 15 Mar 2006
For anyone in with a handicap in the low teens, this book is a must! I studied Sports Psychology at Univeristy and this book brings everything to bear in 240 simple, easy to read pages that took me four years to learn. Focus only on the shot at hand, concentrate on the target, whether it be 250 yards away or two feet and once you have hit your shot, move on. Who knows what will happen to the ball once it leaves the club face? At the end of it, all that matters is that you have controlled the one element that is within your control - namely the attention to the shot prior to playing it. As "an imperfect game", once you complete the swing, what happens to the ball is often in the lap of the gods.
Golf no longer upsets me and I now enjoy a bad round (almost) as much as a good one. I spend perhaps 45 seconds chanelling my attention for each shot and once I have hit it, I am back in the social world, chatting and joking with my playing partners.
Last year after reading Dr Bob my formal handicap fell one shot. In truth, my playing handicap was probably four shots worse than my formal handicap so morally, I believe I lost five shots between April and September! This year I am looking for even more!

One of golf guru Jim Flick's mantras is that golf is 90 percent mental and the other 10 per cent is mental, too. Dr. Bob Rotella, a noted sports psychologist and performance consultant, roots around the golfer's mind to expose--and analyse- -the doubts, the fears and the frustrations that haunt anyone who's ever picked up a club and swung it. Through anecdote and aphorism he suggests how these mental and emotional hazards can be played through, and, regardless of skill level, how teeing off with a more positive and confident outlook will translate into better performance.

Mr A. Allwright. Philistine. My advice - A MUST BUY., 16 Sep 2008
Mr Allwright seems to have missed the point in its entirety (see his (weak) amazon review). He is clearly a (golfing, humour, general) philistine.

Managed to nick this literature from husband who was annoying me by laughing every page, per night, up until Chapter 3. So I swooped. It was mine.

I laughed until it was completed, and like the best books, looked forward to getting to bed to savour the next unfolding.

Cox depicts the soul destroying nature of life on (Europro.........if you say it quick enough it sounds like European.....) Tour heart wrenchingly and acutely. Cox is self depreciatingly honest throughout. His conclusions are appropriately respectful, but endearingly reassuring that real life exists above and beyond life on tour....... if that's what you want....

I think why this book appeals is rooted in the fact the challenges, magic, frustrations and joy of golf are the same whether you are Tiger Woods or Jim Bob Novice Amateur. This is why the book is so clever. It tells a story of golf at a very specific level, but anyone at all who has experienced any level of the game will empathise with the tale it tells - with all the up and downs along the way (no pun intended).

So buy it, and ignore Mr Allwright who has clearly had a personality and soul bypass.




MUST READ FOR ALL GOLF FANATICS, 08 Aug 2008
A great, great read. A real pleasant change from autobiographies and coaching manuals. Tom's year as a professional is a real emotional rollercoaster and the caracters in Tom's book relate to people in golf clubs the length and bredth of the UK. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

I'm glad somebody did it for me, so I didn't have to!, 04 Feb 2008
A hugely enjoying and highly entertaining read from start to finish.

Once Tom got my interest in the opening pages of the book, my interest only intensified as I got further and further into the book. The anticipation of seeing what new mini disaster he could get himself into, coupled with the slight glimmer of hope that there would be some success for him towards the end, just meant that I couldn't put the thing down. Quite literally read in a day!

There is some success for him in the end, although not quite in the way you expect. I guess ultimately the real success to come from Tom's experiment is this brilliantly witty and self deprecating warts and all account of his trials and tribulations throughout his year of swinging with the big boys.

This comes highly recommended.

Great Golfing read!, 03 Feb 2008
A very funny and honest account of another bite at the pro circuit cherry! If you like golf, or even if you don't you will enjoy this book. The ups and downs of the human emotions are all here and it was a pleasure to read. A must for the bedside table or plane or swimming pool!

Great title - dull read, 31 Jan 2008
The Best thing about this book is its title. A dull read from start to finish and provides little insight other than in to the degree of naivety of its author about tournament golf.

S Browne, 04 Oct 2008
What can I say ..... I shot 16 shots less this weekend after only reading the first 7 chapters. The author has set this book out in a logical manner and the thoughts to rember at the end of each chapter are a great concept. I am ready to purchase yet another book written by DR BOB ROTELLA

I lost five shots in six months!, 15 Mar 2006
For anyone in with a handicap in the low teens, this book is a must! I studied Sports Psychology at Univeristy and this book brings everything to bear in 240 simple, easy to read pages that took me four years to learn. Focus only on the shot at hand, concentrate on the target, whether it be 250 yards away or two feet and once you have hit your shot, move on. Who knows what will happen to the ball once it leaves the club face? At the end of it, all that matters is that you have controlled the one element that is within your control - namely the attention to the shot prior to playing it. As "an imperfect game", once you complete the swing, what happens to the ball is often in the lap of the gods.
Golf no longer upsets me and I now enjoy a bad round (almost) as much as a good one. I spend perhaps 45 seconds chanelling my attention for each shot and once I have hit it, I am back in the social world, chatting and joking with my playing partners.
Last year after reading Dr Bob my formal handicap fell one shot. In truth, my playing handicap was probably four shots worse than my formal handicap so morally, I believe I lost five shots between April and September! This year I am looking for even more!

A Classic, 28 Aug 2008
In a few years this book will probably have become one of the classic golf texts. Bob Rotella who recently helped Padraig Harrington win 2 consecutive Opens (British Open) has a simple message: you will never play a perfect round of golf. Even the best pros will only hit 2 or 3 hots in a round really cleanly. Therefore, the golfer has to accept that the game is about good course management and a sharp short game.
This book may change the way you approach golf and will probably stop you beating yourself up over a bad round! A must buy.

Sharp, inspirational writing , 19 Aug 2008
I don't play golf, I write speeches for golfers, so I thought I'd read a book to see if it gave me any ideas. Rotella uses golf as a metaphor for life, so I found the lessons that he had to offer could be applicable to writing and any other sport or discipline. There is nothing profound or original about this book, but it is well-structured and easy-to-read.

I got out of it, the importance of enjoying yourself when your playing, and not getting too hung-up about mistakes. Change your technique in your own time, just play on the course. Don't allow past disappointments to get you down. Do some 'creative visualisation'. Note that professionals just reduce the number of bad strokes they play to an absolute minimum, they aren't trying to play a winner every shot. (Tennis is a good example of that). Short game is what sorts out the sheep from the goats.

I found it a refreshing read, and I got an insight into a golfer's mind.

Good advice but a bit long winded, 17 Jul 2008
I like the Bob Rotella books and find them helpful. The advice can be summarised in just a few pages, but he builds his chapters around the points so that they are a bit more memorable. This will help many golfers and I think it has helped me a bit, but nowhere near as much as improving my technique through mixture of coaching, practice and the odd DVD/technical book. Ultimately if you have good technique the mental side becomes a lot easier as you hit good consistent shots a lot better and think less about your technique when on the course as a result. Also many of the mental lessons are learned through experience anyway eg loosing your temper after a bad shot often affects your next shot if you are not careful and you do not need a book to learn this. Nevertheless, a good read that I still ocassionally refer to as a refresher.

Just Common Sense - probably, 07 Mar 2008
This is an excellent book. I personally have the audio book too which I listen to regularly in the car. There is nothing weird, its not psycho mumbo jumbo. The book is just plain common sense and will just teach you how to execute you golf more thoroughly. Like all things in life the simpler the better and it just sometimes takes someone else to tell you what you already knew. Tom Kite quotes that if you lapse in concentration on 3 or 4 shots per round and if each lapse only costs you 1 shot, that's 12 to 16 shots on a four day tournament and that's the difference between being the all time leading money winner and loosing your card. In amateur land, who wouldn't want to be better by 4 or more shots around just by thinking better?

It's just common sense, 16 Jan 2008
Dr Bob Rotella is extremely well known in golf education for his advice on how to train your mind to play your best golf. He has helped some distinguished players including Tom Kite.

His basic philosophy is:
1. Believe you can achieve your golfing dream.
2. Have no swing thoughts or any thoughts about swing mechanics when you play.
3. Focus on a target for the ball: the smaller the better.
4. Stay in the present: forget previous shots (good and bad), don't think about the score for the round (good or bad). This will only distract you.

