Recently I sat with the UCLA men’s team, with
whom I work, and we watched some Ryder Cup
action during a break in the tournament in
which the Bruins were participating. As we
watched and discussed the action, something
struck me that we chatted about. During the
Friday morning foursome, which is a two-man
team, played in alternate shot format, Kenny
Perry and Jim Furyk were playing as a team
representing the United States. On one hole,
Perry snapped his drive into a hazard, and
the two players walked down to look at their
situation. What struck me was this- when
watching Perry, he was obviously agitated and
frustrated and angry about the situation.
When watching Furyk, who was the person to
hit next, he was focused and calm and on
task. This was, of course, because Furyk did
not hit it into the bad situation and took no
ownership of it, and he was completely
absorbed in how to make an intelligent
decision and how to execute a quality shot-
given the circumstance.
It occurred to me how incredible it would be
if every golfer, when faced with a difficult
situation, chose to adopt an “alternate shot
mentality”. The essence of Furyk’s response
was that he didn’t really care how the ball
got to be where it was. He was solely
interested in what to do with the opportunity
that was in front of him. This is precisely
the kind of response that is the best
response for every golfer who is in any kind
of situation on the golf course. It’s not
relevant how the ball ended up where it is.
The only thing that is of concern is what
happens next. For the vast majority of
players, the fact that they hit a poor shot
or hit a phenomenal shot to a specific place
has a tendency to be a distraction away from
the place where they want their full
attention- on this shot, right here, right
now.
See if you can work toward a detachment from
the “how did the ball get here”, and work on
a “now what” approach. This is the essence
of the “one shot at a time” tactic that is
the optimal way to perform well in this game!
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