Fearless Golf: Conquering the Mental Game

can do and put it together in a way that allows me to play my best. Some people don’t get it, they can’t do that because they lose their confidence. And that’s the best thing I’ve taken from my experiences over the years.
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    Every day of our lives we each have the choice to frame situations in a manner that will either empower us and give us a competitive edge or disempower us and put us at a disadvantage. Our confidence depends in large part on our ability to extract the lesson from all experiences, good and bad. People have the ability every day to interpret the things that happen in their lives in a manner that leaves them either deflated or energized; doubtful or hopeful; stymied or empowered. Life always provides a curious mix of success and failure. The more we can frame our setbacks as learning experiences rather than indications that we lack ability, the more motivated and confident we are likely to be. Improvement at anything requires that we strive to do things we are not yet capable of doing, and so framing those experiences positively is critically important.
    Framing is much like a system of belief. It reminds me of the sign I recently saw in front of a church: “Fear paralyzes. Faith mobilizes.” We have no chance of acting positively if our decisions are cloaked in fear; believing in the possibility of a better way, trusting in the hope of expanding our potential makes success the natural result of a repeatable process rather than an accidental and unreliable occurrence.

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    nicklaus and framing

    Few were better at self-motivation and framing in particular than Jack Nicklaus. One of the best examples of Nicklaus framing a crucial moment came at perhaps his greatest win ever, the historic 1986 Masters. In talking about the par-3 twelfth hole at Augusta, Jack recalled that

    The 12th hole at Augusta is one of the great par 3s in championship golf. The key is to aim at the center of the front bunker and choose a club that will get the ball just over that spot. I slightly favor the side where the hole is located. If the flagstick is right, I shoot at the right side of the bunker. If it’s left, I shoot at the left side of the bunker. This hole perennially plays as one of the toughest on the course. When I was in the middle of my run on the second nine in 1986, I birdied nos. 9, 10 and 11 but I bogeyed here. That setback could have gotten me off my game, but I knew I was still in the hunt. I used the bogey to refocus myself down the stretch.

    What a great example of framing! He interpreted a bogey as an incentive to refocus himself rather than as a negative event that could have undermined his confidence, his momentum, and ultimately, his great win that year.
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    In my interviews, a key distinction between golfers who were successful on the PGA Tour and those who were not was their tendency to frame situations in a manner that allowed them to be successful all the time, regardless of ball striking, mood, or how much they liked or disliked the golf course. Golfers who were unsuccessful tended to look for reasons not to play well, and they undermined their own sense of self-efficacy. They invoked every flaw, weakness, or shortcoming in their games as reasons they weren’t ready to compete at the highest levels. Even before they showed up at a golf course, they would be talking about how they never play well on this or that course, how the course doesn’t fit their game, or how some turn of events put them at a disadvantage. Conversely, successful tour players were able to look beyond personal shortcomings and flaws and instead rely on what they do well.
    The lesson to be learned is that experiences alone do not breed confidence. Nor does success by itself result in a corresponding confidence. Rather, it is the “meaning” that we give to these experiences, and how we interpret success that ultimately determines how we face future challenges. Does a missed putt on the first hole mean you are putting poorly, or does it mean you are due to make one eventually? Do consecutive bad scores mean that you are getting worse as a golfer, or that you are improving because you are learning what not to do? Most golfers who get fixated on scores will tell you that bad scores are a sign they are getting worse. Great mastery golfers such as Bryce Molder will tell you something different. When going through a massive overhaul of his swing in 2003, Bryce chose to interpret bad rounds as a sign of