NOT ROTELLA'S BEST

by Doug McAllister

There are certainly a lot of golf instruction books out there. No doubt you've seen many and read some. Have to be careful with these. Many are pathetic rags that will do more to screw up your swing as improve it. Recently, though, I have begun to read books by Dr. Bob Rotella, a sports psychologist that has worked with some of golf's biggest names. One of the things that I like about Rotella is that he does nothing by way of swing instruction. His game is all about confidence and, for the most part, his instruction has been pretty good.

I first became acquainted with Bob Rotella, as many others have, through his book, GOLF IS NOT A GAME OF PERFECT (hereafter, just PERFECT). So well written, so straightforward and so applicable, PERFECT spoke to all of the mental concerns that I have with my golf game.

So, naturally, it made perfect sense to get Rotella's newest book, YOUR 15TH CLUB: THE INNER SECRET TO GREAT GOLF, especially since Rotella had positioned this book as a companion volume to, PERFECT, the landmark work that so many had read and loved.

At first, 15TH CLUB seemed to be everything that I hoped it would be. Aside from a few sections where Rotella seems to get too enamored with his own psychology, the book seemed to flow and read just as well as PERFECT.

But, just when things seemed to reach the denouement promised in the title, namely revealing the SECRET TO GREAT GOLF, Rotella completely falls off the planet. Enter Padraig Harrington and Rotella's previously unknown position as President of the Padraig Harrington Fan Club! Two tedious, inexplicable chapters emerge wherein Rotella simply sings the praises of Paddy without really relating anything to the abandoned reader. Yes, the first of the chapters, titled "What I Learned from Padraig Harrington," seems to promise the reader a chance to learn some important mental tips from the Irish champion but then becomes Rotella's regurgitation of how Paddy played this tournament or that one.

But as I finished wading through the mess, the next chapter title seemed to offer some hope. Titled "Putting it All Together," this final chapter would surely get things back on track and, at long last, reveal the secret to great golf promised by the author. I couldn't have been more wrong. The final chapter was nothing more than Padraig Harrington - Part Deux!

Oh! One last thing. If you want to get the Yips, the neurological putting problem that plagues many of the game's best, simply read 15TH CLUB's Chapter 13: Nip the Yips. Nothing that I have ever read will put the wrong putting thoughts into your head more than this well-meant but surpassingly misguided chapter!

Stick with Rotella's excellent book, GOLF IS NOT A GAME OF PERFECT, and forget this one.

And remember...

Hit 'em long and straight!