Dr. Richard Coop is a Professor of Educational Psychology
at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he
is a consultant to all the athletic teams in the area of Mental
Skills Training and Performance Enhancement. In addition,
he has worked with a number of professional golfers on the
PGA, Senior PGA and LPGA Tours. A partial list of these golfers
includes Payne Stewart, Corey Pavin, Ben Crenshaw, Larry Mize,
Jim Gallagher, Jr., Mark O'Meara, Scott Simpson, Steve Pate,
Nick Faldo, Bob Estes, Bob Tway, Gene Littler and Donna Andrews.
Players with whom Dr. Coop has worked have won six British
Opens, four U.S. Opens, four PGA Championships and seven Master's.
Dr. Coop has been a member of the Advisory Board of the Academy
of Golf at the Hills of Lakeway in Austin, Texas and at Grand
Cypress Resort in Orlando, Florida, as well as an instructor
in the Jack Nicklaus Golf Schools at the two academies. He
has also been an instructor in the Golf Advantage Schools
at Pinehurst Country Club in Pinehurst, North Carolina.
Dr. Coop has been a continuing consultant to the PGA in the
area of educating, teaching and playing professionals in the
mental side of golf. Dr. Coop has lectured in a number of
sectional meetings of the PGA and is an instructor in the
PGA sponsored "Playing Schools" for professionals. Additionally,
he has been a continuing consultant to the PGA Tour on the
mental side of golf.
For the past twenty-five years, Dr. Coop has worked with
both amateur and professional players on the psychology of
golf. In 1978, he co-authored with Dr. Gary Wiren a popular
booked entitled, "The New Golf Mind" which discribes the mental
side of golf and how it directly affects each and every individual
player. Dr. Coop also co-authored an audiotape/workbook
with Dr. Robert Rotella. This tape/manual set has been particularly
well received by touring professionals and low handicap amateurs.
In April, 1993 Dr. Coop published his most recent book, "Mind
Over Golf," with MacMillan Publishing. Dr. Coop has also written
articles for Golf Digest on the psychology of golf. In November
1985, he began writing a column for each issue of Golf Illustrated
on the mental side of golf and has published over 55 articles
and columns in this magazine. At the present time, Dr. Coop
is the mental game consultant on the staff of Golf Magazine.
Dr. Coop has spoken to many business organizations over the
years including J.P. Stevens Textiles, AMACO Corporation,
Smithsonian Magazine, Sports Management Institute, Computerland
Corporation, Mass Mutual Company and the Council for Entrepreneurial
Development. He combines the principles of sports psychology
and how the mind works during competition with analogies to
business operations. His specialty is in helping persons in
sports and business to achieve flow state concentration at
higher levels of frequency.
Dr. Coop has also worked with baseball players in both the
American and National leagues football players in the NFL
and basketball players in NBA. Additionally, he has worked
with four NASCAR drivers over the past ten years.
