Mastering Golf’s Mental Game Makes You Think

The physical aspect of golf is relatively simple and takes 1.2 seconds.  The rest of the 4.5 hour round is waiting for your turn to swing.  During this time, each golfer must work to maintain their concentration and re-engage before stepping up to their next shot.  Dr. Michael Lardon wrote Mastering Golf’s Mental Game to help each of us build a stronger mental golf game.

Dr. Lardon’s resume is filled with plenty of experience helping high-end athletes in many sports work to strengthen their mental game.  From football place kickers to Olympians and to professional golfer, he works with them to find where their mental game can be improved and in turn improve their output.  Dr. Lardon was a professional athlete, ping-pong, before going into psychiatrist consulting so he knows the pressure of competition.  His story is interesting but his insights are even more interesting.  His goal is to work with his clients is to find their “Zone” and lock into habits and processes to get in it time after time.

I will review some of the high level topics Dr. Lardon uses but I won’t break them down completely here.  You need to do that yourself by reading the book as knowledge earned is better than information given.

Mastering Golf’s Mental Game Key Points

• Pre-Shot Pyramid: three levels make up the foundation for a good mental for a good shot.  Calculate Shot – Create Shot – Execute.
• Pre-Shot Routine: consistently using the same steps to take a golf shot from approach to swing.
• Mental Scorecard System: Score yourself on your mental game to see how consistently you complete the Pre-Shot Pyramid on each shot.

Master Golf’s Mental Game: Mental Scorecard

The Mental Scorecard is where this book will pay dividends if you dedicate yourself to it and be honest with yourself.  Many casual players concentrate on recording scores to lower their handicap and end up in a plateau and can’t find a way to improve.  The Mental  Scorecard will improve your game because it forces you to take stock of how well you played each shot.

Here is how it works:

For each shot you take, your goal is to successfully negotiate the three steps of the Pre-Shot Pyramid in order.  If you’re able to complete all three steps, you earn one point for that shot.  If you don’t complete one or more of the steps for that shot, you earn zero points.

The score is a percentage of total shots so if you score 60 shots completed in line with the Pre-Shot Pyramid out of your 95 shots, you scored 63%. The goal is to get that number as high as possible without sacrificing honesty with yourself.

Here is an example of what it looks like:

Is Mastering Golf’s Mental Game Worth It?

This is a buy book for me.  There are several homework sections that should be completed.

I plan to do the Mental Scorecard on my next round of golf.  It will be interesting to see the results and somewhat scary.

Other Books By Dr. Michael Lardon

• Finding Your Zone: Ten Core Lessons for Achieving Peak Performance in Sports and Life (2008)

Dr. Michael Lardon Information

• Website: http://drlardon.com
• Twitter: @drlardon