I have awarded this a one star. This is perhaps harsh, perhaps a three star would be appropriate but here is why I did:

My average handicap is 25 (27 in competition). I have been playing for three years and in the past 7 months as much as 5 or 6 times a week. I eat, sleep and dream golf. I devour new books and DVDs from the big names and some of the less well known.

I regularly watched the golf channel UK (RIP) and read Golf Digest online. My best rounds are around 85. My theoretical best (best scores per hole on different days) is 63.

In spite of starting this great game of golf at the age of 40, I've done well in many other sports and activities (squash, snowboarding, fencing, motorsport, aviation) and believe I should be able to play at a good level: regularly in the 80s and why not, with training and perseverance, in the 70s.

In short, my profile matches that of the target reader for this book. I had high expectations of this book and was hoping to discover new information and techniques on how to train my mind to get the best from my golf.

In reality, I found nothing new here. Most of the advice really is common sense and common place in all the golf related material I've encountered. Bob spends too much time covering what not to think. In the audio version, Bob drones on so much he sent me to sleep. Sadly, I have to say, the book is not worth the money and I can not recommend it.

Mr A. Allwright. Philistine. My advice - A MUST BUY., 16 Sep 2008
Mr Allwright seems to have missed the point in its entirety (see his (weak) amazon review). He is clearly a (golfing, humour, general) philistine.

Managed to nick this literature from husband who was annoying me by laughing every page, per night, up until Chapter 3. So I swooped. It was mine.

I laughed until it was completed, and like the best books, looked forward to getting to bed to savour the next unfolding.

Cox depicts the soul destroying nature of life on (Europro.........if you say it quick enough it sounds like European.....) Tour heart wrenchingly and acutely. Cox is self depreciatingly honest throughout. His conclusions are appropriately respectful, but endearingly reassuring that real life exists above and beyond life on tour....... if that's what you want....

I think why this book appeals is rooted in the fact the challenges, magic, frustrations and joy of golf are the same whether you are Tiger Woods or Jim Bob Novice Amateur. This is why the book is so clever. It tells a story of golf at a very specific level, but anyone at all who has experienced any level of the game will empathise with the tale it tells - with all the up and downs along the way (no pun intended).

So buy it, and ignore Mr Allwright who has clearly had a personality and soul bypass.




MUST READ FOR ALL GOLF FANATICS, 08 Aug 2008
A great, great read. A real pleasant change from autobiographies and coaching manuals. Tom's year as a professional is a real emotional rollercoaster and the caracters in Tom's book relate to people in golf clubs the length and bredth of the UK. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

I'm glad somebody did it for me, so I didn't have to!, 04 Feb 2008
A hugely enjoying and highly entertaining read from start to finish.

Once Tom got my interest in the opening pages of the book, my interest only intensified as I got further and further into the book. The anticipation of seeing what new mini disaster he could get himself into, coupled with the slight glimmer of hope that there would be some success for him towards the end, just meant that I couldn't put the thing down. Quite literally read in a day!

There is some success for him in the end, although not quite in the way you expect. I guess ultimately the real success to come from Tom's experiment is this brilliantly witty and self deprecating warts and all account of his trials and tribulations throughout his year of swinging with the big boys.

This comes highly recommended.

Great Golfing read!, 03 Feb 2008
A very funny and honest account of another bite at the pro circuit cherry! If you like golf, or even if you don't you will enjoy this book. The ups and downs of the human emotions are all here and it was a pleasure to read. A must for the bedside table or plane or swimming pool!

Great title - dull read, 31 Jan 2008
The Best thing about this book is its title. A dull read from start to finish and provides little insight other than in to the degree of naivety of its author about tournament golf.

S Browne, 04 Oct 2008
What can I say ..... I shot 16 shots less this weekend after only reading the first 7 chapters. The author has set this book out in a logical manner and the thoughts to rember at the end of each chapter are a great concept. I am ready to purchase yet another book written by DR BOB ROTELLA

I lost five shots in six months!, 15 Mar 2006
For anyone in with a handicap in the low teens, this book is a must! I studied Sports Psychology at Univeristy and this book brings everything to bear in 240 simple, easy to read pages that took me four years to learn. Focus only on the shot at hand, concentrate on the target, whether it be 250 yards away or two feet and once you have hit your shot, move on. Who knows what will happen to the ball once it leaves the club face? At the end of it, all that matters is that you have controlled the one element that is within your control - namely the attention to the shot prior to playing it. As "an imperfect game", once you complete the swing, what happens to the ball is often in the lap of the gods.
Golf no longer upsets me and I now enjoy a bad round (almost) as much as a good one. I spend perhaps 45 seconds chanelling my attention for each shot and once I have hit it, I am back in the social world, chatting and joking with my playing partners.
Last year after reading Dr Bob my formal handicap fell one shot. In truth, my playing handicap was probably four shots worse than my formal handicap so morally, I believe I lost five shots between April and September! This year I am looking for even more!

A Classic, 28 Aug 2008
In a few years this book will probably have become one of the classic golf texts. Bob Rotella who recently helped Padraig Harrington win 2 consecutive Opens (British Open) has a simple message: you will never play a perfect round of golf. Even the best pros will only hit 2 or 3 hots in a round really cleanly. Therefore, the golfer has to accept that the game is about good course management and a sharp short game.
This book may change the way you approach golf and will probably stop you beating yourself up over a bad round! A must buy.

Sharp, inspirational writing , 19 Aug 2008
I don't play golf, I write speeches for golfers, so I thought I'd read a book to see if it gave me any ideas. Rotella uses golf as a metaphor for life, so I found the lessons that he had to offer could be applicable to writing and any other sport or discipline. There is nothing profound or original about this book, but it is well-structured and easy-to-read.

I got out of it, the importance of enjoying yourself when your playing, and not getting too hung-up about mistakes. Change your technique in your own time, just play on the course. Don't allow past disappointments to get you down. Do some 'creative visualisation'. Note that professionals just reduce the number of bad strokes they play to an absolute minimum, they aren't trying to play a winner every shot. (Tennis is a good example of that). Short game is what sorts out the sheep from the goats.

I found it a refreshing read, and I got an insight into a golfer's mind.

Good advice but a bit long winded, 17 Jul 2008
I like the Bob Rotella books and find them helpful. The advice can be summarised in just a few pages, but he builds his chapters around the points so that they are a bit more memorable. This will help many golfers and I think it has helped me a bit, but nowhere near as much as improving my technique through mixture of coaching, practice and the odd DVD/technical book. Ultimately if you have good technique the mental side becomes a lot easier as you hit good consistent shots a lot better and think less about your technique when on the course as a result. Also many of the mental lessons are learned through experience anyway eg loosing your temper after a bad shot often affects your next shot if you are not careful and you do not need a book to learn this. Nevertheless, a good read that I still ocassionally refer to as a refresher.

Just Common Sense - probably, 07 Mar 2008
This is an excellent book. I personally have the audio book too which I listen to regularly in the car. There is nothing weird, its not psycho mumbo jumbo. The book is just plain common sense and will just teach you how to execute you golf more thoroughly. Like all things in life the simpler the better and it just sometimes takes someone else to tell you what you already knew. Tom Kite quotes that if you lapse in concentration on 3 or 4 shots per round and if each lapse only costs you 1 shot, that's 12 to 16 shots on a four day tournament and that's the difference between being the all time leading money winner and loosing your card. In amateur land, who wouldn't want to be better by 4 or more shots around just by thinking better?

It's just common sense, 16 Jan 2008
Dr Bob Rotella is extremely well known in golf education for his advice on how to train your mind to play your best golf. He has helped some distinguished players including Tom Kite.

His basic philosophy is:
1. Believe you can achieve your golfing dream.
2. Have no swing thoughts or any thoughts about swing mechanics when you play.
3. Focus on a target for the ball: the smaller the better.
4. Stay in the present: forget previous shots (good and bad), don't think about the score for the round (good or bad). This will only distract you.

I have awarded this a one star. This is perhaps harsh, perhaps a three star would be appropriate but here is why I did:

My average handicap is 25 (27 in competition). I have been playing for three years and in the past 7 months as much as 5 or 6 times a week. I eat, sleep and dream golf. I devour new books and DVDs from the big names and some of the less well known.

