Those who follow my writing will know that I
spend the first week of every December at PGA
Tour Q-school Final Stage where I work and
consult with the players who are vying for
their PGA Tour card. This experience, as I’ve
written before, is probably among the most
stressful in all of competitive athletics.
Each of these men (and women at LPGA Q-School)
have one week to play well enough to earn a
spot on the Tour- and take advantage of all
the opportunities that come with that Tour
card. There are no guaranteed contracts in
this sport- unlike so many other major sports-
and thus these men and women know that they
will have an opportunity to get paid well next
year if they play well this week. They also
know that they will have decidedly fewer
opportunities for the entire year if they
don’t play well. As if this weren’t stressful
enough, the level of play at Q-School
continues to get better and better, and the
men and women on the course know that if they
don’t play high quality golf, there are plenty
of players on the course who will.
All of this leads to my point for this month’s
column. One of the things that many of my
colleagues write and talk about
is “eliminating fear” and “playing
fearlessly”. As with so many things in the
world of sport psychology and mental training,
this notion is very desirable and is the
optimal- and is largely unrealistic for nearly
every player in the world. Every player at Q-
School played with some fear- I guarantee it!
Listen to their interviews, read their quotes,
study their body language; these players feel
fear from time to time on the course. What we
want to do is reduce the effect that our
fearful thinking has on our performance.
This, I feel, is a more realistic and
productive approach to mental training and
helps to create an internal environment that
can assist the player in hitting quality golf
shots.
The methods that the players use are varied,
but one thing is consistent- the skills
require practice and repetitions in order to
be able to utilize them when in situations in
which players typically respond with fear:
- Recollecting previous successes in
similar circumstances
- Taking big breaths before every
shot
- Sticking to a specific and thorough
pre-shot routine
- Being aware of negative or intrusive
thoughts and shifting attention to desired
outcomes
- Paying attention to tempo and grip
pressure
- Walking more slowly and paying
attention to other things between shots
(“Taking a mental vacation”)
- Etc.
What is my point in all of this? Be prepared
to feel scared and worried and anxious and
fearful when in competitive golf situations -
every player in the world feels some of this.
Be prepared to have a coping strategy to deal
with this fear and practice it regularly so
that you have some tools to use when the
inevitable occurs. Ultimately, what you want
to get to is a place where you feel the fear
and hit great shots anyway!
It is amazing to me how my phone rings off the
hook in the days immediately following Q-
school as the professionals who did not
perform well in their qualifiers realize the
importance and benefit of having good mental
strategies and skills built. I would strongly
encourage any competitive golfer to learn from
the mistakes of these players- namely to make
sure and engage in some specific process of
mental game development. Starting this work
after the tournament is over is fine for the
next tournament or the next year, but it is
unfortunate that it takes suffering some pain
in order for some to recognize the benefit of
mental skills training!
|
Back to The Mental Game
