Fearless Golf: Conquering the Mental Game

ultimately building on it.
    On a related note, an important pattern for golfers is how they view the notion of “ability.” Psychologists have found that most people have either a
fixed
or
incremental
view of ability. Golfers like John, who see their ability as fixed, believe that they have been born with a certain amount of talent and that amount cannot be increased or decreased significantly. As you may have guessed, such golfers tend to make stable, uncontrollable attributions that serve to undermine their own confidence. After all, if natural ability is an “inborn” thing, then one is born either with it or without it.
    Research in psychology suggests that people who tend to attribute their success to natural, inborn talent are similarly likely to attribute the success of other golfers to talent. When failure and success are viewed in terms of inborn talent or natural ability, factors such as preparation and hard work are not considered essential to improving one’s game. People who view natural ability as the cause of success and failure are likely to explain their own failure by muttering something like, “I lost because so and so is simply
better
than I am.” This reminds me of what a famous sportswriter said of Jack Nicklaus at his dominant best. Nicklaus came to be such a force over time because he intimidated his opponents, got into their heads, but he didn’t really do it in an overt way. Instead, it was internalized, and as a result, probably that much more effective. As the saying went, not only did Nicklaus know he was better than all the other players, but they all knew Nicklaus was better than they were, and not only that, they all knew that Nicklaus knew he was better than they were. So Nicklaus knew if he hung around near the top of the leaderboards, eventually the others would crack before he did.
    Remember how many professional golfers in the year 2000 believed that, no matter how much they practiced or improved, they simply could never expect to possess the natural skills that Tiger Woods was born with? It’s certainly easy to understand the built-in edge this notion gives golfers such as Tiger or Jack. It bears asking, of course, why, if golfers such as Tiger and Jack have such natural, inborn ability, they are nearly always the ones who put forth the greatest effort, practice for longer hours than their competitors, and work to develop hardy attitudes that buttress their game. Is it possible that, at least to a great degree, the harder they work the more talented they become?
    Conversely, golfers who believe that ability is incremental, or “changeable,” view talent as something that is invariably tied to the amount of effort they expend. Indeed, these are precisely the golfers who believe that the harder they work the more talented they become. Such golfers tend to make internal and controllable attributions, and they respond to adversity with greater effort, persistence, and better preparation.
    On this point, television host Peter Kessler once asked Jack Nicklaus if he was born a great golfer, to which Jack replied, “I don’t think anyone is born a great golfer. All great golfers, all people who are truly great at anything, are not born great. They become great through desire and hard work.” Similarly, Jack attributes Tiger’s greatness, not to inborn uncontrollable factors, but rather to the fact that “Tiger has got a desire to win, a good work ethic, and he’s a smart young man.”
    All good teachers know that it is important to foster in their students the belief that talent and ability are changeable, controllable aspects of development. Instead of praising students for their ability, good teachers praise effort, perseverance, and persistence as ways to overcome obstacles. It bears repeating that praising young golfers with statements such as “You are such a natural!” or “You have tremendous talent!” can often have the opposite effect intended. Praising for ability or talent tells the novice that success is a matter of natural ability (which the youngster believes one either has or does not have). How can a young golfer develop confidence in an ability she believes is beyond her control? When he fails, what can a youngster do to correct what he believes is a natural, inborn talent?
    Praising for
effort
with feedback such as “You fought hard that round” or “Way to hang in there!” tells the golfer that the harder you work the more you accomplish and