If you’ve ever talked yourself out of choosing the right club or agonized over whether to try to muscle it over a water hazard, Golf Is Not a Game of Perfect is here to help. In this book, professional golf coach and psychologist Bob Rotella provides a framework for improving the mental side of your golf game. Rotella argues that controlling your thoughts, cultivating confidence, and strategizing effectively can have a bigger impact on your game than making changes to your swing.

In this guide, we’ll detail Rotella’s techniques for choosing the right thoughts, goals, and shots. Alongside Rotella’s recommendations, we’ll include the psychological context that informs Rotella’s approach, as well as compare and contrast his advice with other techniques from coaching and sports psychology.