Valiante, Gio 1971–

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Valiante, Gio 1971–

(Giovanni Valiante)

PERSONAL: Born April 11, 1971, in Naugatuck, CT; son of Fred (an accountant) and Joanne (a nurse practitioner) Valiante. Education: University of Florida, B.A., 1994, M.A., 1995; Emory University, Ph.D., 2001.

ADDRESSES: Office—Rollins College, 1000 Holt Ave., Ste. 2726, Winter Park, FL 32789. E-mail—gvaliante@rollins.edu.

CAREER: Elementary and middle school teacher, 1995–96; instructor with a community education program, 1996; Emory University, Atlanta, GA, instructor; Rollins College, Winter Park, FL, assistant professor. Consultant to Golf Digest, the Golf Channel, and the University of Florida.

MEMBER: American Educational Research Association, Southeastern Psychological Association, Georgia Educational Research Association, National Association for Invitational Education.

AWARDS, HONORS: Florida Educational Research Council grants, 1994; Harold E. Mitzel Award, Helen Dwight Reid Educational Foundation, 1997; National Academy of Education/Spenser Foundation postdoctoral fellow, 1998–99; first place, gender issues category, Southeastern Psychological Association Committee on Equality of Professional Opportunity; Critchfield Foundation, research grant for study of the psychology of pro golfers, 2001.

WRITINGS:

(With Mike Stachura) Fearless Golf: Conquering the Mental Game, Doubleday (New York, NY), 2005.

SIDELIGHTS: Gio Valiante is an educational and sports psychologist who grew up in Naugatuck, Connecticut, excelling at sports, including golf, and becoming president of his senior high school class. Valiante went on to earn a doctorate, and in 2001 he received a grant to travel with the Professional Golfer' Association of America (PGA) Tour to study the mental game of professional golfers. As a consequence, he has become a coach to a number of Tour players. Sports Illustrated writer Chris Lewis noted that "the root of Valiante's appeal to some golfers is the scientific basis of his instruction. Traditionally, golf psychology has been based on the synthesized wisdom of the game's great players…. Valiante is not without mantras—his signature line: Make fearless swings at precise targets—but he also draws on performance-enhancement research in bio-mechanics, neurology and ophthalmology."

Valiante has become a consultant expert on the psychology of golf and is the author, with Mike Sta-chura, of Fearless Golf: Conquering the Mental Game. The book includes anecdotes about great golfers like Ben Hogan and Jack Nicklaus, as well as contemporary top golfers. Valiante writes of the important role that overcoming tension-creating fear plays in perfecting the swing and how various golfers have overcome that fear. Library Journal reviewer Steve Silkunas commented that "Valiante is golf's equivalent of … Dr. Phil," the popular television psychologist. Silkunas concluded that Fearless Golf "is highly readable and offers insight for most golfers."