Fearless Golf: Conquering the Mental Game

forth the simple but important idea that individuals evaluate their own experiences and thinking by reflecting on the outcome of their actions. In simpler terms, human beings have a tendency to get into their own heads. We all possess the “self-beliefs” necessary to exercise a measure of control over our thoughts, feelings, and actions. Through the process of self-reflection, we make sense of our experiences, explore what we think and believe, evaluate our own conduct and that of others, and constantly alter our thinking and behavior in light of those reflections.
    Key to the process of self-reflection are the beliefs we create and develop about our own capability, about what we can and cannot do. These are our
self-efficacy
beliefs, which psychologists formally define as
the beliefs that people hold about their capability to organize and execute the courses of action required to manage specific situations
. Put more simply, self-efficacy is belief in our ability to succeed. That’s the very essence of confidence.
    Self-efficacy powerfully influences accomplishment. I know I can back out of my driveway without crashing my car, so I generally am able to do so without incident. I do not know that I can drive a stock car around the banked oval at Daytona, so I do not try. Each belief impacts the ability to act. I believe golfers’ levels of motivation, emotion, and action are based more on
what they believe
than on
what is objectively true
. You will see, and you will hear in their own words, how many golfers are convinced that the success they attained was due more to the beliefs they held about their capabilities than to the skills they possessed, for
their self-efficacy beliefs helped determine what they did with the knowledge and skills they possessed
.
    This relationship between confidence and performance helps explain why the success that a golfer attains is sometimes highly inconsistent with his actual capabilities, and why two golfers may differ widely in their level of success even when they have similar skills. Recall my earlier observation that, at the very highest levels of athletic performance, athletes simply do not differ markedly in their skills. We all know about highly skilled and talented golfers who suffer frequent (and sometimes debilitating) bouts of self-doubt about capabilities they clearly possess. We have also met golfers who are quite confident about what they can accomplish despite possessing a relatively modest repertoire of skills.

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    tiger’s real opponent

    There have been many times when great players seem to be lapping the field on their way to victory. Jose Maria Olazabal once won the World Series of Golf by twelve shots. Johnny Miller won the Phoenix Open by fourteen shots in 1975. Jack Nicklaus twice has won major titles by seven or more shots, including a nine-stroke win in the 1965 Masters. And of course, Tiger Woods has done it several times in his career, most memorably at the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, where he finished fifteen shots ahead of his nearest pursuer. In these instances, it should be clear that these players at some point weren’t overly concerned with their opponents anymore. Truth is, they probably never were. They know worrying about your opponents is a distraction. Focusing on things outside of your control (the weather, a bad bounce, your scores on future holes, etc.) is not a recipe for success. Tiger seemed to know that the key is to control the things you can control. His words from a recent interview are a perfect example of the mentality of the mastery golfer.

    When you get the top players in the world playing, it doesn’t always mean that we’re all going to be down the stretch with a chance to win, going head-to-head. In theory, it should get your juices flowing a little bit more, but the more you think about it, I’ve just got to go out and play my own game. They are going to do the same thing; they’re not really going to worry about who is playing. I am just playing my own game, whether I am out of it or not, the game doesn’t change. I still go out there and hit my shots. I’ve got to shoot the best score I possibly can that day. Hopefully, it will be good enough to win. Whether I am in the lead, or chasing, or I’m completely out of it, I always want to go out there and shoot a good round.
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    Psychologists contend that self-efficacy beliefs provide the foundation for human motivation, well-being, and personal