The Swing Season

The clocks go back one hour this Sunday and winter golf is nearly upon us. For many golfers this is a time when golf can become even more enjoyable; all of  sudden fresh-air, daylight and ‘just getting it around’ in a brisk manner with some good company takes priority over the (sometimes painstaking and ‘work like’) quest for lower scores and handicap improvements.  Some players’ even find their game miraculously improves, and playing the game seems more like (errm)… playing a game. There are probably some good lessons to be learnt if you get a chance to pay attention to your mindset when you play during winter and compare it to the ‘competition season’.

For the elite band of players, winter often means one thing: Swing Changes. In my experience a player often sees making a swing change as a utopian experience. “Once I get this move down everything will be different next year”. One swing fault or another is often used as an excuse for not being as successful as the player would like. Its a very lazy approach to improvement (even if you put the hours in trying to make a swing change). If you are part of the elite set of players and are serious about improvement I strongly challenge you to take a much wider view of your game and (dare I say it) yourself this winter. A good start is to seek out some role models – someone who is at the level you want to attain. How do they act in various situations? How do they train? How to they think? Then go a little further and work out what are the areas of you (and your game) that makes you special? How could you tap into these areas more often? Also, what challenges away from golf would benefit your game in the long run? How are you working on YOU? There’s a lot more to improvement than a swing change.

Extract from “Feet In The Clouds”

An excellent book from Richard Askwith. In my view essential reading for any would-be professional sports person; an exploration into fell running and so much more.

Here’s a sample – and something for all athletes (yes, golfers too!) about the power of competitive training…

Kenny’s life was not noticeably different from that of an Olympic athlete – except of course, that he still lived with his parents and was fitting his training in around a 40-hour working week.

Somehow he managed to fit a quality 5-mile run into his lunch hour, leaving time to warm down and change, but not to shower. He then summoned the energy for a proper evening session after work.

His training diary meticulously recorded for more than a decade in neat pencil: twice a day for 365 days of the year, rarely more than 90 miles per week: a distance quite low by modern standards, but it was the quality of his training that set him apart:

“I used to do the most incredible interval sessions”, Kenny remembered. “All my competitiveness went into my training as much as my racing. It was in my training that I really used to dig deep. The races were more like a bonus – the reward if you like”.

Kenny Stuart is one of Britain’s greatest unsung athletes. Of his many achievements, perhaps the most astounding is his record for the Ben Nevis Race. Fit walkers take 7 hours for such a journey. In 1984 Kenny Stuart took 1 hour 25 minutes and 34 seconds – which no one has come close to equalling since.

“That’s all I can do…”

A good insight into Rory McIlroy’s mental game from his comments at the end of the third day in Dubai. He had just completed the 10th hole in his third round [play was suspended for bad light] and had a 2-shot lead over the field.

“It would be absolutely fantastic to win here. At the moment I am just thinking about hitting the 11th tee-shot. That’s all I can do.”

and on being compared to Tiger Woods:

“I just want to try to keep getting better and concentrate on this week and take one week at a time. You know, if I can just keep doing what I’m doing, playing well, hopefully a few years down the line I might be able to compete with him.”

Extended interview here.

Update: I’m impressed with the way he realises/ acknowledges his position in the tournament and [the key point] he also knows that the only thing he can effect is his next shot. You get the sense when you hear Rory talk that he thinks in ‘plain and simple’ terms. He doesn’t over complicate things. He knows the ‘importance’ of what he’s doing yet doesn’t dwell on the end game / result only on what’s coming up next.

Finding motivation?

Motivation is one of those words or concepts that can feel like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. “Once I find motivation then I’ll start practicing…”

When I think of a highly motivated individual I can picture someone who has a very clear idea of where they want to get to and is energised and excited by this prospect. The occasional knock back doesn’t really affect them and they have the ability to frame events and situations in such a way that helps get to their goal quickly. Their clarity of ‘where they want to be’ enables this person to live each moment in the moment rather than in the past or the future. They are risk takers and are willing to experiment out of their comfort zone as they know this will help them reach their goal quickly. The very highest achievers have the foresight to be able to see an ‘end result’ as an ever changing series of stages. They often take stock and ask themselves questions like: ‘what do I need to do to get to the next stage?’ and ‘what would it mean for me to achieve this?’

Discovering what excites you about your sport is the first step in developing motivation needed for achievement.

One way of ‘fostering’ motivation over a period of time and organising time and priorities is by setting goals. There is usually plenty of talk about goal-setting in sport psychology circles, particularly at this time of year. From my experience goal setting is not done particularly well as a rule and is often seen as a one-off process of setting some prize-related targets rather than an ongoing ‘review and reset’ of the processes involved in improving performance. Even at the highest level of the game I imagine very few top-level golfers get the most from a goal-setting process, yet it’s probably very common for tour players to set themselves a number of achievement-based goals at the start of the year (Top-50 in world, win a European Tour event, make-cut in all majors).

Start big and end small; take your dreams and shape them into smaller chunks. Keep asking what do I need to do today to help me achieve my goals?

It is much easier to live by your core values than some prescriptive to-do list. The more you can structure your goals around your core values the more rewarding the goal-setting process will be. An achievement goal such as: ‘winning the county championship’ would be well served by several value-based process goals such as: ‘take up another non-impact competitive sport to assist with co-ordination and fitness, pushing myself hard and playing to win whilst maintaining showing respect to opponent at all times’.

