Chapter 4
Mental Toughness
THE NEW RULES GET TO THE “CORE” OF
MENTAL TOUGHNESS, NOT SURFACE, QUICK FIXES.
With Dr. Rick Jensen

I’m not formally educated as a sports psychologist and don’t have a Ph.D., but my experiences as a coach and teacher and the extensive study I have put into this topic have made me a “practical” sports psychologist. The advice on the mental side I got early on, and the books and articles I read tried to fix a surface issue. If I were frustrated and angry, the article said to “smile” more. A certain number of waggles and breaths would calm me down. Focusing solely on the target would somehow make the ball magically go there. When this didn’t work I came to the conclusion that I must be mentally scarred and weak.  These on-the-surface, Band-aid fixes temporarily help the golfer but don’t get to the root issues.

An Old Rules sports psychologist or teacher, in these cases, is working on the effects, not the causes. Giving golfers the advice to look at the smallest possible target when their skill level doesn’t give them the ability to hit it there is not only bad advice, it is harmful advice.
Telling a person to simply think positive is also trying to fix what shows up on the outside
when there are internal elements that would make a fundamental difference. I tried these
mental “tips” when I was trying to compete at a high level, and they didn’t work very well.
I sought out and found more concrete answers. Dr. Rick Jensen is one of the influences
I found, and he has agreed to partner with me on this chapter. This chapter is written to give you an overview of how we believe Mental Toughness and Essential Skills arBelow you will find an outline of the New Rules of “Core” Mental Toughness. I will give
you some key ideas that relate to overall mental and emotional skills and Rick will give his
ideas that relate specifically to performing on the golf course. We will be making a DVD
with the details of this program form in the near future.

Watch Charlie King’s video on Core Mental Toughness

Download the full e-book the New Rules of Golf Instruction (no email or registration required)