Golf Beneath the Surface: The New Science of Golf Psychology

An essential resource for golfers who want to play a smarter, more fulfilling game on the green

For as long as golf has existed, the game’s greatest players and instructors have lauded the importance of mental resilience. However, while golfing equipment and course strategy have evolved over time, the field of golf psychology has not kept pace. Many outdated, unscientific notions remain widespread, despite the fact that they actually lead to repetitive, harmful patterns that impair golfer gameplay and create mental barriers to success.

In Golf Beneath the Surface, performance consultant Dr. Raymond Prior expertly debunks these “surface-level” psychology myths and explains psychological predictors that encourage long-term growth and skillful performance under pressure. Backed by rigorously researched neuroscience and psychology, and drawing on years of experience working with some of the world’s best players, Dr. Prior shares fresh, practical insights into how golfers think, train, and play, both on and off the course. With a customizable experience that places the reader’s own psychology front and center, this book breaks down:

how the brain’s design impacts their performance

how to interact with their own thoughts and emotions and train awareness for the present moment

how to understand and effectively change unproductive habits

the critical importance of their psychological framework and how to shape beliefs that cultivate and support steady confidence

Accessible and entertaining, Golf Beneath the Surface challenges the status quo and brings a long-overdue update to modern performance psychology.

Raymond Prior, PhD, is a performance consultant known for building personable, knowledgeable, and confidential relationships with his clients. His clients include major champions, world champions, Olympic gold medalists, individual and team national champions, National Coach of the Year Award winners, individual and team Conference Champions, and countless NCAA All-Americans in a variety of sports. Raymond also works with non-sport performers, including Grammy winners, Oscar winners, and Emmy winners performing on stage and screen. As an author and researcher, Raymond has contributed chapters to a variety of performance psychology texts and his research has been published in the Journal of Applied Sport Psychology.