Golf is difficult enough without having to think about the mental aspect of it all, which tortured souls will tell you is just as hard to figure out as the physical stuff.
Luckily, just as there are teachers to help you fix your slice or cure your chipping yips, there are tools to help clean out the distractions between the ears.
When recently asked for a go-to book to help amateurs of all levels on the golf course, Todd Sones, a GOLF Top 100 Teacher based in Chicago, recommended “Break Free From Suckville,” a new release from Dr. Bhrett McCabe, whose widely known as one of the top sports psychologists in the business and works with several athletes and many top pro golfers.
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“It’s really interesting,” Sones said. “Other sports psychologists’ books deal with what you need to do, [McCabe] is dealing with, at the core, well, why do you do what you do? It’s interesting. It’s a different level; it’s a different depth. So far I’m enjoying it.”
From the book: There is a myth in the competitive world that you will eventually reach your potential if you prepare correctly. Why do you leave competitions frustrated with your execution level and regret your effort if that is the case? The truth is you will never reach your potential, and the quest to create that of success and consistency in your game is destroying your mental game. The space between your possibility and the reality of your performance is what I call “Suckville” because the struggles of falling short suck.
Can the average golfer learn from it? Sones says absolutely.
“It’s all the same,” he said. “It’s thinking better, and learning how to think can’t hurt anybody.”