I regularly watched the golf channel UK (RIP) and read Golf Digest online. My best rounds are around 85. My theoretical best (best scores per hole on different days) is 63.

In spite of starting this great game of golf at the age of 40, I've done well in many other sports and activities (squash, snowboarding, fencing, motorsport, aviation) and believe I should be able to play at a good level: regularly in the 80s and why not, with training and perseverance, in the 70s.

In short, my profile matches that of the target reader for this book. I had high expectations of this book and was hoping to discover new information and techniques on how to train my mind to get the best from my golf.

In reality, I found nothing new here. Most of the advice really is common sense and common place in all the golf related material I've encountered. Bob spends too much time covering what not to think. In the audio version, Bob drones on so much he sent me to sleep. Sadly, I have to say, the book is not worth the money and I can not recommend it.

Superb book for all levels, 12 Aug 2006
Don't be fooled by the title of this book. It sets out the basics of the golf swing and serves as a great aid in sorting out swing problems. Very simple to understand for the begginer as there are more diagrams than words. Can't wait for the other books in the range. Best Golf book i've seen.

Helps players swing into action, 07 Apr 2006
The book includes sections on grip, aim, posture and swinging the club, buying equipment, basic rules of the golf course, handicaps, scoring and competitions.

This instructional book is for newcomers to the game and succeeds in its intention of teaching the basics in a way which anyone can understand.

Mr A. Allwright. Philistine. My advice - A MUST BUY., 16 Sep 2008
Mr Allwright seems to have missed the point in its entirety (see his (weak) amazon review). He is clearly a (golfing, humour, general) philistine.

Managed to nick this literature from husband who was annoying me by laughing every page, per night, up until Chapter 3. So I swooped. It was mine.

I laughed until it was completed, and like the best books, looked forward to getting to bed to savour the next unfolding.

Cox depicts the soul destroying nature of life on (Europro.........if you say it quick enough it sounds like European.....) Tour heart wrenchingly and acutely. Cox is self depreciatingly honest throughout. His conclusions are appropriately respectful, but endearingly reassuring that real life exists above and beyond life on tour....... if that's what you want....

I think why this book appeals is rooted in the fact the challenges, magic, frustrations and joy of golf are the same whether you are Tiger Woods or Jim Bob Novice Amateur. This is why the book is so clever. It tells a story of golf at a very specific level, but anyone at all who has experienced any level of the game will empathise with the tale it tells - with all the up and downs along the way (no pun intended).

So buy it, and ignore Mr Allwright who has clearly had a personality and soul bypass.




MUST READ FOR ALL GOLF FANATICS, 08 Aug 2008
A great, great read. A real pleasant change from autobiographies and coaching manuals. Tom's year as a professional is a real emotional rollercoaster and the caracters in Tom's book relate to people in golf clubs the length and bredth of the UK. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

I'm glad somebody did it for me, so I didn't have to!, 04 Feb 2008
A hugely enjoying and highly entertaining read from start to finish.

Once Tom got my interest in the opening pages of the book, my interest only intensified as I got further and further into the book. The anticipation of seeing what new mini disaster he could get himself into, coupled with the slight glimmer of hope that there would be some success for him towards the end, just meant that I couldn't put the thing down. Quite literally read in a day!

There is some success for him in the end, although not quite in the way you expect. I guess ultimately the real success to come from Tom's experiment is this brilliantly witty and self deprecating warts and all account of his trials and tribulations throughout his year of swinging with the big boys.

This comes highly recommended.

Great Golfing read!, 03 Feb 2008
A very funny and honest account of another bite at the pro circuit cherry! If you like golf, or even if you don't you will enjoy this book. The ups and downs of the human emotions are all here and it was a pleasure to read. A must for the bedside table or plane or swimming pool!

Great title - dull read, 31 Jan 2008
The Best thing about this book is its title. A dull read from start to finish and provides little insight other than in to the degree of naivety of its author about tournament golf.

S Browne, 04 Oct 2008
What can I say ..... I shot 16 shots less this weekend after only reading the first 7 chapters. The author has set this book out in a logical manner and the thoughts to rember at the end of each chapter are a great concept. I am ready to purchase yet another book written by DR BOB ROTELLA

I lost five shots in six months!, 15 Mar 2006
For anyone in with a handicap in the low teens, this book is a must! I studied Sports Psychology at Univeristy and this book brings everything to bear in 240 simple, easy to read pages that took me four years to learn. Focus only on the shot at hand, concentrate on the target, whether it be 250 yards away or two feet and once you have hit your shot, move on. Who knows what will happen to the ball once it leaves the club face? At the end of it, all that matters is that you have controlled the one element that is within your control - namely the attention to the shot prior to playing it. As "an imperfect game", once you complete the swing, what happens to the ball is often in the lap of the gods.
Golf no longer upsets me and I now enjoy a bad round (almost) as much as a good one. I spend perhaps 45 seconds chanelling my attention for each shot and once I have hit it, I am back in the social world, chatting and joking with my playing partners.
Last year after reading Dr Bob my formal handicap fell one shot. In truth, my playing handicap was probably four shots worse than my formal handicap so morally, I believe I lost five shots between April and September! This year I am looking for even more!

A Classic, 28 Aug 2008
In a few years this book will probably have become one of the classic golf texts. Bob Rotella who recently helped Padraig Harrington win 2 consecutive Opens (British Open) has a simple message: you will never play a perfect round of golf. Even the best pros will only hit 2 or 3 hots in a round really cleanly. Therefore, the golfer has to accept that the game is about good course management and a sharp short game.
This book may change the way you approach golf and will probably stop you beating yourself up over a bad round! A must buy.

Sharp, inspirational writing , 19 Aug 2008
I don't play golf, I write speeches for golfers, so I thought I'd read a book to see if it gave me any ideas. Rotella uses golf as a metaphor for life, so I found the lessons that he had to offer could be applicable to writing and any other sport or discipline. There is nothing profound or original about this book, but it is well-structured and easy-to-read.

I got out of it, the importance of enjoying yourself when your playing, and not getting too hung-up about mistakes. Change your technique in your own time, just play on the course. Don't allow past disappointments to get you down. Do some 'creative visualisation'. Note that professionals just reduce the number of bad strokes they play to an absolute minimum, they aren't trying to play a winner every shot. (Tennis is a good example of that). Short game is what sorts out the sheep from the goats.

I found it a refreshing read, and I got an insight into a golfer's mind.

Good advice but a bit long winded, 17 Jul 2008
I like the Bob Rotella books and find them helpful. The advice can be summarised in just a few pages, but he builds his chapters around the points so that they are a bit more memorable. This will help many golfers and I think it has helped me a bit, but nowhere near as much as improving my technique through mixture of coaching, practice and the odd DVD/technical book. Ultimately if you have good technique the mental side becomes a lot easier as you hit good consistent shots a lot better and think less about your technique when on the course as a result. Also many of the mental lessons are learned through experience anyway eg loosing your temper after a bad shot often affects your next shot if you are not careful and you do not need a book to learn this. Nevertheless, a good read that I still ocassionally refer to as a refresher.

Just Common Sense - probably, 07 Mar 2008
This is an excellent book. I personally have the audio book too which I listen to regularly in the car. There is nothing weird, its not psycho mumbo jumbo. The book is just plain common sense and will just teach you how to execute you golf more thoroughly. Like all things in life the simpler the better and it just sometimes takes someone else to tell you what you already knew. Tom Kite quotes that if you lapse in concentration on 3 or 4 shots per round and if each lapse only costs you 1 shot, that's 12 to 16 shots on a four day tournament and that's the difference between being the all time leading money winner and loosing your card. In amateur land, who wouldn't want to be better by 4 or more shots around just by thinking better?

It's just common sense, 16 Jan 2008
Dr Bob Rotella is extremely well known in golf education for his advice on how to train your mind to play your best golf. He has helped some distinguished players including Tom Kite.

His basic philosophy is:
1. Believe you can achieve your golfing dream.
2. Have no swing thoughts or any thoughts about swing mechanics when you play.
3. Focus on a target for the ball: the smaller the better.
4. Stay in the present: forget previous shots (good and bad), don't think about the score for the round (good or bad). This will only distract you.

