The Inner Game of Golf: Find Your Self in this Book
The mental aspect of golf is my favorite topic and weakest skill sometimes. I like the think of myself as a cerebral golfer but continually turn off my brain during my downswing. W. Timothy Galleway has built a career strength the minds of tennis players. On a whim, he worked with his publisher to see if his Inner Game principles could be applied to golf.
The basis of W. Timothy Galleway’s approach is looking at the golfer as two people: Self 1 and Self 2. Timothy defines them as follows:
Self 1 thought he knew all about how to play and was supervising Self 2, the one who had to hit the ball.
Recognizing these two sides in each of us, Timothy challenges us to trust in our Self 2. He even created an equation to prove his theory:
Performance = Self 2 (potential) minus Self 1 (interference)
Favorite Passage of The Inner Game of Golf
The sign of a good golf book will contain a topic or exercise that you cannot wait to try out. The Inner Game of Golf provided a great exercise that I want to try out the next time I hit the driving range. To better feel the golf swing, Timothy recommends verbalizing the four beats of a swing with a simple DA:
- Initiation of club head take away
- Top of back swing
- Contact with the ball
- Completion of swing
The exercise results in a DA- DA -DA -DA spoken (out loud or under your breath). By verbalizing each point, your mind becomes more aware of each step and where the club head is at each phase. This will aid in become aware of swing plane, club angle, and other elements of the swing we all become blind to in the blink of an eye the swing occurs.
Is the Inner Game of Game Buy/Borrow/By Pass
Based on the number of Post It notes I used, I will read this book again in six month to find things I missed and see if I retained and wisdom from the book. I would recommend you buy this book if you are at a plateau in your golf game. If you have the swing basics down and you find your brain getting in the way, this book will help you to put Self 1 in the background and let Self 2 take the reins to lower scores.
Other Books by W. Timothy Galleway
- The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance (1997)
- The Inner Game of Stress: Outsmart Life’s Challenges and Fulfill Your Potential (2009)
- Inner Skiing: Revised Edition (1997)
W. Timothy Galleway Contact Info
- Website: http://theinnergame.com/
- Facebook: @tim.galleway
- Twitter: @the_innergame
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