275: Dr. Gio Valiante: The Mentality of the Best

This week Dr. Gio Valiante comes back on the show to talk about a little bit of everything covering the mental side of not just golf but also your fitness, mentality, strength, and what the best of the best do like the example and bar that greats like Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, and Tiger Woods.

What are the environments they put themselves in and the habits/headspace they go into to continue to perform better and better? We also dive into how to “erase” that haunting bad shot memory out of your head so it doesn’t affect your next shot.

Dr.

Gio Valiante’s Background

* Dr. Gio Valiante is currently a professor at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. He serves as the mental game consultant to the Golf Channel, Golf Digest, and the University of Florida.* Some of his accolades and accomplishments include:* Clients including Justin Rose, Matt Kuchar, Henrik Stenson, Davis Love III, and many others* Sports Psychologist of the Year by The Golf Channel* Top 40 Under 40 to Influence the game of Golf by Golf Magazine* The #2 Sports Psychologist in the world by Golf Digest.* He has worked with many of the game’s top players including Justin Leonard, Chris Dimarco, Chad Campbell, Camilo Villegas, Jack and Gary Nicklaus, Heath Slocum, Franklin Langham, Notah Begay III, Charles Howell III, Billy Andrade, Fred Funk, Tommy Armour III, Matt Kuchar, David Duval, Chris Parra, Lori Rinker, Davis Love III and many, many more.* His groundbreaking research – sponsored by a grant by Rollins College and the Critchfield Foundation – resulted in the 2005 publication of Fearless Golf: Conquering the Mental Game. Fearless Golf was co-published with Golf Digest and Doubleday and has quickly become the new standard in golf psychology.* Endorsed by the game’s top players, Dr. Valiante provides a vision for competitive golf that allows golfers to remain fearless, focused, and committed to each and every shot they hit.

Highlights

from this Episode

* Dr. Gio dives into the changes he has seen in the landscape of golf from the different evolutions in technology and the difference in the athleticism of professionals to the evolution of the psychology of the game.* We talk about his article on the late Kobe Bryant and what qualities a high performer has or needs to have and one or two factors and commonalities between the great athletes spanning all sports. * He also explains where their confidence comes from and how we can build our own confidence up, how to change the environment you find yourself in in regards to your golf game and fitness, and practical ways to change the self-talk like affirmations and find role models.* He goes back to his work on Fearless Golf in Mastery vs. Ego: What some of our biggest fears are out on the golf course and how these fears (such as being judged by our counterparts,) can halt our progress and keep us from playing our best game.* Dr. Gio answers some of your questions like one thing he wishes his golfers could grasp a lot sooner, tips on staying more present during your round, a mental pre-game routine to prepare before you play, and his biggest influences and who has impacted his career the most.

Learn more about Dr. Gio Valiante and his work at:

FearlessGolf.com

Book on Amazon: “...