How Champions Think

April 1, 2015

Rotella (Golf Is Not a Game of Perfect) is the dean of performance psychology for the sport of golf, and his latest work contains 13 chapters that form a whole construct. The author is, unquestionably, the premier mental coach for golf, having worked with Darren Clarke and Keegan Bradley as well as athletes in other sports, along with business executives. While it is common for authors to rewrite and redefine older material, this compilation does a first-rate job of condensing content and presenting it in a readable and understandable format. What makes golf an interesting metaphor is that even the truly luminary succeed, but only a fraction of the time. Rotella emphasizes the importance of goal setting and the discipline that is required to achieve those aims. There is a fine line between the quest for excellence and perfectionism, but Rotella suggests that some balance is possible. To borrow from writer G.K. Chesterton, "It is not that the pursuit of excellence has been tried and found wanting, it is that it has been found difficult and left untried." VERDICT So good that this reviewer has recommended it to all, golfers and nongolfers alike.

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