Fearless Golf: Conquering the Mental Game

lion is tearing at my heart. But that gives you confidence down the stretch, when you are a little nervous, hands are sweating, eyeballs are bugging. You can summon enough strength to do it again because you’ve done it before.

    Jack Nicklaus agreed:

    There is a difference between fear and nervousness. I have always gotten nervous at golf. I have played 90 percent of my rounds in major championships with a touch of tremor. There has always been some floppiness in my stomach. Moreover, I have always welcomed those feelings in that, so long as I am playing well enough to have genuine confidence in my game, they will get me up, keep me alert, and prime me for maximum effort. Over the years, nervousness has done me more good than harm.
    (Nicklaus,
My Story
)

    Let me again emphasize that the key difference between golfers who are able to perform and golfers who are paralyzed by fear often has to do with how they
interpret
those bodily changes. Golfers who interpret these signals as a sign of fear or that they are about to choke will surely be emotionally overwhelmed and no doubt will choke. Conversely, golfers who welcome these feelings of heightened arousal and interpret them as a sign of enhanced perception and being psyched up are likely to improve their play. Only the beliefs in our head can help immunize us from potentially devastating emotions.
    Great golfers are consistent in their view that golf presents a variety of challenges. They also believe that every challenge, even the “tightening” of the nervous system, must be seen as merely another mountain to climb. They do not try to pretend they are not nervous, nor do they seek psychologists who will help them not be nervous. That would be a foolish, and expensive, enterprise. No psychologist can prevent your nerves from doing what they do best, which is trying hard to get in the way of your peace and calm, especially at the most inconvenient times. Great golfers simply acknowledge their nerves and find effective ways to play well until they finally go away. Playing well is the best revenge against pesky nerves.
    So we are led back to my old pal Brian Kaineg, wondering how he can be confident when he doesn’t know where the ball is going. First of all, I’m not sure that confidence can be shored up and strengthened in the face of inconsistent and erratic play. But I am also definitely sure that you cannot possibly hope to play consistently if you believe you are going to play inconsistently and erratically.

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    words of a champion: phil mickelson

    Phil Mickelson won his first professional major championship on his thirty-eighth try by making a birdie putt on the final hole of the 2004 Masters Tournament. He shot a tremendous 31 on the back nine to beat Ernie Els by a single stroke. That’s remarkable enough stuff, but because of Mickelson’s track record in major championships going into that final round, many doubted he would change the trend. In years previous, Mickelson had finished second three consecutive years at the Masters, he had lost on the final hole of both the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open when his playing partners had made long putts to win while he watched at the side of the green, and he had faltered in a slew of other majors when players like Tiger Woods had turned up the heat on the weekend. What changed in 2004? Certainly, he had a tremendous physical week at Augusta National that year, perhaps his best ball-striking and putting tournament of his life. But even more crucial in my mind was his mental approach in putting aside past failures to focus solely on the task of hitting the shots necessary to win the Masters. Even when he struggled on the front nine, catching a few bad breaks and even leaving a shot in the bunker on the fourth hole, he found a way to stay focused, stay positive, and play fearlessly on the back side. His smile never left his face; he was clearly embracing the moment and reveling in the challenge. What he said after the round was particularly revealing of the mindset of a fearless golfer. It’s a mindset that has a foundation in solid preparation and a faith and a willingness to play without fear. These comments are a complete education into the possibilities and practicalities of playing fearless golf:

    Dealing with the losses time after time, it just gets frustrating. It can wear on you, except that you just can’t let it.

    I think the biggest thing for me was this off-season, spending the number of