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I was at the bookstore yesterday and I looked at dozens of books to add to my collection. I think my full swing is pretty solid, now, and I don't think another instruction book is going to help. I already have Tour Tempo. However, I saw a few books for the Mental Aspect of Golf. What in your opinion is the most effective and useful book covering the mental game of golf? I saw the following titles:

Golf is not a game of perfect,
Fearless Golf,
Zen Golf,
The Golfer's Mind,
The Inner Game of Golf,
Mind over golf, etc, etc.

I saw even the infomercial : Beat the Bogeyman - Other Golf channel propaganda....

I am starting to realize that my inability to progress is the mental side. Last year when I was hitting well (except for putting / chipping), I just focused on where to hit the ball and what distance. I think I lost that focus and I am looking to improve upon that aspect of the game.

titaniummd,

I think that even more so than swing mechanics/swing instruction books, the mental game of golf books are even more hit and miss (pardon the pun) in terms of helpfulness to any one person. That is to say, what mental game books really helps one person can be almost completely useless to another.

On that note, I'd strongly suggest that instead of buying, that you'd go to the library and borrow and see what jives with you. If the library doesn't have the exact books you want, use interlibrary loan. Most libraries only want a very nominal fee to use interlibrary loan. To wit, my local library only asks $1 to acquire any book in their network of over 19,000 libraries.

As an example, I've read a little of Rotella's stuff, and came away generally unimpressed. I read Shoemaker's Extraordinary Golf and while it was a decent enough read -- I liked the drills in the back of the book more than anything -- it wasn't awesome. So, your mileage may vary. You may really love Rotella's stuff. But that's why I suggest you borrow first to see what you like. If you really like it, then go out an buy it.

Besides the technical side of the issue, you'll find in those books over and over emphasizing practice and practice often, practice smart. Especially the short game, the quickest way to go from 90's to 80's..
Also keep in mind, not everyone will have a perfect swing and the "perfect swing" might not work for everyone. A dependable, repeatable swing which you could apply power is a great swing.
I enjoy reading Dr. Rotella's books, sometime walking away with one or two sentences which is useful to you is priceless.

I would second the suggestion to go to your library. Be sure to check out "The Inner game of Golf". I have owned the book for years and every couple of years I go back to it and I play better after a reread. I actually bought the second addition and gave the origanal to my son.

The best golf book I ever read covered the physical and mental aspects of the game. It is "How To Play Your Best Golf All the Time" by Tommy Armour, Sr. I first read it 50 years ago and still review it every year. He was arguably the best teacher ever and a fine player in stroke and match competitons during the first half of the 20th century. And his DNA was special too. His son plays on the Champions Tour and his grandson is on the PGA Tour. You may have to order through a book store, but I believe it would be worth the effort.

Thanks for the recs. I will check the library. I suppose I should have done that before buying all of the books I got.

Are there ones that are on CD or IPOD formats too?

Out of those, the inner game of golf is tops...rereading it currently...

The mental game is huge. More huge for some than others.

If I could hit the ball on the course as consistently as I do when I practice, I know I would be shooting in the 80s more than in the 90s. But as it is, I probably average around 96 or 97, and have never come within 3 shots of breaking 90. My average shot on the course is about as good as the average of my worst 20% in practice, possibly even the worst 10%. And I'll hit anywhere from 3-10 shots in a round that are so bad that I might hit a shot that bad once or twice in a thousand practice shots.

This is very frustrating, and the main thing I am going to work on with my game this spring ... having the same consistent and relaxed swing on the course as I have in practice. I hate having a 10-15 handicap practice swing and a 25 handicap game. I can often put together a good 4 or 5 holes, but usually as soon as that happens I tense up. A little over a month ago, I started a round with 3 pars, and as soon as I thought about my chances of shooting 40 for 9, I was through. I did bogey the next hole, but then tensed up and strung together a quad a trip, and 2 doubles over the next 4 holes. Hogan had it spot on when he said golf is a game played in the 5 inches between one's ears.