Continually ask ‘what do I need to do to achieve this goal’? How can I link this to my core values?

Decisions

TV golf commentators often use language that over-glamorises the simple process of decision making. “Game strategy” and “course management” tends to place emphasis on the whole round rather than the single shot in hand. The best ‘decision makers’ in most sports tend to play each shot/ situation on its merits rather than having an overall strategy for the round. I place a strong emphasis on a player’s decision making process and encourage the player to continually work on this aspect of his or her game.

In golf we have the potential advantage of a short amount of time to prepare and decide on an intention for each shot prior to taking our set-up. How you use this time is crucial to your ability to play well consistently. However, I often see players’ using the time before the shot in such a way that can have a negative impact on their chances for a successful shot; producing indecision, overly technical thinking, and a fearful approach.

I recommend that you pay attention to how you develop commitment on a shot. The next time you play or practice consider the following questions:

What does it mean for me to be committed on a shot?
What are some of the factors I need to pay attention to in order to feel committed?
What are the differences between being “really aggressive” and being “really committed”?

Common sense

I often hear the line that sport psychology is “just common sense”. I would go even further and say that the best sport psychologists I’ve seen achieve success with players largely as a result of helping players to think in the language of common sense more regularly.

From my experience with golfers, when it comes to competition or perceived pressure situations “common sense” isn’t very common. The player who is able to think clearly (and objectively) about future decisions and previous shots in the height of competition has a huge advantage towards playing successful golf.

I’m very keen on post-round reviews; one reason is for the opportunity to assess the best shots of the day, round-stats and areas needed to work on. In addition, and perhaps more importantly is the short time spent assessing the quality of a player’s decision making and response to shots: How much common sense were you applying to your decisions and post-shot thoughts today? What would be the “common sense” response in a particular situation?

Freedom…

I was reminded during a match recently that often amateur players approach golf with a mindset of ‘playing not to be embarrassed’; just wanting to get their shot out of the way as quickly as possible, avoiding any really poor shots.

There must be a better way. Surely, by very definition ‘playing’ any game should lead to enjoyment, creation, freedom, fun, and learning. Shouldn’t it? You’re not working after all? If you were to mark out of ten what your ratings were in your last medal round for those five headings, what would you score?

I’ve always been drawn to Bob Rotella’s notion of playing to play great that he often describes in his books. And yet, it always amazes me how hard this is to do and how often I notice myself playing with a mindset of ‘trying to not make mistakes’.

So what is an attitude of playing to play great? I believe it’s about being 100% committed to the shots you’re attempting (using your creative mind during shot selection), swinging with freedom to your target (knowing that by swinging freely you’re giving yourself the best chance to hit your target), being open to the possibility of having fun and hitting amazing shots (without placing yourself under huge expectations), and the ability to handle any result (and learn from it).

I’m convinced that this is not the same argument as playing aggressively versus playing defensively. The example of Tiger Woods’ last round in the 2006 Open at St. Georges could be used here; his play in that round could’ve been described as using a “defensive” strategy yet you imagine that his attitude was absolutely in the ‘playing to play great’ mode.

In your next round begin to be aware of your general approach to the game. How creative are you being? Are you swinging with freedom? What are you learning about your game? How would you hit putts if your only objective was enjoyment and fun?

Memento…

A friend of mine recently reminded me of a powerful question to ask yourself whilst playing competition golf. Standing on the first tee of a competition you have a choice; play as normal, destiny uncertain OR be transported to the 18th green standing over a tap-in to post an amazing score and win the event you’re playing in. The catch is that you won’t remember a thing about the round, only the score.

Which would you choose?

Is losing a few hours of your life worth it to gain a ’score’? What else are you seeking to achieve during a round of golf? How much enjoyment are you seeking by simply ‘playing’ the game? How are you spending the time you have between shots?

Confidence

What can you be confident in as you step out onto the course?

Perfect strikes? Deadly accuracy? Effortless holing out? Perfect golfing conditions? Is your confidence on the course at the mercy of how you’re scoring?

I advise players’ to continually think about what they could be 100% confident in all of the time before they go out and play and during a round. A player who is able to mentally affirm what they can be genuinely confident in “week in, week out” is in a strong position to perform to their potential more often. Consider the following over your next few rounds…

“I can be confident…”

In my ability to hold consistent swing thoughts
In my ability to choose what to think before and during each shot
In my process for deciding and committing to each shot
That I will learn something about my game
That I can choose to enjoy my time on the course
That I can choose the way I respond to poor shots
That I’ve prepared in a way that gives me the best chance of swinging well throughout the course of this round

Learning to learn

Staying aware during the process of the golf swing could be the most useful idea that you’ll ever come across. I’ve found the ability to shut off the mind and ‘just notice’ what’s going on during the process of a swing can really speed up learning and the better I can do this the more I can learn from my practice. Try it! Refuse to listen to the usual list of instructions that you typically think about during a swing and simply notice as much as you can. After some practice at this you should find some “that’s interesting” moments. Your awareness of what you’re doing begins to increase, blind spots begin to disappear and you can begin to truely advance. Practice in this mode becomes much more effective.