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Recently in the UK we enjoyed one of our greatest ever sporting weekends: Lewis Hamilton was on the verge of winning the F1 title at his first attempt; and our national rugby team was in the final of the Rugby World Cup.
Sadly, we were left weeping into our beer on both counts. The rugby team was beaten by South Africa and Lewis Hamilton lost out by single point.
In each case, pressure and anxiety played its part, causing human errors to be made at crucial times in proceedings. And it got me thinking - what can amateur golfers learn from world class sports people when it comes to handling pressure situations?
In an average round of golf, the casual golfer has between 80 and 100 chances to either get their swing right, or wrong. So can the average golfer learn from sports stars like Jonny Wilkinson or Lewis Hamilton?
I certainly believe so, and here are some of the key lessons I learned while watching that incredible weekend of sport.
Practice makes perfect
All golfers understand that frequent practice leads to better golf. But the timing of the practice and the effectiveness of the practice is more critical than you think. Rugby hero Jonny Wilkinson kicks hundreds of practice conversions every week during his training routine - much in the same way a golfer could easily hit hundreds of balls on the driving range.
But theres a massive difference. Wilkinson has already established a repeatable kicking technique, and his hours of practice are simply a way of developing muscle memory - helping his body to automatically remember what it feels like to kick properly.
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HANDLING GOLF’S PRESSURE SITUATIONS. HANDLING GOLF’S PRESSURE SITUATIONS. HANDLING GOLF’S PRESSURE SITUATIONS. THE SIX BEST CHRISTMAS GOLF GIFTS (and the
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Golfers should use their range time effectively. Rather than bashing balls about at random, they should work with a teaching professional on developing a repeatable swing and then spend time trying to repeat that swing over and over again. This ingrained muscle memory, when transferred to the course, can have fantastic positive effects.
Visualization & routine
Jonny Wilkinson is almost as famous for his pre-kick squatting-cum-praying posture as he is for being an incredible kicker. But this isnt just a quirk. It is part of a tried and tested pre-kick routine that tells his brain everything is in place to make a good kick. He has removed all doubts about whether he has placed the ball properly or if he is lined up properly. The moment he adopts his famous posture, all doubt in his mind is removed. All he has to do is kick the ball.
How many amateur golfers do you see using the same pre-shot routine on every stroke? Not many.
Too many rely on a hit and hope approach, which is doomed to failure. Despite his hours of training, Wilkinsons most effective practice comes in the 20 minutes before every game. He is the last England player to leave the warm-up session before the start of the game. He uses this time to acquaint himself with his surroundings.
He tries kicks from different parts of the pitch, picking faraway spots in the stands (between the posts) as familiar targets he will aim for when attempting kicks in the game. He assesses the conditions. He visualises every single kick before attempting it.
Every golfer should visualise the shot they want to play, before actually playing it. Imagine what making a great swing fees like. Take a practice swing. If it doesnt match your mental picture, take another, until your real swing matches your visualised swing. Pick a spot in the distance, or on the fairway or green, where you see the ball landing. Imagine the ball flying on its trajectory and landing right at the spot youve picked. Visualisation and routine are key aspects in great execution and this is something covered in depth on my website.
Handing pressure: Dont force it
Lewis Hamilton will without doubt be a great F1 champion one day. But a key lesson he learned in Brazil, in the final Grand Prix of the year, is a perfect one for golfers to heed. Dont force it! Hamilton was second on the grid, got a bad start and then immediately tried to correct it with an aggressive overtaking move on team-mate Fernando Alonso. He went off the track and dropped even further own the field. He forced it.
In social golf, if you make a bad start to a round, resist the temptation to try and correct it straight away. Push whats happened to the back of your mind, concentrate on the now and simply try and hit a couple of decent shots to regain your confidence. Make your move (play your aggressive shots) when the time is right.
Young Matthew Tait suffered the same fate in the Rugby World Cup Final. Aged just 20, he forced it when he collected a ball in his own 22, attempted to run it out, got tackled, gave away a penalty and handed South Africa three easy points. He simply tried to make an impression too early in the game. Encouraged by Martin Corry he went back to basics for a few minutes, played it safe, and then began to get back into the game. He learnt very quickly (and painfully) that there are times to go for it and there are times to hold back. But hell be a better player for it.
Using hypnosis to ingrain these principles in the subconscious mind is a proven tactic, which golfers can experience for themselves.
Stay in the now
Tait also exhibited something that every golfer in the world - amateur or pro - can learn from. That is the ability to instantly forget the past and focus instead on the present. It would have been very easy for Tait to worry about what hed done for the entire match. Instead, he clearly wiped the incident from his mind and focused intently on what he would do next.
In the second half he almost created a try for England with an incredible run, and was certainly the best England player in the final. Golfers can learn from this young maestro. If you hit a bad shot, forget about it, and think about playing your next shot well. Tiger Woods technique after a bad shot it to mentally draw a white line on the fairway. Once he cross the line, the bad shot is consigned to the rubbish bin and he is 100% focused on his next shot. Its a great tactic.
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Handling Golf’s Pressure Situations