The Golf of Your Dreams

Rotella (Golf Is Not a Game of Perfect) is the former director of sports psychology at the University of Virginia and has served as a consultant for all the major golf organizations. His background proves invaluable in this manual on how to improve your game on the links, exploding a number of myths: whacking 200 balls a day at the driving range won't contribute to a better game; superb mechanics like a smooth stroke won't help one iota without mental involvement; good golf is as much a solitary as a social game. To Rotella, commitment is the basic prerequisite. To this end, a teacher is essential, for golfers cannot stand outside themselves and critique their body placement or their swing, nor, in his view, is a video an effective substitute. Besides patience and a focused mind, Rotella, writing with freelancer Cullen, offers several other tips, one warning that golf is not a game for paupers; another pointing out that the game can closely link parents and children; and a third cautioning all, from pros to duffers, that here is a game one can never master. Short and to the point. (Nov.)