I have awarded this a one star. This is perhaps harsh, perhaps a three star would be appropriate but here is why I did:

My average handicap is 25 (27 in competition). I have been playing for three years and in the past 7 months as much as 5 or 6 times a week. I eat, sleep and dream golf. I devour new books and DVDs from the big names and some of the less well known.

I regularly watched the golf channel UK (RIP) and read Golf Digest online. My best rounds are around 85. My theoretical best (best scores per hole on different days) is 63.

In spite of starting this great game of golf at the age of 40, I've done well in many other sports and activities (squash, snowboarding, fencing, motorsport, aviation) and believe I should be able to play at a good level: regularly in the 80s and why not, with training and perseverance, in the 70s.

In short, my profile matches that of the target reader for this book. I had high expectations of this book and was hoping to discover new information and techniques on how to train my mind to get the best from my golf.

In reality, I found nothing new here. Most of the advice really is common sense and common place in all the golf related material I've encountered. Bob spends too much time covering what not to think. In the audio version, Bob drones on so much he sent me to sleep. Sadly, I have to say, the book is not worth the money and I can not recommend it.

Superb book for all levels, 12 Aug 2006
Don't be fooled by the title of this book. It sets out the basics of the golf swing and serves as a great aid in sorting out swing problems. Very simple to understand for the begginer as there are more diagrams than words. Can't wait for the other books in the range. Best Golf book i've seen.

Helps players swing into action, 07 Apr 2006
The book includes sections on grip, aim, posture and swinging the club, buying equipment, basic rules of the golf course, handicaps, scoring and competitions.

This instructional book is for newcomers to the game and succeeds in its intention of teaching the basics in a way which anyone can understand.

Wow 4 years since a review - talk about wilderness, 24 Mar 2008
This book is excellent.

I've always struggled to hit the ball well. Today the ball flew! I finished this book this morning and visited my local range. Using a few of his techniques, I have never hit the ball so far or so easily. Amazingly my swing started to adapt to my requests - self 2 took over and did amazing things.

I would recommend this book to anyone who struggles like me - not any more! It made golf enjoyable for the first time in a long time.

A couple of times I found myself exclaiming 'Holy s~***' as the ball went miles! Combined with hysterical laughter as I hit 4 5-irons in a row to exactly the same spot I've never enjoyed practice so much.

Tim Gallwey's concepts are along the lines of trust your body and your self. A great golfer is inside you, just let him out.

WOW. WOW. WOW. Is all I can say!

You'll never need another book on golf.


Unleash the Golfer within You!, 23 May 2004
For many years, people I play with have complained about my handicap. Yet I seldom play more than a stroke or two above or below my handicap. Yet during a round I will hit many fine shots seldom seen by someone with my handicap (a high one). Clearly, I must know what to do, but cannot do it consistently. People shake their heads at that explanation, and predict that my handicap will soon fall -- which it doesn't.

Having just read Mr. Gallwey's excellent book, The Inner Game of Work, I could immediately sense that he was on to something with regard to his concept of paying attention to critical features of your activities as a way to learn how to improve rapidly.

As an example of this point, I had stopped taking lessons over the last year-and-a-half, and my tee shots and fairway woods greatly improved. The main thing I noticed is that I began to rely on myself to figure out what I was doing wrong, rather than waiting to have my pro show me. As a result, I figured out a lot of long-term faults never unearthed in the lessons and corrected them.

I was very excited to find a number of other drills I could use in this fine book to locate other faults and correct them. Just thinking about the drills allowed me to locate four faults that I had not been aware of before. I can hardly wait to see how I hit the ball tomorrow!

One of the places where my game started to get better was when I noticed that if I played with no focus on winning or score I played much better. Mr. Gallwey provides several tools for extending that psychology that I intend to use as well.

Some people had taught me other ways to keep score: How many putts, how many fairways and greens in regulation, quota points, and square shots. Mr. Gallwey's book adds learning and enjoyment scores as well. I think those will add a lot to my game, as well. It helps to be given permission to think about something other than the gross score.

Mr. Gallwey unerringly describes every harmful mental process I use to hit poor shots, deny myself fun and learning, and to make myself miserable. Even if my golf doesn't get any better (and I would be surprised if that happened), this book will add a lot to my enjoyment of golf and life.

If you don't already understand the key elements of the swing, it may be that this book will not help you as much. If you are a long-term golfer who has taken a lot of lessons, watches good players, and wants to get more out of your game, this book is a great use of your time and money.

I also recommend Dave Pelz's book, Dave Pelz's Putting Bible. Mr. Pelz does a great job of combining physical, technique and mental processes to help your putting. I realized from The Inner Game of Golf that some of what I learned from Pelz's short game school that works for me relies on tools that Mr. Gallwey speaks about in this book. That gave me more confidence to try out Mr. Gallwey's suggestions.

Hit 'em all like you'd like to!

Best golf book I've ever read, 28 Mar 2004
Golf has always frustrated me with its miriad of instructions such as 'head down', 'left arm straight', 'start with the hips', etc. The Inner Game of Golf removes this concious noise from the swing and lets your inner self ('self 2') take control. It made sense to me, after all do you shout instructions where to place your feet when walking?

With a little practice of the techniques I've discovered a very natural and fluid golf swing. My handicap is down from 23 to 16 in only a few weeks (and still improving), but more importantly I'm enjoying the game like never before.

This is a must read book for anyone who has slammed their club into the ground in anger knowing that you can play better...just don't let your golf partners get there first.

For all those minds too full of swing thoughts and tips, 06 Sep 2003
I have been playing golf for 18 years and like many golfers have always thought that technique was the key thing to learn. People say that golf is 85% mental and I couldn't see how when I struggled to make decent contact with the ball on a regular basis. (I have had a handicap of 19-21 for 8 years). I have read many mainstream books and videos by the likes of David Leadbetter on the mechanics of golf, I have tried lessons from top golf pros, all maner of videos from lesser known people in the states and a number of swing gizmos with little change.

Here is a book with a different approach to the whole idea of playing golf. According to the author, most bad shots in golf are caused by tension. This stops our muscles from working properly in the swing and is the cause of all sorts of faults. Tension is caused by fear, which in turn is caused by doubt in one's ability.

Then there's the little inner voice a lot of us have nagging away while we play telling us to watch out in case we muck up the next shot like we did last time. Timothy Galwey calls this voice Self 1 which is constantly interfering with Self 2, the rest of our body/mind combination.

If we can distract self 1 so that he/she stops doubting us we reduce the fear, reduce the tension and play better. The author suggests various approaches which are manily centered on becoming more aware of the clubhead's position during the swing.

Another great notion is that of not trying. Instead of trying really hard to follow the latest tip or swing thought from our friends, pro or golf magazine, Mr. Gallwey advocates not trying but instead simply observing. For instance, in the medal this morning, I was rather keyed up and played nervously and therefore inconsistently for the first 7 holes. Around the 6th I decided to just become aware of whether my swing was smooth or not. I didn't try to swing any particular way or have any swing thoughts. Suddenly my game came alight - I par'd the 8th, then the 9th, then the 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th. The scores didn't stay that good for the last 5 holes but this approach definitely shows potential.

I don't think you can manage without some technical knowledge and lots of practice, but there's a way to aquire the knowledge and practice and a way to use it on the course. This book is the best I have read on this whole genre of 'just do it' type golf.

Less than I expected, 08 Jul 2001
I expected a hell of a lot of this book but was dissapointed. Yes, you get some tricks and tips on what to do to get your swing as natural as possible to be able to minimize interferences. Still except for telling you to trust your Self 2, you don't really get a good enough explanation on how to surpress Self 1 when you're under total stress when your putt is the one who will define if you win or loose a competition.

Mr A. Allwright. Philistine. My advice - A MUST BUY., 16 Sep 2008
Mr Allwright seems to have missed the point in its entirety (see his (weak) amazon review). He is clearly a (golfing, humour, general) philistine.

Managed to nick this literature from husband who was annoying me by laughing every page, per night, up until Chapter 3. So I swooped. It was mine.

I laughed until it was completed, and like the best books, looked forward to getting to bed to savour the next unfolding.

Cox depicts the soul destroying nature of life on (Europro.........if you say it quick enough it sounds like European.....) Tour heart wrenchingly and acutely. Cox is self depreciatingly honest throughout. His conclusions are appropriately respectful, but endearingly reassuring that real life exists above and beyond life on tour....... if that's what you want....

