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Golf Flow
Because of the level of precision required for excellence, combined with its sensitivity to a golfers’ psychological state, golf is the most mental of all games. Thus a strong mental game is like having an extra club in your bag, as clear thinking translates directly to your scorecard. The principles in Golf Flow have enabled Dr. Gio Valiante, the PGA Tour’s most prolific performance consultant, to coach his players to over 50 professional wins in the past decade. Golf Flow will help you harness your mind and focus your thoughts so you can enter the elusive zone – known in psychological circles as a flow state – in which time slows down, awareness increases, focus intensifies, and golf becomes effortless. PGA Tour champions Matt Kuchar, Justin Rose, Camilo Villegas, Vijay Singh and many other pros, as well as amateur golfers around the world, have benefitted from developing their Golf Flow tools with the help of Dr. Valiante. Actual accounts of conquering mental obstacles by adopting a confident and clear mind-set can be found throughout the book.
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
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175 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 13, 2015
Golf Flow brings a focus on the mental side of golf, offering good advice on maintaining a positive, constructive attitude on the course. Valiante provides a great deal of current research to back up his advice. He also gives readers ways to practice those mental states. However, much of it feels very “guru-ish” at times – a lot of lofty ideas without much structure. These ideas may be very difficult for amateurs to grasp, let alone put into practice.
Probably the best parts of Golf Flow are the sections written by current top PGA pros who recount how finding their “mental flow” allowed them to play their best at critical times. Valiante has a hefty pedigree working with some of the most successful Tour pros playing. And his advice is certainly one more asset for the elite to make it from great to champion. The trouble is that it is presented from an elite perspective while most consumers of golf self-help books are beginners and hackers looking to find a way to shave some strokes in a game where they pay to play – not get paid to play.
Golf Flow may give the high-level, competitive golfer another tool to take their game to a higher level. However, most amateurs are not going to have the skillset or understanding of the game to get a great deal of use out of this book. The professional insights are interesting and there are a few nuggets of wisdom contained in Golf Flow, but there are many far more useful golf learning books on the market for the 95% of amateurs looking to play better. Golf Flow would not be my first choice for them.
Probably the best parts of Golf Flow are the sections written by current top PGA pros who recount how finding their “mental flow” allowed them to play their best at critical times. Valiante has a hefty pedigree working with some of the most successful Tour pros playing. And his advice is certainly one more asset for the elite to make it from great to champion. The trouble is that it is presented from an elite perspective while most consumers of golf self-help books are beginners and hackers looking to find a way to shave some strokes in a game where they pay to play – not get paid to play.
Golf Flow may give the high-level, competitive golfer another tool to take their game to a higher level. However, most amateurs are not going to have the skillset or understanding of the game to get a great deal of use out of this book. The professional insights are interesting and there are a few nuggets of wisdom contained in Golf Flow, but there are many far more useful golf learning books on the market for the 95% of amateurs looking to play better. Golf Flow would not be my first choice for them.
September 13, 2020
In Tin Cup, one of the best golf movies of all time, there is a wonderful scene in which also-ran professional golfer Roy “Tin Cup” McAvoy is in session with Dr. Molly Griswold, a beautiful psychologist to whom he is very much attracted. After he describes the “inner demons” that haunt his golf game in overly grandiose and metaphorical terms, Dr. Griswold responds: “Roy, Roy, Roy, you don’t have inner demons. What you have is inner crapola, inner debris...garbage…loose wires…horseshit in staggering amounts.”
Helping rid us of our own inner crapola is just what Gio Valiante, mental coach to many prominent PGA Tour professionals, attempts to do in Golf Flow. The state of flow, which the author defines as “…the sense of effortless action [people] feel in moments that stand out as the best in their lives,” is alternately described in more euphemistic terms as being when we find ourselves “in the zone,” “locked in,” or even “en fuego.” Valiante concedes that golfers cannot consciously will themselves into a flow state, but they can prepare both mentally and physically to make “generating flow” more likely to occur. The book offers several general testimonials and specific recommendations aimed at reaching that goal.
