WINNING THE MIND GAME

It already has been a tough hole. First, the ball found its way into the sand trap. Then, it failed to clear the water on a subsequent shot.

Finally, with the ball safely on the green, still some 12 feet from the hole, a seemingly makeable putt suddenly seems impossible. Sweat pours from the brow. The grip on the putter could strangle someone.

Sure enough, the ball skitters past the cup, and the putter goes flying in a fit of range.

Dr. Kevin Roby understands. And he's here to help.

Roby, a longtime psychologist who spends the majority of his time attending to patients at Rawson-Neal State Psychiatric Hospital near the College of Southern Nevada Charleston Campus, also serves as a golf psychologist. No, he can't turn you into a PGA Tour player. But he claims he can help golfers have more fun while learning how to knock a couple of strokes off their game.

"What I try to do is give them the knowledge of new mental skills," Roby said. "Once I do that, it's up to them to perfect them."

Roby, 53, admits he's no scratch golfer. He plays twice a week. But he loves the game, and while he never will offer advice on how to correct a hitch in one's swing, he is more than willing to talk about the cerebral side of golf. He does seminars on the subject a couple of times a year through UNLV in addition to his work with individual clients.

"To me, the mental part of golf is as important as the physical part. It takes a lot of work to develop the mental part of one's game,'' Roby said. ''Not working on your mental game is like leaving everything from your 7-iron to your putter at home. You can't play as well without them."

Roby has been a psychologist for 30 years. He took up golf 20 years ago and thought he could combine his newfound passion with his vocation.

"I thought I could help people overcome their fears and improve their game and make it a more pleasurable experience," Roby said.

Roby uses positive reinforcement to help his clients. He wants them to believe they're going to put the ball in the hole, even if it looks hopeless. He wants them to remember the good shots they made and store them in their memory so when a similar situation presents itself, they can go back and recall what was done right.

"Confidence is so critical to playing well," Roby said. "If you believe you can do something, chances are you'll be successful. Much of what I teach you can apply in your everyday life."

He also tries to get his clients not to overanalyze the situation.

"There's so much crap that goes on in our heads," Roby said. "The more you dwell on things, the more complicated things become. Suddenly, you're focused on the outcome rather than the swing.

"I want them to focus on a small-sized appropriate, specific target. You're on the course and you see the water, the sand traps, the green. I try to get them to envision there's a huge flashlight and you're following that beam and you're narrowing it down to where all you see is that target."

Roby said the brain is capable of overcoming obstacles, provided someone is in the right frame of mind.

"What people don't know is that you always get to choose how you think," Roby said. "You can choose to think positive, even if you're not playing well."

Roby has worked with golfers as young as 12 years old. He has spent time with the Southern Utah University men's golf team. He doesn't have any PGA Tour players as clients, but he has spent the last 18 months working with Brett Kodama, who has spent some time playing the Butch Harmon Tour in Las Vegas.

"I was doing OK, but not great," Kodama said. "I figured I needed someone to help me play better. I thought I needed to improve the mental part of my game."

Kodama, 26, said working with Roby has made him a better golfer.

"My mind doesn't seem to wander as much," he said. "He's gotten me focused on the process of the shot instead of the end result, and it's helped me a lot."

Roby said by not worrying about the end game, a golfer can overcome fears.

"If you can narrow your focus, suddenly you don't see the water, you don't worry about the sand," he said. "It takes a lot of work. You're not going to change everything in a couple of hours. But over time, if you stay with it, it works."

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913.