I think why this book appeals is rooted in the fact the challenges, magic, frustrations and joy of golf are the same whether you are Tiger Woods or Jim Bob Novice Amateur. This is why the book is so clever. It tells a story of golf at a very specific level, but anyone at all who has experienced any level of the game will empathise with the tale it tells - with all the up and downs along the way (no pun intended).

So buy it, and ignore Mr Allwright who has clearly had a personality and soul bypass.




MUST READ FOR ALL GOLF FANATICS, 08 Aug 2008
A great, great read. A real pleasant change from autobiographies and coaching manuals. Tom's year as a professional is a real emotional rollercoaster and the caracters in Tom's book relate to people in golf clubs the length and bredth of the UK. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

I'm glad somebody did it for me, so I didn't have to!, 04 Feb 2008
A hugely enjoying and highly entertaining read from start to finish.

Once Tom got my interest in the opening pages of the book, my interest only intensified as I got further and further into the book. The anticipation of seeing what new mini disaster he could get himself into, coupled with the slight glimmer of hope that there would be some success for him towards the end, just meant that I couldn't put the thing down. Quite literally read in a day!

There is some success for him in the end, although not quite in the way you expect. I guess ultimately the real success to come from Tom's experiment is this brilliantly witty and self deprecating warts and all account of his trials and tribulations throughout his year of swinging with the big boys.

This comes highly recommended.

Great Golfing read!, 03 Feb 2008
A very funny and honest account of another bite at the pro circuit cherry! If you like golf, or even if you don't you will enjoy this book. The ups and downs of the human emotions are all here and it was a pleasure to read. A must for the bedside table or plane or swimming pool!

Great title - dull read, 31 Jan 2008
The Best thing about this book is its title. A dull read from start to finish and provides little insight other than in to the degree of naivety of its author about tournament golf.

S Browne, 04 Oct 2008
What can I say ..... I shot 16 shots less this weekend after only reading the first 7 chapters. The author has set this book out in a logical manner and the thoughts to rember at the end of each chapter are a great concept. I am ready to purchase yet another book written by DR BOB ROTELLA

I lost five shots in six months!, 15 Mar 2006
For anyone in with a handicap in the low teens, this book is a must! I studied Sports Psychology at Univeristy and this book brings everything to bear in 240 simple, easy to read pages that took me four years to learn. Focus only on the shot at hand, concentrate on the target, whether it be 250 yards away or two feet and once you have hit your shot, move on. Who knows what will happen to the ball once it leaves the club face? At the end of it, all that matters is that you have controlled the one element that is within your control - namely the attention to the shot prior to playing it. As "an imperfect game", once you complete the swing, what happens to the ball is often in the lap of the gods.
Golf no longer upsets me and I now enjoy a bad round (almost) as much as a good one. I spend perhaps 45 seconds chanelling my attention for each shot and once I have hit it, I am back in the social world, chatting and joking with my playing partners.
Last year after reading Dr Bob my formal handicap fell one shot. In truth, my playing handicap was probably four shots worse than my formal handicap so morally, I believe I lost five shots between April and September! This year I am looking for even more!

A Classic, 28 Aug 2008
In a few years this book will probably have become one of the classic golf texts. Bob Rotella who recently helped Padraig Harrington win 2 consecutive Opens (British Open) has a simple message: you will never play a perfect round of golf. Even the best pros will only hit 2 or 3 hots in a round really cleanly. Therefore, the golfer has to accept that the game is about good course management and a sharp short game.
This book may change the way you approach golf and will probably stop you beating yourself up over a bad round! A must buy.

Sharp, inspirational writing , 19 Aug 2008
I don't play golf, I write speeches for golfers, so I thought I'd read a book to see if it gave me any ideas. Rotella uses golf as a metaphor for life, so I found the lessons that he had to offer could be applicable to writing and any other sport or discipline. There is nothing profound or original about this book, but it is well-structured and easy-to-read.

I got out of it, the importance of enjoying yourself when your playing, and not getting too hung-up about mistakes. Change your technique in your own time, just play on the course. Don't allow past disappointments to get you down. Do some 'creative visualisation'. Note that professionals just reduce the number of bad strokes they play to an absolute minimum, they aren't trying to play a winner every shot. (Tennis is a good example of that). Short game is what sorts out the sheep from the goats.

I found it a refreshing read, and I got an insight into a golfer's mind.

Good advice but a bit long winded, 17 Jul 2008
I like the Bob Rotella books and find them helpful. The advice can be summarised in just a few pages, but he builds his chapters around the points so that they are a bit more memorable. This will help many golfers and I think it has helped me a bit, but nowhere near as much as improving my technique through mixture of coaching, practice and the odd DVD/technical book. Ultimately if you have good technique the mental side becomes a lot easier as you hit good consistent shots a lot better and think less about your technique when on the course as a result. Also many of the mental lessons are learned through experience anyway eg loosing your temper after a bad shot often affects your next shot if you are not careful and you do not need a book to learn this. Nevertheless, a good read that I still ocassionally refer to as a refresher.

Just Common Sense - probably, 07 Mar 2008
This is an excellent book. I personally have the audio book too which I listen to regularly in the car. There is nothing weird, its not psycho mumbo jumbo. The book is just plain common sense and will just teach you how to execute you golf more thoroughly. Like all things in life the simpler the better and it just sometimes takes someone else to tell you what you already knew. Tom Kite quotes that if you lapse in concentration on 3 or 4 shots per round and if each lapse only costs you 1 shot, that's 12 to 16 shots on a four day tournament and that's the difference between being the all time leading money winner and loosing your card. In amateur land, who wouldn't want to be better by 4 or more shots around just by thinking better?

It's just common sense, 16 Jan 2008
Dr Bob Rotella is extremely well known in golf education for his advice on how to train your mind to play your best golf. He has helped some distinguished players including Tom Kite.

His basic philosophy is:
1. Believe you can achieve your golfing dream.
2. Have no swing thoughts or any thoughts about swing mechanics when you play.
3. Focus on a target for the ball: the smaller the better.
4. Stay in the present: forget previous shots (good and bad), don't think about the score for the round (good or bad). This will only distract you.

I have awarded this a one star. This is perhaps harsh, perhaps a three star would be appropriate but here is why I did:

My average handicap is 25 (27 in competition). I have been playing for three years and in the past 7 months as much as 5 or 6 times a week. I eat, sleep and dream golf. I devour new books and DVDs from the big names and some of the less well known.

I regularly watched the golf channel UK (RIP) and read Golf Digest online. My best rounds are around 85. My theoretical best (best scores per hole on different days) is 63.

In spite of starting this great game of golf at the age of 40, I've done well in many other sports and activities (squash, snowboarding, fencing, motorsport, aviation) and believe I should be able to play at a good level: regularly in the 80s and why not, with training and perseverance, in the 70s.

In short, my profile matches that of the target reader for this book. I had high expectations of this book and was hoping to discover new information and techniques on how to train my mind to get the best from my golf.

In reality, I found nothing new here. Most of the advice really is common sense and common place in all the golf related material I've encountered. Bob spends too much time covering what not to think. In the audio version, Bob drones on so much he sent me to sleep. Sadly, I have to say, the book is not worth the money and I can not recommend it.

Superb book for all levels, 12 Aug 2006
Don't be fooled by the title of this book. It sets out the basics of the golf swing and serves as a great aid in sorting out swing problems. Very simple to understand for the begginer as there are more diagrams than words. Can't wait for the other books in the range. Best Golf book i've seen.

Helps players swing into action, 07 Apr 2006
The book includes sections on grip, aim, posture and swinging the club, buying equipment, basic rules of the golf course, handicaps, scoring and competitions.

This instructional book is for newcomers to the game and succeeds in its intention of teaching the basics in a way which anyone can understand.

Wow 4 years since a review - talk about wilderness, 24 Mar 2008
This book is excellent.

I've always struggled to hit the ball well. Today the ball flew! I finished this book this morning and visited my local range. Using a few of his techniques, I have never hit the ball so far or so easily. Amazingly my swing started to adapt to my requests - self 2 took over and did amazing things.

I would recommend this book to anyone who struggles like me - not any more! It made golf enjoyable for the first time in a long time.