Unfortunately, I did not find this to be a wholly successful effort. For me, the main problem is that Valiante spent so much time telling us about—and endlessly quoting—the professional golfers he coaches that there was very little information which could be applied directly to those of us who play the game on a purely recreational basis. In fact, I only really found the final ten chapters comprising the last third of the book to be useful. At around 220 pages, it is by no means a lengthy work, but it still felt bloated and redundant; it could easily be condensed to around 70-80 pages without losing any substantive content. Beyond that, the book contains a number of inconsistencies (e.g., Fred Couples did not win the Masters twice, the Players Championship has not been held at Sawgrass Country Club for more than 30 years) and pretensions (e.g., the author consistently takes credit for “his” golfers’ successes, all references to distance are expressed in yards and meters) that distract greatly from the main message.
Still, despite its myriad flaws Golf Flow does contain some useful thoughts and concepts. I particularly liked Valiante’s emphasis on developing a mastery golf mindset—as distinct from an egocentric mindset—in which one focuses on internal measures of success (e.g., what improvements were achieved) rather than external ones (e.g., the score at the end of the round). Also, the chapters on purposeful practice, crafting a positive environment, and time management principles are likely to be helpful. So, although its many shortcomings prevent me from offering an unqualified recommendation, this book contains just enough guidance for clearing out the inner debris of the average golfer to merit a quick read.
Helping rid us of our own inner crapola is just what Gio Valiante, mental coach to many prominent PGA Tour professionals, attempts to do in Golf Flow. The state of flow, which the author defines as “…the sense of effortless action [people] feel in moments that stand out as the best in their lives,” is alternately described in more euphemistic terms as being when we find ourselves “in the zone,” “locked in,” or even “en fuego.” Valiante concedes that golfers cannot consciously will themselves into a flow state, but they can prepare both mentally and physically to make “generating flow” more likely to occur. The book offers several general testimonials and specific recommendations aimed at reaching that goal.
Unfortunately, I did not find this to be a wholly successful effort. For me, the main problem is that Valiante spent so much time telling us about—and endlessly quoting—the professional golfers he coaches that there was very little information which could be applied directly to those of us who play the game on a purely recreational basis. In fact, I only really found the final ten chapters comprising the last third of the book to be useful. At around 220 pages, it is by no means a lengthy work, but it still felt bloated and redundant; it could easily be condensed to around 70-80 pages without losing any substantive content. Beyond that, the book contains a number of inconsistencies (e.g., Fred Couples did not win the Masters twice, the Players Championship has not been held at Sawgrass Country Club for more than 30 years) and pretensions (e.g., the author consistently takes credit for “his” golfers’ successes, all references to distance are expressed in yards and meters) that distract greatly from the main message.
Still, despite its myriad flaws Golf Flow does contain some useful thoughts and concepts. I particularly liked Valiante’s emphasis on developing a mastery golf mindset—as distinct from an egocentric mindset—in which one focuses on internal measures of success (e.g., what improvements were achieved) rather than external ones (e.g., the score at the end of the round). Also, the chapters on purposeful practice, crafting a positive environment, and time management principles are likely to be helpful. So, although its many shortcomings prevent me from offering an unqualified recommendation, this book contains just enough guidance for clearing out the inner debris of the average golfer to merit a quick read.
July 28, 2013
I won this book through First Reads. It's a good, general self-help book that takes you through the basics of maintaining a healthy attitude toward yourself and the game of golf. Hardly any of the lessons are specific to golf, though there are many illustrative anecdotes that feature PGA Tour golfers. The author has a PhD and experience teaching and consulting on the mental aspects of sports, so most of the psychological research cited comes from reputable sources. There are, however, a few unexplained or unclear graphs/charts; I got the impression that these were thrown in to make the book appear more "scientific".
August 27, 2016
A quick supplement to your practice, Valiante really helps you with memorable pointers to help you focus and employ your confidence in you game! I would definitely recommend.
April 25, 2016
Got this book from a Goodreads Giveaway :)
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews