Future Collegians World Tour
FCWT Mental Game Seminar # 3 © Copyright 2009 Dr. Bob Winters “Make Every Shot Count!” Note: This is the 3rd article in a series that is aimed at getting you ready to play in the national tournament. In this article, Dr. Bob explains the value of always giving your best into each shot, no matter how you stand in relation to score. Question: “Dr. Bob, when I am in a tournament and I am not doing well, I become frustrated and impatient. I start to lose my focus and more importantly, my enthusiasm for playing the game. I sometimes feel that I just want to give up if I can’t win or do well. It isn’t that I actually do, but it feels that way. I just don’t give it my best. Do you have any suggestions that might help me?” Christopher W. Ashland, Ohio Dr. Bob’s Answer: Christopher, what you are experiencing is a common occurrence for many young golfers. Whenever junior golfers start to play poorly or when their results don’t match their expectations about how they want to play, they become frustrated, disappointed, and many times depressed…even angry. What usually happens is that they become despondent and lose energy and focus. They almost appear as if they are just “going through the motions.” They may say that they are going ahead and doing their routines, but it is more of a robot-like process without any desire or thought. They are playing with a detached and distorted mindset in what I call the “whatever” focus. But what is really happening is that these individuals have thrown in the towel. They are giving up. This process is what we call in sport psychology as “tanking” or “playing out the string”. We have all seen these golfers and many of us have been this golfer! (You know who you are… and you know what I am talking about): You get mad, you start to make excuses, you say things like “I don’t want to be here, this course isn’t suited for my game, I am not getting any of the breaks…everyone else is getting better lies and making putts”. Or how about these: “It just isn’t my day today” or “I really don’t care if I play well today or not, it’s no big deal!” Have you uttered any of these? If you have, you are not alone. Literally every golfer at one time or another has felt this way. No one is immune from the effects of the challenging nature of golf. Physically, these players are easy to spot. You see them with their heads down, dragging their bag and walking slowly to their next shot without any spring in their step or gleam in their eye. For all practical purposes, these players are toast. They are done, finished, and kaput! But the truth remains: if you think and act like this, you aren’t even giving yourself a chance to see how good you can be because you are losing interest into what you are doing! So many junior golfers never find out how good they can be because if things don’t go their way early, they feel they have “damaged” their round and that they will be unable to turn it around and move forward in a positive direction. If left unchecked, this scenario takes about three or four holes to rectify itself and before long; these players have nonchalantly played themselves right out of the hunt! Do this enough times in competition and you become “a learned weakling”, that is, you have created a loser’s mindset for yourself and you are missing cuts and losing confidence in a hurry. You may be saying to yourself, “Ok, I get it, I know that saying and feeling these things hurt me, but how do I turn it around? What is the secret to really staying in the hunt when things aren’t going so well?” For the answer we can turn to the Tiger as our role model. Tiger Woods, that is. Whenever I am asked the basic secret to Tiger Wood’s success, the answer is always the same: A true champion such as Tiger puts in the blood, sweat and tears to go after his dream every day, on every shot, no matter whether he is being successful at that point in time or not. No matter what the tournament situation or score that he is posting, Tiger is always making each shot his very best….from the start to the finish. Tiger is always striving to make the lowest number on each hole that he plays. Each shot is given the same great focus for proper execution. Tiger plays to make every shot that he steps into count for something! By thinking and acting in this manner, Tiger has created a consistent mindset that promotes persistence, determination and ultimately success. Failure is not an option to Tiger and for him to think differently or accept mediocrity based on a weak emotional constitution is not consistent to his performance philosophy. There really is no other way for him to think! That is why every player who I have coached as a junior player who went on to make it to the top of the PGA and LPGA Tours were taught and realized at an early age that the quality of their effort is a day to day philosophy that is a roadmap to their eventual success. You play to win and refuse to lose…or at least refuse to put in a careless or weak effort! The most recent example of a tour player who never gave up when things didn’t go his way is best exhibited by Jerry Kelly. Jerry just recently won the 2009 Zurich Golf Classic in New Orleans with a gutty performance of hanging in there for every shot and not giving up. A major factor was his mindset going into the final round that helped him get through the agonizing hours before his tee time. Jerry went out to dinner before the final round with a close friend, former Milwaukee Buck’s coach, George Karl, and they spoke of Jerry’s competitive nature. Coach Karl told Jerry that he had an edge over the other players because he was simply tougher in spirit than the other players. He reinforced the fact that Jerry was a former hockey player and that no one was as tough as he was. Playing in the final round during Sunday’s fireworks, Jerry remembered Coach Karl’s words to “never put your head down when things are going bad, never give up…keep moving forward”. These motivating and inspirational words kept Jerry moving through the final round and helped him find the winner’s circle for the first time in seven years. All based on keeping his head up, doing his best on every shot, and not giving into a weak mentality and moving forward! What’s great about this true story is that all great golfers understand that the road to the winner’s circle is filled with great shots, holed putts and remarkable comebacks. But they also realize that the road to success is about coping with failure, squandered opportunities and missed putts. But by adhering to a strategy of giving a consistent effort into every shot, every day and in every tournament, their chances of victory become greatly enhanced. So, the next time you go play in an event, remember that the greatest golfers keep their heads up, use their self talk to keep them hanging tough and walk with a stride that suggests: I can do this! Remember too, that it is easy for anyone to walk and talk like a champion when you are playing well, but it is a true champion who can still walk and act like a champion when you are playing like a chump! Keep your thoughts positive and your head held high and keep moving forward one-shot-at-time. Good things will await you at the end! May you always make every shot count! Dr. Bob Winters About Dr. Bob Winters Dr. Bob Winters is an internationally renowned Sport Psychologist and is located in Orlando, Florida at the David Leadbetter World Teaching Headquarters in Champions Gate, Florida. He is the author of several books and is considered a leading authority on sport psychology and confidence. He is the author of several books and he has players on every major tour around the globe. If you would like to consult with Dr. Winters or learn more about Dr. Bob, please visit his website at: www.drbobwinters.com or email him at drbob@drbobwinters.com. Or call him at his office of 407-264-4222.
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Dr. Bob Winters