A couple of times I found myself exclaiming 'Holy s~***' as the ball went miles! Combined with hysterical laughter as I hit 4 5-irons in a row to exactly the same spot I've never enjoyed practice so much.

Tim Gallwey's concepts are along the lines of trust your body and your self. A great golfer is inside you, just let him out.

WOW. WOW. WOW. Is all I can say!

You'll never need another book on golf.


Unleash the Golfer within You!, 23 May 2004
For many years, people I play with have complained about my handicap. Yet I seldom play more than a stroke or two above or below my handicap. Yet during a round I will hit many fine shots seldom seen by someone with my handicap (a high one). Clearly, I must know what to do, but cannot do it consistently. People shake their heads at that explanation, and predict that my handicap will soon fall -- which it doesn't.

Having just read Mr. Gallwey's excellent book, The Inner Game of Work, I could immediately sense that he was on to something with regard to his concept of paying attention to critical features of your activities as a way to learn how to improve rapidly.

As an example of this point, I had stopped taking lessons over the last year-and-a-half, and my tee shots and fairway woods greatly improved. The main thing I noticed is that I began to rely on myself to figure out what I was doing wrong, rather than waiting to have my pro show me. As a result, I figured out a lot of long-term faults never unearthed in the lessons and corrected them.

I was very excited to find a number of other drills I could use in this fine book to locate other faults and correct them. Just thinking about the drills allowed me to locate four faults that I had not been aware of before. I can hardly wait to see how I hit the ball tomorrow!

One of the places where my game started to get better was when I noticed that if I played with no focus on winning or score I played much better. Mr. Gallwey provides several tools for extending that psychology that I intend to use as well.

Some people had taught me other ways to keep score: How many putts, how many fairways and greens in regulation, quota points, and square shots. Mr. Gallwey's book adds learning and enjoyment scores as well. I think those will add a lot to my game, as well. It helps to be given permission to think about something other than the gross score.

Mr. Gallwey unerringly describes every harmful mental process I use to hit poor shots, deny myself fun and learning, and to make myself miserable. Even if my golf doesn't get any better (and I would be surprised if that happened), this book will add a lot to my enjoyment of golf and life.

If you don't already understand the key elements of the swing, it may be that this book will not help you as much. If you are a long-term golfer who has taken a lot of lessons, watches good players, and wants to get more out of your game, this book is a great use of your time and money.

I also recommend Dave Pelz's book, Dave Pelz's Putting Bible. Mr. Pelz does a great job of combining physical, technique and mental processes to help your putting. I realized from The Inner Game of Golf that some of what I learned from Pelz's short game school that works for me relies on tools that Mr. Gallwey speaks about in this book. That gave me more confidence to try out Mr. Gallwey's suggestions.

Hit 'em all like you'd like to!

Best golf book I've ever read, 28 Mar 2004
Golf has always frustrated me with its miriad of instructions such as 'head down', 'left arm straight', 'start with the hips', etc. The Inner Game of Golf removes this concious noise from the swing and lets your inner self ('self 2') take control. It made sense to me, after all do you shout instructions where to place your feet when walking?

With a little practice of the techniques I've discovered a very natural and fluid golf swing. My handicap is down from 23 to 16 in only a few weeks (and still improving), but more importantly I'm enjoying the game like never before.

This is a must read book for anyone who has slammed their club into the ground in anger knowing that you can play better...just don't let your golf partners get there first.

For all those minds too full of swing thoughts and tips, 06 Sep 2003
I have been playing golf for 18 years and like many golfers have always thought that technique was the key thing to learn. People say that golf is 85% mental and I couldn't see how when I struggled to make decent contact with the ball on a regular basis. (I have had a handicap of 19-21 for 8 years). I have read many mainstream books and videos by the likes of David Leadbetter on the mechanics of golf, I have tried lessons from top golf pros, all maner of videos from lesser known people in the states and a number of swing gizmos with little change.

Here is a book with a different approach to the whole idea of playing golf. According to the author, most bad shots in golf are caused by tension. This stops our muscles from working properly in the swing and is the cause of all sorts of faults. Tension is caused by fear, which in turn is caused by doubt in one's ability.

Then there's the little inner voice a lot of us have nagging away while we play telling us to watch out in case we muck up the next shot like we did last time. Timothy Galwey calls this voice Self 1 which is constantly interfering with Self 2, the rest of our body/mind combination.

If we can distract self 1 so that he/she stops doubting us we reduce the fear, reduce the tension and play better. The author suggests various approaches which are manily centered on becoming more aware of the clubhead's position during the swing.

Another great notion is that of not trying. Instead of trying really hard to follow the latest tip or swing thought from our friends, pro or golf magazine, Mr. Gallwey advocates not trying but instead simply observing. For instance, in the medal this morning, I was rather keyed up and played nervously and therefore inconsistently for the first 7 holes. Around the 6th I decided to just become aware of whether my swing was smooth or not. I didn't try to swing any particular way or have any swing thoughts. Suddenly my game came alight - I par'd the 8th, then the 9th, then the 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th. The scores didn't stay that good for the last 5 holes but this approach definitely shows potential.

I don't think you can manage without some technical knowledge and lots of practice, but there's a way to aquire the knowledge and practice and a way to use it on the course. This book is the best I have read on this whole genre of 'just do it' type golf.

Less than I expected, 08 Jul 2001
I expected a hell of a lot of this book but was dissapointed. Yes, you get some tricks and tips on what to do to get your swing as natural as possible to be able to minimize interferences. Still except for telling you to trust your Self 2, you don't really get a good enough explanation on how to surpress Self 1 when you're under total stress when your putt is the one who will define if you win or loose a competition.

Better than lessons from a Pro, 05 Sep 2008
This is the best Golf instruction book i have read. I am an average club player ( 11 handicap )but have always found the short game a struggle.

If you lack confidence in chipping or Bunker play this book is a must buy.

If you still can`t play out of bunkers after reading this book i suggest you give up golf . From being fearful of every bunker shot as i would either thin it 50 yards over the green or leave it in the bunker i would now rather be in the bunker than the rough.

This book is nicely written without being too technical even though you might need to re-read a couple of chapters before it sinks in i can assure you that his concepts are easy to understand and priceless.

A must have book for the club golfer.


Great golf short game coaching manual , 21 Oct 2007
One of the very best golf instructions books.Utley's methods are tried and tested on tour - he coaches a number of top players solely on their short game.If you have ever wondered what coaches are telling tour players who feel the need to improve then its all here. There could be a few more pictures and mainly text, but Utley puts it all across very well.Approach taken is not heavy and scientific like Pelz and is a lot easier to implement.If you are serious about improving your golf, then forget the latest drivers and balls and shafts and trying to blast it 20 yards further - from 100 yards and in is where it really counts.
I have already improved my touch around he greens and Im controlling the ball better - and understanding why - after a few weeks.

Mr A. Allwright. Philistine. My advice - A MUST BUY., 16 Sep 2008
Mr Allwright seems to have missed the point in its entirety (see his (weak) amazon review). He is clearly a (golfing, humour, general) philistine.

Managed to nick this literature from husband who was annoying me by laughing every page, per night, up until Chapter 3. So I swooped. It was mine.

I laughed until it was completed, and like the best books, looked forward to getting to bed to savour the next unfolding.

Cox depicts the soul destroying nature of life on (Europro.........if you say it quick enough it sounds like European.....) Tour heart wrenchingly and acutely. Cox is self depreciatingly honest throughout. His conclusions are appropriately respectful, but endearingly reassuring that real life exists above and beyond life on tour....... if that's what you want....

I think why this book appeals is rooted in the fact the challenges, magic, frustrations and joy of golf are the same whether you are Tiger Woods or Jim Bob Novice Amateur. This is why the book is so clever. It tells a story of golf at a very specific level, but anyone at all who has experienced any level of the game will empathise with the tale it tells - with all the up and downs along the way (no pun intended).

So buy it, and ignore Mr Allwright who has clearly had a personality and soul bypass.




MUST READ FOR ALL GOLF FANATICS, 08 Aug 2008
A great, great read. A real pleasant change from autobiographies and coaching manuals. Tom's year as a professional is a real emotional rollercoaster and the caracters in Tom's book relate to people in golf clubs the length and bredth of the UK. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

I'm glad somebody did it for me, so I didn't have to!, 04 Feb 2008
A hugely enjoying and highly entertaining read from start to finish.

