Thoughts on the Mental Game of Golf

I was recently asked by a student whether they should purchase some info from the internet regarding the mental game of golf. There is an awful lot of material out there regarding various mental approaches to golf. There are even a number of well known sports psychologists out there who work with PGA pros to improve their mental skills.

However, not once have I ever heard of a top player, and I mean a top player such as Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson, ever employ the services of a sports psychologist or mental coach. What these mental coaches do, however, is suggest that they know the secrets of Tiger and Jack in regard to their mental approach, as if the average golfer can apply those secrets to their own game.

Whenever I have heard of any Tour player employ the services of a sports psychologist, that golfer is usually someone who is desperate to find the answers as to why they can’t win more golf tournaments. In my view, the answer to that question is simple: they are not mentally tough enough because they don’t have enough confidence in their own abilities.

Confidence is the whole key to performing under pressure. However, confidence does not just appear in your game over night. It appears after a lot of hard work on your game AND by playing a lot of golf!

I just viewed a video of Lee Trevino. He said “….you won’t learn much from me…I never had a mental approach. I got my confidence from hard work.”

Trevino worked hard on his game, but that is not all. I’ve read stories of him before his days on the Tour showing up for a match with no money in his pocket and making lots of bets. You want to talk about pressure! Well, that is how you simulate the pressure of a golf tournament. You have to repeatedly put yourself in the position where something is on the line when you stand up to the tee on the 18th hole, or you are faced with that all important 6 foot putt. If you never do that with yourself, you will never learn how to deal with the pressure that just comes from playing in the 3rd flight in your club championship!

I find it very interesting that you find very few, if any, books written about the mental game by any top player. Sure, there are books that SPECULATE about how Tiger Woods’ developed his mental toughness, but he has never written about the topic himself. The same may be said about Jack Nicklaus who is arguably Tiger’s equal in terms of mental toughness.

On the other hand, there are huge numbers of books written about the golf swing, putting or short game. The fact is, none of these players worry about the mental game. Instead, they focus on executing their swing as best they can, not on some mental tip that suddenly transforms them into a totally relaxed player!

Gaining confidence to perform under pressure is simply a progression. I remember as a teenager, I was a pretty good golfer, playing to a 2 handicap by the time I was 16. I had won a few small junior golf tournaments. But, every time I would play in the men’s club championship at my club, I would play poorly, usually averaging over 80 for two rounds.

Finally, when I was 18, I broke through. That summer I stepped up my game to play well against more experienced players. In one tournament, a better ball of partners format, we were down two shots with one hole to play, a 550 yard par 5. This was back n 1984. I’ve always been a long hitter, so even playing with a persimmon driver, I could reach the green in two. However, on this occasion, it was playing into a little bit of wind. I hit a decent drive, leaving myself about 260-270 yards from the green. I pulled out driver and hit it from the fairway, best shot of my life. It rolled up to about 25 feet to the right of the pin. I was nervous as could be standing over the putt, but I knocked it in for the eagle! Unfortunately, my opponent knocked in a 15 footer on top of me for birdie, and he and his partner won by a shot.

A few weeks later in our club championship, I shot rounds of 74-68 to finish in a tie for first, and lost in a playoff. Now, I knew how to play a great round under pressure to have a chance at winning.

So, you see, gaining this confidence is not something that happens over night. You can learn all the mental tips you want, but if you have a flawed golf swing and no confidence in the ability of that swing to hold up under pressure, you simply won’t perform.

If you really want to see improvement, work on your golf swing, work on your putting and short game, and play as often as possible, and play with something on the line! That is how you will learn to lower your scores!

Scott Cole
powergolftraining.net

Tiger's streak(s) end

Wow, talk about a stunner! Yes, I did think I would see the day that Tiger Woods lost a major when leading after 54 holes, but not to an unknown, and not the way he did. He was clearly off his game today, and did not putt well. How many times in the past have we seen him make clutch putt after clutch putt? If you could sum up his performance in the majors this year, it was clearly the putter that let him down most of the time. However, he has not been real sharp from tee to green either this year, except in spots like at Memorial and at Firestone last weekend. He looked good on Thursday, but yesterday, when he did not extend his lead as we are so used to seeing, I thought something was amiss. After he missed a few putts early on in the round, it was clear that there was going to be more pressure on the long game, and he did not pull through.

Hats off to Y.E. Yang though! He played great and accomplished what none of the big name players have been able to do when paired with Tiger in the final round. It seems like it is always a lesser known player with nothing to lose that proves to be more unshakable than a Mickelson or an Els. Yang played superbly, and the 18th hole summed up how clutch he was most of the round. That 3-hybrid he hit will go down as one of the great shots of all time!

Scott Cole
www.powergolftraining.net
www.scottcolegolf.com

Tom Watson

What can you say? It was an amazing ride to watch Tom Watson compete at the British Open this week. A sad ending, but he gave us more to feel positive about, than to be sad about. He showed us all, that no matter how old we are, we can still be competitive at this game for a long time. Not only can we be competitive, but we can actually win! We've seen more of this on the PGA Tour as of late. Kenny Perry, Vijay Singh and Fred Funk are prime examples. It helps if you have the length off the tee, but Fred Funk demonstrated just a few years ago that you can still win as a short knocker.

