Golf Flow

that we can probably do that again, and probably faster and with less effort. After all, in doing it the first time we learned the skills required, and we can now make use of that knowledge to quicken the process. We probably also believe that we can do something a little more difficult, something that requires refining the skills that we have acquired or even learning new skills.
    Self-efficacy in the form that matters to golfers results from certain types of experiences that happen as we develop (e.g., successes and failures) as well as our interpretations of those experiences. To the degree that we are willing to invest time making the best sense of our experiences, we can have far more control over our confidence than you might think.

Interpreting and Weighting Experience
    The first and most important type of experience that helps create and nurture our self-efficacy beliefs is the success that we have attained in a particular endeavor. In the simplest terms, success breeds confidence and failure diminishes it. The more you win, the more confident you become. While you are standing over a 5-foot (1.5 m) putt, your mind at some point will ask itself, even if unconsciously, “Can I make this putt?” It will then look back into its archive of experience, into its mental diary, and the question will be answered by whatever page in the diary you open at that time. If you’ve made a lot of 5-foot putts, then the answer is, “I can make this putt,” and your brain goes about its usual business of telling your body what to do and how to do it. If your body is up to the task, it responds accordingly, and, all things being equal, you are likely to sink the putt. The process of the mind dipping into its diary of experience to search for a self-efficacy judgment works the same for you and me as it does for Adam Scott, Phil Mickelson, or Annika Sörenstam. Here is how it works for Tiger Woods:
What happens to me is that whenever there is a touch of pressure, I can tell myself something very important. I can say, “Hey, I’ve done this before.” That’s very reassuring. You feed on it. It’s a powerful statement to say to yourself as you’re coming down the stretch and you have a chance to win that you’ve done it before.
    Drawing on prior success is what allowed Jim Furyk to build his self-efficacy and rise to number two on the PGA Tour money list in 2006. When asked why he feels confident that he can win a U.S. Open, Furyk noted,
Well, I think it’s definitely a confidence builder. It was the difference between thinking I have the ability to win the tournament and knowing I have the ability. I’ve always had a lot of confidence in myself and my ability, but already winning one makes a difference.
    But confidence does not simply emerge as the aggregate, or mathematical average, of your successes minus your failures. A number of things complicate that equation. First, it’s not the success itself that raises self-efficacy. Rather, it is your interpretation of that success. Think about it. There is no real objective indicator of what is or is not a success. What we believe can count as a success depends on the expectations that we brought to the activity. And these expectations differ between people. A PGA Tour golfer and a recreational golfer with a 25 handicap will certainly have different interpretations of a round of 90 played on a beautiful day on a course that rates 70. The Tour golfer will likely have his confidence bruised by such a score, but the recreational golfer will think that he’ll soon be ready to join the big boys.

Confidence comes from a positive mind-set as well as positive experiences. Jim Furyk’s success on the Tour has increased his confidence, but his belief in himself and his positive mind-set led to that success.

    Todd Kirkland/Icon SMI
    Expectations can also differ for the same person across time. As a golfer improves, the scores interpreted as indications of successful play will similarly shift. The implications of rising expectations for achieving flow are powerful, and we will visit them later in the book.
    Another complication in the success and failure equation of self-efficacy is that an initial failure, or even repeated failure, need not result in loss of confidence. The role that success and failure play in shaping confidence has much to do with how much weight we give to each experience, and this weight is often determined in complex ways. The occasional failure, no