I don't care all that much about golf, but I am interested in a psychological aspects of performance in different domains. This book is helpful, but would be much more helpful for a golf enthusiast reader who wants to manage specific shots and shot problems. The book spends less time on the mental aspect of the sport than you'd think (given the title) and more time on technical golf-specific problems.
Notes:
1) Pair with Anders Ericsson's Peak: mental representations for complex ideas, chunking.
2) The book's introduction contains a good rundown of useful golf literature.
3) "Course management and mental toughness" what Earl Woods said he taught Tiger. ("is that all?" quips the author). These two phrases are good examples of mental representations in the sense of the book "Peak." You can't use them effectively until you know enough about the game, and are an advanced enough player at the game, to genuinely understand what these phrases really mean.
4) On error management, especially unforced errors.
5) On verbal cues, koans:
* Don't try hard; be fluid.
* Hit with your practice swing
* The ball is not to be hit, but directed.
6) Stoicism and nonattachment. Not getting excited about good shots, not getting down about bad shots. Both can cause you to overshoot in the other direction: excitement can lead to overconfidence, getting down can lead to extended negativity.
7) These golf legends (Ballesteros, Hogan, Nicklaus, etc.) are capable of such higher degrees of mental focus, of psychological concentration, it makes me think I've been babying myself or holding myself to way too low a standard.
8) A central eclecticism in learning, Buddhism, mind/body, fitness, nutrition non-reaction, etc... Many domains of learning applied to a craft.
9) Hypnosis, self hypnosis.
10) Gary Player lifting weights, bringing weightlifting to golf. Tiger Woods obviously ushering in a new generation of extremely fit players.
11) Visual drills, applicable to other sports: "the looking glass drill," seeing yourself at different stages of a swing and observing it in the mirror to form a mental picture of a swing position, then when you play call on these images to make a smooth swing action.
12) Meditation, transcending the ego, the "I"
13) Lots of technical swing mechanics stuff here for golfers that "other sport" readers can graze on/skim. Extremely detailed instructions on how to make certain golf shots: e.g.: the sweeping draw, the medium iron stop shot, etc., all of which is over my head.
14) On being "ready": pre-tournament practice, getting in an appropriate frame of mind, being rested, etc.
15) A conscious cue, or a "release key": a trigger or cue you choose to "release the golf swing with no conscious effort." Forcing your mind to focus on the present moment only.
16) The book is occasionally repetitive, rehashing certain ideas, minimizing emotional swings for example.
17) On throwing more (and more and more) work and effort at something, and how it can be counterproductive. Overpreparing, overworking, being mentally fatigued and not relaxed, rested and free.
18) Finally, it's intriguing to think about the "ecosystem" that surrounds someone like Tiger Woods. There's obviously media, fans, equipment sales, sports journalists who cover him, writers (like this author) who have very limited or no contact with him, but who feel like they can write about him, using his likeness and name in their books. There's an entire ecosystem feeding off of him.