“Great athletes are
always training their
minds—there’s simply
no other option.”
–Dr. Bob Rotella
Rotella and Charles Green III showed sharp mental acumen in winning
the VSGA Super Senior Four-Ball Championship in 2017.
CHRIS LANG
FREE WILL
Of all our skills, talents
and gifts, Dr. Rotella
counts free will as the
greatest gift we’ve been
given as both human
beings and athletes. It’s up to us to take
advantage of it.
“Because we have a free will, we get to
choose,” Dr. Rotella said. “Do you choose
to think about the ball going where you
want it to go, or do you worry about it going
where you don’t want it to go? Do you think
about pitching in or about not getting the
ball up and down? Do you see the putt going
in, or do you worry about missing it?”
PREPARE
In order to strengthen
mental acuity, you must
practice. That begins
long before a pre-round
bucket of balls at the
driving range—or the early morning drive
to the course, for that matter.
“You have to practice every day, whether
you’re on the practice range, in the short
game area, in your garage at night,” Dr.
Rotella said. “Visualize what you want and
prepare your mind to be successful.
“You have to think about it, making sure
your thoughts are consistent with what
you want. If you want the ball to go to your
target, think about it going to the target. If
you want to shoot in the 60s, think about
shooting in the 60s. If you want to be a
single-digit handicap, think about being a
single-digit handicap.”
FOCUS FOR
EVERY SHOT
Mental preparation
doesn’t begin and
end at home—to be
successful, you must
maintain that focus before and during a
round of play.
“Once you get to the golf course, it’s more
about, ‘Here’s where I want my mind on
every shot, and that’s what I’m going to do.’”
Dr. Rotella said. “Do that, and you’re giving
yourself a chance to shoot your best score.
It doesn’t always happen—that’s why the
game is beautiful—but the only way to find
out is to get your head in the right place on
every shot.”
And don’t let a bad shot or three take
you out of your mental game. It happens
to everyone—even the game’s best players.
In 1989, Dr. Rotella spent a day on the
links with Ben Hogan. During an 18-hole
round, Hogan remarked that he’d only hit
two or three shots the way he’d imagined
them—and that was a lot for him. He also
told Rotella that he’d never made a holein-one.
“Some people chase perfection instead
of chasing learning how to play golf, and
there’s a big difference,” Dr. Rotella said.
“There’s the guy everyone thinks had the
most perfect swing, and he was absolutely
mentally and psychologically prepared to
miss shots.”
KEEPING A COOL
HEAD IN THE
VIRGINIA HEAT
What’s the best way to
make sure your mental
game doesn’t wither
away under the hot Virginia sun? Again,
everything goes back to preparation.
“I always begin by telling players that
probably the toughest football coach we’ve
ever heard of was Vince Lombardi,” Dr.
Rotella said. “He had a great line—‘Tiredness
makes cowards of us all.’”
That makes getting in shape, staying
hydrated and eating healthy foods critical
to success.
“If you get to a really hot week, this is
how you can separate yourself from other
golfers,” Dr. Rotella said. “Some people
are going to complain about the heat,
the humidity, and the temperature, and
you’re gonna say, ‘Good, I’m going to love
it today.’”
From there, it’s executing your game
plan—one developed long before you
arrived—and that boils down to three commands:
See. Believe. Do.
Visualize where you want your mind on
every shot,” Dr. Rotella said. “Think about
playing great, and think about how good
you’re going to feel after you do it.”
vsga.org J ULY/A UGUST 2020 | V IRGINIA G OLFER 37