Once Tom got my interest in the opening pages of the book, my interest only intensified as I got further and further into the book. The anticipation of seeing what new mini disaster he could get himself into, coupled with the slight glimmer of hope that there would be some success for him towards the end, just meant that I couldn't put the thing down. Quite literally read in a day!

There is some success for him in the end, although not quite in the way you expect. I guess ultimately the real success to come from Tom's experiment is this brilliantly witty and self deprecating warts and all account of his trials and tribulations throughout his year of swinging with the big boys.

This comes highly recommended.

Great Golfing read!, 03 Feb 2008
A very funny and honest account of another bite at the pro circuit cherry! If you like golf, or even if you don't you will enjoy this book. The ups and downs of the human emotions are all here and it was a pleasure to read. A must for the bedside table or plane or swimming pool!

Great title - dull read, 31 Jan 2008
The Best thing about this book is its title. A dull read from start to finish and provides little insight other than in to the degree of naivety of its author about tournament golf.

S Browne, 04 Oct 2008
What can I say ..... I shot 16 shots less this weekend after only reading the first 7 chapters. The author has set this book out in a logical manner and the thoughts to rember at the end of each chapter are a great concept. I am ready to purchase yet another book written by DR BOB ROTELLA

I lost five shots in six months!, 15 Mar 2006
For anyone in with a handicap in the low teens, this book is a must! I studied Sports Psychology at Univeristy and this book brings everything to bear in 240 simple, easy to read pages that took me four years to learn. Focus only on the shot at hand, concentrate on the target, whether it be 250 yards away or two feet and once you have hit your shot, move on. Who knows what will happen to the ball once it leaves the club face? At the end of it, all that matters is that you have controlled the one element that is within your control - namely the attention to the shot prior to playing it. As "an imperfect game", once you complete the swing, what happens to the ball is often in the lap of the gods.
Golf no longer upsets me and I now enjoy a bad round (almost) as much as a good one. I spend perhaps 45 seconds chanelling my attention for each shot and once I have hit it, I am back in the social world, chatting and joking with my playing partners.
Last year after reading Dr Bob my formal handicap fell one shot. In truth, my playing handicap was probably four shots worse than my formal handicap so morally, I believe I lost five shots between April and September! This year I am looking for even more!

A Classic, 28 Aug 2008
In a few years this book will probably have become one of the classic golf texts. Bob Rotella who recently helped Padraig Harrington win 2 consecutive Opens (British Open) has a simple message: you will never play a perfect round of golf. Even the best pros will only hit 2 or 3 hots in a round really cleanly. Therefore, the golfer has to accept that the game is about good course management and a sharp short game.
This book may change the way you approach golf and will probably stop you beating yourself up over a bad round! A must buy.

Sharp, inspirational writing , 19 Aug 2008
I don't play golf, I write speeches for golfers, so I thought I'd read a book to see if it gave me any ideas. Rotella uses golf as a metaphor for life, so I found the lessons that he had to offer could be applicable to writing and any other sport or discipline. There is nothing profound or original about this book, but it is well-structured and easy-to-read.

I got out of it, the importance of enjoying yourself when your playing, and not getting too hung-up about mistakes. Change your technique in your own time, just play on the course. Don't allow past disappointments to get you down. Do some 'creative visualisation'. Note that professionals just reduce the number of bad strokes they play to an absolute minimum, they aren't trying to play a winner every shot. (Tennis is a good example of that). Short game is what sorts out the sheep from the goats.

I found it a refreshing read, and I got an insight into a golfer's mind.

Good advice but a bit long winded, 17 Jul 2008
I like the Bob Rotella books and find them helpful. The advice can be summarised in just a few pages, but he builds his chapters around the points so that they are a bit more memorable. This will help many golfers and I think it has helped me a bit, but nowhere near as much as improving my technique through mixture of coaching, practice and the odd DVD/technical book. Ultimately if you have good technique the mental side becomes a lot easier as you hit good consistent shots a lot better and think less about your technique when on the course as a result. Also many of the mental lessons are learned through experience anyway eg loosing your temper after a bad shot often affects your next shot if you are not careful and you do not need a book to learn this. Nevertheless, a good read that I still ocassionally refer to as a refresher.

Just Common Sense - probably, 07 Mar 2008
This is an excellent book. I personally have the audio book too which I listen to regularly in the car. There is nothing weird, its not psycho mumbo jumbo. The book is just plain common sense and will just teach you how to execute you golf more thoroughly. Like all things in life the simpler the better and it just sometimes takes someone else to tell you what you already knew. Tom Kite quotes that if you lapse in concentration on 3 or 4 shots per round and if each lapse only costs you 1 shot, that's 12 to 16 shots on a four day tournament and that's the difference between being the all time leading money winner and loosing your card. In amateur land, who wouldn't want to be better by 4 or more shots around just by thinking better?

It's just common sense, 16 Jan 2008
Dr Bob Rotella is extremely well known in golf education for his advice on how to train your mind to play your best golf. He has helped some distinguished players including Tom Kite.

His basic philosophy is:
1. Believe you can achieve your golfing dream.
2. Have no swing thoughts or any thoughts about swing mechanics when you play.
3. Focus on a target for the ball: the smaller the better.
4. Stay in the present: forget previous shots (good and bad), don't think about the score for the round (good or bad). This will only distract you.

I have awarded this a one star. This is perhaps harsh, perhaps a three star would be appropriate but here is why I did:

My average handicap is 25 (27 in competition). I have been playing for three years and in the past 7 months as much as 5 or 6 times a week. I eat, sleep and dream golf. I devour new books and DVDs from the big names and some of the less well known.

I regularly watched the golf channel UK (RIP) and read Golf Digest online. My best rounds are around 85. My theoretical best (best scores per hole on different days) is 63.

In spite of starting this great game of golf at the age of 40, I've done well in many other sports and activities (squash, snowboarding, fencing, motorsport, aviation) and believe I should be able to play at a good level: regularly in the 80s and why not, with training and perseverance, in the 70s.

In short, my profile matches that of the target reader for this book. I had high expectations of this book and was hoping to discover new information and techniques on how to train my mind to get the best from my golf.

In reality, I found nothing new here. Most of the advice really is common sense and common place in all the golf related material I've encountered. Bob spends too much time covering what not to think. In the audio version, Bob drones on so much he sent me to sleep. Sadly, I have to say, the book is not worth the money and I can not recommend it.

Superb book for all levels, 12 Aug 2006
Don't be fooled by the title of this book. It sets out the basics of the golf swing and serves as a great aid in sorting out swing problems. Very simple to understand for the begginer as there are more diagrams than words. Can't wait for the other books in the range. Best Golf book i've seen.

Helps players swing into action, 07 Apr 2006
The book includes sections on grip, aim, posture and swinging the club, buying equipment, basic rules of the golf course, handicaps, scoring and competitions.

This instructional book is for newcomers to the game and succeeds in its intention of teaching the basics in a way which anyone can understand.

Wow 4 years since a review - talk about wilderness, 24 Mar 2008
This book is excellent.

I've always struggled to hit the ball well. Today the ball flew! I finished this book this morning and visited my local range. Using a few of his techniques, I have never hit the ball so far or so easily. Amazingly my swing started to adapt to my requests - self 2 took over and did amazing things.

I would recommend this book to anyone who struggles like me - not any more! It made golf enjoyable for the first time in a long time.

A couple of times I found myself exclaiming 'Holy s~***' as the ball went miles! Combined with hysterical laughter as I hit 4 5-irons in a row to exactly the same spot I've never enjoyed practice so much.

Tim Gallwey's concepts are along the lines of trust your body and your self. A great golfer is inside you, just let him out.

WOW. WOW. WOW. Is all I can say!

You'll never need another book on golf.


Unleash the Golfer within You!, 23 May 2004
For many years, people I play with have complained about my handicap. Yet I seldom play more than a stroke or two above or below my handicap. Yet during a round I will hit many fine shots seldom seen by someone with my handicap (a high one). Clearly, I must know what to do, but cannot do it consistently. People shake their heads at that explanation, and predict that my handicap will soon fall -- which it doesn't.

Having just read Mr. Gallwey's excellent book, The Inner Game of Work, I could immediately sense that he was on to something with regard to his concept of paying attention to critical features of your activities as a way to learn how to improve rapidly.

