Fearless Golf: Conquering the Mental Game

miss shots, not get beat.

    the shift from mastery to ego

    A pattern that I commonly see is a sort of psychological “shift” in golfers who begin playing golf for love of the game (a mastery orientation), but who subsequently switch to playing for extrinsic factors like bolstering their self-esteem, proving their capabilities to others, or making money (ego orientations). It often happens to junior golfers, especially those from “golf families,” who begin getting recognition and respect from friends, family members, or members at the club because of their golfing ability. It also happens to college golfers who get to wear the prestigious badge of “campus athlete,” and who then begin to stake their self-worth on that title.
    Regardless of
when
it comes, the reason
why
golfers often shift from mastery to ego modes is because, in the world of golf, success often carries countless benefits. The world of golf is structured to draw attention to extrinsic factors, as money, rankings, and placements often determine exemptions, spots on teams, and sponsorships. As golfers begin to receive attention, awards, and accolades for their performances, they often begin to see golf as the vehicle for these rewards and accolades, and before long, praise and recognition become the primary motive for their play. And that is never good, because the mind then has to process competing thoughts.
    As I have stressed, these differing orientations—mastery or ego—are a matter of
degree
. People are always mastery or ego oriented in degrees, and everyone is a little of both. What really matters as regards golf performance is the order in which these orientations fall, and the distance between them.
    There is a cycle of cause and effect in golf in which negative reactions to shots result in lack of focus that leads to more bad shots. Achievement orientations are part of that cycle, and in fact, often kick a mental cycle off. The time to pay attention to achievement orientations is
after
a poor performance, when golfers are coping with failure. Ego-oriented golfers tend to inflict a great deal of pain on themselves after playing poorly. They drive pain deep into their minds, and usually leave the golf course as quickly as possible because they are embarrassed. Consequently, they approach future challenges with fear or panic triggered by questions like, “What if I play badly again?” Golfers who approach competitive golf primarily with a mastery focus, and whose ego orientation is a distant second, may feel a little pressure that naturally comes with social settings, but still be able to attend to the skills on which they have been working. Mastery golfers deal with poor performances by looking to correct the skills and mechanics of the golf swing or thought processes, not the emotions that accompany social shortcomings. As a result, they usually leave the golf course and head for the practice tee to improve their mechanics and refine their skills. They approach future challenges, not with fear or panic, but instead with focus and concentration. Even slight differences in ego orientations are intensified under pressure, and often are at the root of whether someone feels confident and calm or edgy and nervous in competition.

They are able who think they are able.
    —V IRGIL

    I ’ll never forget Brian Kaineg. It was the fall of 1998 and I was a doctoral student at Emory University. Brian and I were playing golf and, bolstered by a book I’d just read on golf and confidence, I said to him, “Brian, you need to play with more confidence. You know you can’t play well if you aren’t confident.”
    Frustrated after a long summer of poor play, Brian looked at me and with an exasperated expression on his face he asked, “How can I be confident when I don’t know where the ball is going?!”
    As I reflected on his frustrated question, I realized that I didn’t have a good answer for him. I went back to the book only to discover that it had no answer either. Consequently, I devoted a considerable portion of my graduate study at Emory to working with some of the best psychologists in the country and attempting to explore the minds of golfers in an effort to answer that question. I believe I have a better answer to Brian’s question now than I did then, and I will spend this chapter providing what I hope you will find to be relevant and practical ideas about that elusive feeling commonly known as
confidence
.
    The word