Fearless Golf: Conquering the Mental Game

unpredictable, and, although they cannot control the unpredictable, they react the same way each time: with increased effort, determination, and passion for playing. Mastery golfers are neither swayed by praise nor bothered by criticism. They know full well that approval is fleeting and people are fickle. Those who raved about you on Saturday may come to possess such high expectations that they will be disapproving on Sunday. And so, mastery golfers are not influenced by how often others tell them they are good or they are bad because, quite frankly, they do not play for others. They play to achieve goals they have set for themselves, and they use only those self-set standards to measure their improvement. Mastery golfers care about their games, and not about what others have to say about their games. They are their own fan club and their own best critic, and they play golf with a quiet mind, focusing only on the things within their control. For mastery golfers, playing golf—whether in a tournament, competition, weekend outing, company event, or family get-together—is not a means to an end. Playing golf is an end in itself.

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    mastery drill: the default answer

    As we’ve said, mastery golfers are complex thinkers with a simple focus. One key to developing a simple focus is to stubbornly refuse to let yourself think about anything circumstantial. Ultimately, there is no benefit to scoreboard watching because scoreboard watching often serves no purpose other than to distract us from the singular, target-oriented process that breeds success.

    Therefore, the mastery golfer should be able to answer any dilemma, any difficult situation, with a three-word answer. Shout it, tattoo it to your forearm, but remember it:
What’s my target?

    Here’s a drill: As you play a practice round, have a friend periodically ask you what you are thinking. That question all by itself should immediately prompt you to ask yourself, “What’s my target?”

    Consider the following scenarios. As varied and complex as they are, each has the same answer.

    If you birdie the first three holes, what do you ask yourself on the fourth tee?

    A. What’s my target?

    If you shoot 42 on the front nine and are trying to break 90 for the first time, what do you ask yourself on the tenth tee?

    A. What’s my target?

    If you’ve bogeyed the first three holes on the back nine and then double-bogeyed the next three, what are you thinking on the sixteenth tee?

    A. What’s my target?
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    It is easy to understand how to apply the ideal mastery orientation to tournament golf. But what of those of us who will never play tournaments? Does mastery golf have an application? Certainly it does. In fact, it makes fundamental improvement possible regardless of the skill level. A mastery approach does not necessarily require a focus on shooting a particular score at the start of the day; instead it requires an exacting focus on hitting a particular shot with a particular routine at a particular target as often as it takes to hole out eighteen times.

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    herman edwards and the power of honesty

    As we’ve discussed, perhaps fear’s most sinister quality is that it can be largely irrational. It overtakes us because we lose the ability to logically focus on the object of the game. We worry about a hundred different things, except for the principal challenge of the exercise. Sometimes we forget that the object of the game of golf is not to make pretty swings or even to hit fairways and greens. The object of the game is to get the ball in the hole. That sort of frankness gets lost in the minor hysteria that can freeze a system that operates in fear, what Johnny Miller has sometimes referred to as Stage 3 Choking.

    When I think about this sort of situation, I’m reminded of what football coach Herman Edwards once said to a less than clear-thinking member of the New York media after his Jets had gotten off to a 2 and 5 start. With the team on the verge of being eliminated from playoff contention, the reporter wondered if his team might be giving up. Edwards was frustrated and tense, but he hadn’t lost focus. He also experienced the restorative power of a simple, undeniable truth. How Edwards responded to the question of whether his team was on the verge of quitting motivated his players to a strong finish and an unexpected AFC East championship.

    Oh, no, they’re not going to do that, no. It’s inexcusable. It’s called being a professional.