As an example of this point, I had stopped taking lessons over the last year-and-a-half, and my tee shots and fairway woods greatly improved. The main thing I noticed is that I began to rely on myself to figure out what I was doing wrong, rather than waiting to have my pro show me. As a result, I figured out a lot of long-term faults never unearthed in the lessons and corrected them.

I was very excited to find a number of other drills I could use in this fine book to locate other faults and correct them. Just thinking about the drills allowed me to locate four faults that I had not been aware of before. I can hardly wait to see how I hit the ball tomorrow!

One of the places where my game started to get better was when I noticed that if I played with no focus on winning or score I played much better. Mr. Gallwey provides several tools for extending that psychology that I intend to use as well.

Some people had taught me other ways to keep score: How many putts, how many fairways and greens in regulation, quota points, and square shots. Mr. Gallwey's book adds learning and enjoyment scores as well. I think those will add a lot to my game, as well. It helps to be given permission to think about something other than the gross score.

Mr. Gallwey unerringly describes every harmful mental process I use to hit poor shots, deny myself fun and learning, and to make myself miserable. Even if my golf doesn't get any better (and I would be surprised if that happened), this book will add a lot to my enjoyment of golf and life.

If you don't already understand the key elements of the swing, it may be that this book will not help you as much. If you are a long-term golfer who has taken a lot of lessons, watches good players, and wants to get more out of your game, this book is a great use of your time and money.

I also recommend Dave Pelz's book, Dave Pelz's Putting Bible. Mr. Pelz does a great job of combining physical, technique and mental processes to help your putting. I realized from The Inner Game of Golf that some of what I learned from Pelz's short game school that works for me relies on tools that Mr. Gallwey speaks about in this book. That gave me more confidence to try out Mr. Gallwey's suggestions.

Hit 'em all like you'd like to!

Best golf book I've ever read, 28 Mar 2004
Golf has always frustrated me with its miriad of instructions such as 'head down', 'left arm straight', 'start with the hips', etc. The Inner Game of Golf removes this concious noise from the swing and lets your inner self ('self 2') take control. It made sense to me, after all do you shout instructions where to place your feet when walking?

With a little practice of the techniques I've discovered a very natural and fluid golf swing. My handicap is down from 23 to 16 in only a few weeks (and still improving), but more importantly I'm enjoying the game like never before.

This is a must read book for anyone who has slammed their club into the ground in anger knowing that you can play better...just don't let your golf partners get there first.

For all those minds too full of swing thoughts and tips, 06 Sep 2003
I have been playing golf for 18 years and like many golfers have always thought that technique was the key thing to learn. People say that golf is 85% mental and I couldn't see how when I struggled to make decent contact with the ball on a regular basis. (I have had a handicap of 19-21 for 8 years). I have read many mainstream books and videos by the likes of David Leadbetter on the mechanics of golf, I have tried lessons from top golf pros, all maner of videos from lesser known people in the states and a number of swing gizmos with little change.

Here is a book with a different approach to the whole idea of playing golf. According to the author, most bad shots in golf are caused by tension. This stops our muscles from working properly in the swing and is the cause of all sorts of faults. Tension is caused by fear, which in turn is caused by doubt in one's ability.

Then there's the little inner voice a lot of us have nagging away while we play telling us to watch out in case we muck up the next shot like we did last time. Timothy Galwey calls this voice Self 1 which is constantly interfering with Self 2, the rest of our body/mind combination.

If we can distract self 1 so that he/she stops doubting us we reduce the fear, reduce the tension and play better. The author suggests various approaches which are manily centered on becoming more aware of the clubhead's position during the swing.

Another great notion is that of not trying. Instead of trying really hard to follow the latest tip or swing thought from our friends, pro or golf magazine, Mr. Gallwey advocates not trying but instead simply observing. For instance, in the medal this morning, I was rather keyed up and played nervously and therefore inconsistently for the first 7 holes. Around the 6th I decided to just become aware of whether my swing was smooth or not. I didn't try to swing any particular way or have any swing thoughts. Suddenly my game came alight - I par'd the 8th, then the 9th, then the 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th. The scores didn't stay that good for the last 5 holes but this approach definitely shows potential.

I don't think you can manage without some technical knowledge and lots of practice, but there's a way to aquire the knowledge and practice and a way to use it on the course. This book is the best I have read on this whole genre of 'just do it' type golf.

Less than I expected, 08 Jul 2001
I expected a hell of a lot of this book but was dissapointed. Yes, you get some tricks and tips on what to do to get your swing as natural as possible to be able to minimize interferences. Still except for telling you to trust your Self 2, you don't really get a good enough explanation on how to surpress Self 1 when you're under total stress when your putt is the one who will define if you win or loose a competition.

Better than lessons from a Pro, 05 Sep 2008
This is the best Golf instruction book i have read. I am an average club player ( 11 handicap )but have always found the short game a struggle.

If you lack confidence in chipping or Bunker play this book is a must buy.

If you still can`t play out of bunkers after reading this book i suggest you give up golf . From being fearful of every bunker shot as i would either thin it 50 yards over the green or leave it in the bunker i would now rather be in the bunker than the rough.

This book is nicely written without being too technical even though you might need to re-read a couple of chapters before it sinks in i can assure you that his concepts are easy to understand and priceless.

A must have book for the club golfer.


Great golf short game coaching manual , 21 Oct 2007
One of the very best golf instructions books.Utley's methods are tried and tested on tour - he coaches a number of top players solely on their short game.If you have ever wondered what coaches are telling tour players who feel the need to improve then its all here. There could be a few more pictures and mainly text, but Utley puts it all across very well.Approach taken is not heavy and scientific like Pelz and is a lot easier to implement.If you are serious about improving your golf, then forget the latest drivers and balls and shafts and trying to blast it 20 yards further - from 100 yards and in is where it really counts.
I have already improved my touch around he greens and Im controlling the ball better - and understanding why - after a few weeks.

A big book for big laughs!, 23 Jan 2008
Large, extremely amusing book with the capacity to keep the reader laughing for hours.

Would make an enjoyable present for any avid golfer - or even someone who just likes to have a laugh about golf and golfers.

Mr A. Allwright. Philistine. My advice - A MUST BUY., 16 Sep 2008
Mr Allwright seems to have missed the point in its entirety (see his (weak) amazon review). He is clearly a (golfing, humour, general) philistine.

Managed to nick this literature from husband who was annoying me by laughing every page, per night, up until Chapter 3. So I swooped. It was mine.

I laughed until it was completed, and like the best books, looked forward to getting to bed to savour the next unfolding.

Cox depicts the soul destroying nature of life on (Europro.........if you say it quick enough it sounds like European.....) Tour heart wrenchingly and acutely. Cox is self depreciatingly honest throughout. His conclusions are appropriately respectful, but endearingly reassuring that real life exists above and beyond life on tour....... if that's what you want....

I think why this book appeals is rooted in the fact the challenges, magic, frustrations and joy of golf are the same whether you are Tiger Woods or Jim Bob Novice Amateur. This is why the book is so clever. It tells a story of golf at a very specific level, but anyone at all who has experienced any level of the game will empathise with the tale it tells - with all the up and downs along the way (no pun intended).

So buy it, and ignore Mr Allwright who has clearly had a personality and soul bypass.




MUST READ FOR ALL GOLF FANATICS, 08 Aug 2008
A great, great read. A real pleasant change from autobiographies and coaching manuals. Tom's year as a professional is a real emotional rollercoaster and the caracters in Tom's book relate to people in golf clubs the length and bredth of the UK. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

I'm glad somebody did it for me, so I didn't have to!, 04 Feb 2008
A hugely enjoying and highly entertaining read from start to finish.

Once Tom got my interest in the opening pages of the book, my interest only intensified as I got further and further into the book. The anticipation of seeing what new mini disaster he could get himself into, coupled with the slight glimmer of hope that there would be some success for him towards the end, just meant that I couldn't put the thing down. Quite literally read in a day!

There is some success for him in the end, although not quite in the way you expect. I guess ultimately the real success to come from Tom's experiment is this brilliantly witty and self deprecating warts and all account of his trials and tribulations throughout his year of swinging with the big boys.

This comes highly recommended.

Great Golfing read!, 03