The bottom line is, with golf, on any given day, anyone can beat anyone else at the highest levels of the game. On the PGA Tour, they are all great players, no matter how far they hit the ball. Most just need to realize that when they play well, they can compete on any golf course. This week, Tom Watson demonstrated that to the highest degree. He is nowhere near as long as some of the big bombers, but he has a well rounded game, hits the ball solidly, and when he is putting well, can beat anyone.

I hope we all sit back and appreciate the gift Tom Watson gave us this week for a long time to come.

Scott Cole
www.powergolftraining.net
www.scottcolegolf.com

Reflections on The Masters

Well, I was disappointed to say the least to see Kenny Perry blow his chance at a green jacket. I was not overly surprised that he struggled on 18, a hole that does not suit his normal shot. So, why not hit a 3-wood instead of driver off that tee?

The dual between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson started out as an epic. But, the momentum really stopped on the 14th hole, when both failed to birdie. Phil had a serious shot at winning until he dumped that ball in the water on 12. An absolute horrific shot considering how well he had played up that point.

Tiger was clearly off all week. He drove the ball poorly, and did not putt well. Surprisingly, his short game was quite spotty as well. Yet, with his B- game, he finished only 4 strokes back. Although he has worked hard after the knee rehab, I guarantee he is going to work even harder on his game, so I look for big things from Tiger the rest of the summer.

As for Phil, well, what can you say? You never know what you will get from him from day to day, but he is clearly no longer intimidated by Tiger. However, his golf swing is just not sound enough to trust on every shot. Nonetheless, his talent and creativity should be enough to keep the heat on Tiger for the rest of the summer.

This could be really fun to watch!

Scott Cole
www.powergolftraining.net
www.scottcolegolf.com

Mickelson in Top Form

Phil Mickelson won for the second time this year, but was far more impressive this week, as he showed much more consistency and some grit in holding off Nick Watney to win the CA Championship. With just three weeks until The Masters, Mickelson has to be viewed as one of the big favorites. I still think he needs to drive the ball straighter, to give himself the right approaches into the greens at Augusta. Remember, he chipped in four times this week, and won by just one shot.

Tiger Woods appears to be rounding into form quite nicely. He finished the week 12th in greens in regulation, but clearly was frustrated with his putting. Last year, it was the putter that cost him at Augusta, where he finished second. If he starts holing 20 footers with any regularity, watch out.

Scott Cole
www.powergolftraining.net

Teaching Golf - Keep it Simple!

As I continue down the path of developing my golf teaching business, I continue to research many of the golf swing ideas and philosophies out there. Do a little research and you may find Jim Hardy's "Plane Truth" concept, the Stack & Tilt method, Moe Norman's Natural Golf, and the list goes on! Unfortunately, some of these ideas can become quite complicated and difficult to learn.

As I mentioned previously, last month I traveled to Dallas to attend Hank Haney's "Teaching the Teacher" seminar. In his younger days, Hank worked with John Jacobs and Jim Hardy. Jacobs is described by Hank as the master of the quick fix, while Hardy was probably the hardest working and most passionate teacher he had met.

What I learned from my participation at the seminar was that Hank has an ideal type of swing in mind, and each golfer can attain their own version of that ideal swing. That ideal revolves around the one characteristic of keeping the golf club on the same plane angle throughout the swing. But first, he wants to correct the major error in the student's swing, then move on to build a better swing. His approach is quite simple, and there are no complex descriptions of how each part of the swing should be constructed. He simply tells you where you should be in the swing, then puts you there! His book "The Only Golf Lesson You'll Ever Need" is written simply and concisely, and is a good read for teachers and students alike.

I also had the opportunity this past week to observe the best teacher in Pennsylvania, Ted Sheftic, give a lesson. Ted is probably ten years older than Hank and thus his sole influence is Ben Hogan, but I could see that his approach is similar to Hank's, except from the standpoint of personality. In other words, Ted and Hank seemed to be on the same page, and I could see that reflected in the swings of students that Ted has taught. In fact, one of Ted's students is currently attending the Haney Junior Golf Academy in Hilton Head. She was actually invited there and received a scholarship.

With all this in mind, it is clear to me what approach to take in teaching my students, and I have all the confidence in the world that I can get the job done with anyone.

Scott Cole
Professional Golf Instructor, USGTF Associate Member
www.powergolftraining.net

Ogilvy Wins Accenture Match Play Golf Tournament

Australia's Geoff Ogilvy proved to be the most solid player at the Accenture Match Play golf tournament in Arizona this week, as he finished the tournament with a solid 4&3 win over Paul Casey in the 36 hold final. In his 33 holes today, Ogilvy finished with 10 birdies and an eagle, while defeating Casey, who also played well in today's match. The difference was the short game, as both players were solid from tee to green.

Ogilvy is one of those players that is probably entering his prime, and has the ability to push Tiger Woods this year. He has a strong overall game, and a calm demeanor. It will be interesting to see if he can provide a strong challenge in the majors this year.

Heading into Augusta, watch how Tiger plays at Bay Hill in a couple weeks. That is one of his favorite venues and should be a good gauge for where his game is while preparing for Augusta. Last year, he won in dramatic fashion on the 72nd hole. He contended at Augusta, but made few puts while finishing second to Trevor Immelman. Watching him play this week indicated he has quite a bit of rust. It looked like he had trouble controlling his ball flight trajectory, as he got a number of irons up into the wind. His teacher, Hank Haney, however, would be more concerned if he had trouble getting the ball up in the air. Watch for Tiger to have more control of his iron shots at Bay Hill.

Scott Cole