November 24, 2007 (Portions of this article originally appeared in In Business Las Vegas)--"Golf is 90% mental; the other 10% is mental," legendary instructor Jim Flick once said. It's a funny line and one that emphasizes the mental challenges that come with playing golf. But one local guy, Dr. Edward Klein, is here to help us all. The first thing that you see when Klein walks up is the championship ring he earned with the Tampa Lightning when the team won the Stanley Cup in 2004. It seemingly shines as he walks, and could be taken as a monument to the success that can happen when athletes and/or teams utilize a sports psychologist. Klein, who recently moved to Las Vegas from Florida to be closer to family, has a long history of working with top level athletes in many sports including hockey, baseball, figure skating, and yes, golf. He received his MD from the University of Louisville Medical School and then served his psychiatric residency at the NYU Bellevue Hospital Center before a long and successful career in private practice. For about the last 20 years he has been working solely in the athletic arena. And now is very interested in helping Las Vegas golfers play Las Vegas golf courses better.

“I enjoy working with athletes to help improve their performance,” says Klein. “Basically, what I coach is visualization and imagery to enhance performance.”

Many of you reading this might have a pre-shot routine that you go through before you make a swing on the golf course. Personally, I stand behind the ball, take three steps to get in position, eye the target, and then swing. But after speaking with Klein, I will be adding a “trigger” to that pre-shot routine to fine tune the ritual.

“Every great athlete I know has a routine, and a trigger starts the routine,” says Klein. “It could be touching the brim of the cap, taking a deep breath, tapping home plate, whatever it is, the trigger signals to the athlete that it is now time to perform. The trigger helps with confidence, focus and relaxation.”

What Klein specializes in is creating positive mental images that help an athlete perform at the highest levels. But he stresses that not only is it important to visualize for success, but you have to visualize the correct images with the proper techniques. That’s why Klein will not only work with an athlete but many times also with coaches to ensure the proper techniques are being visualized. “If you put garbage in, you will get garbage out,” says Klein.

“We want the athlete to make a mental imprint or what I like to call a mental memory, and to visualize success,” says Klein. “When an athlete—or anyone—is performing, we don’t want them thinking about results, we want them thinking about execution. And the more comfortable people are in tense situations, the more focused on the process they will be. Visualization, no doubt, helps.”

Since moving to Las Vegas, Klein has continued working with many of the same athletes from his past, but he also started working with the UNLV Rebels mens and womens basketball teams. Due to patient/doctor privilege he declined to name the players, but the players on the mens team were a major part of the Rebels run to the NCAA sweet 16 last season. He says they went through the visualization process and it had a dramatic, positive effect.

In professional golf, nearly every good player out there uses someone to help them master the mental part of the game. It’s not exactly a new fad, but just recently it really came into vogue. “When I started on the PGA Tour in 1984, if you said you were working with a sports psychologist, people thought you were kind of weird,” says PGA Tour veteran Brad Faxon. “Now if you don’t, you are kind of weird.”

Klein says the results speak for themselves. “It has been shown that athletes who are able to visualize success have a much better chance to reach their desired performance in actual competition,” says Klein.

Golf world challenge: Klein is expanding his practice to include everyday golfers, and he believes he can help improve your game. He lists three objectives when deciding what to visualize. 1. Determine with the athlete and/or coach what to visualize. 2. Develop a trigger for the athlete that will increase focus and concentration. 3. Ask the athlete to see themselves successfully completing their chosen visualization.

Klein can be reached by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it if you are interested in envisioning your success. Klein is also interested in working with Las Vegas PGA of America pros to improve the games of their students.