Fearless Golf: Conquering the Mental Game

mired in a grip of panic and fear, barely making it through, let alone enjoying, her special day. Surely, we’ve all experienced a degree of fear of flying. Even though we know that statistically flying is safer than driving, we often can’t help but ask ourselves, “What if the plane crashes?” Again, it is not a productive way of thinking. Much like if the mountain climber were suddenly to ask himself, “What if I fall?” Immediately, he is focused on not falling, instead of climbing and enjoying the challenge and the scenery. Self-induced anxiety and fear inhibits positive action.
    Fear has its foundation in a focus on the future uncertainties of a particular moment, regardless of how absurd they might be. When you stand on the tee of a tight driving hole and immediately begin to think of a slice or a hook into trouble, why is that any different or more logical than wondering if your plane might crash or if your betrothed will stop loving you or if you will be unable to utter a sound when you have to give that presentation to all the department heads this afternoon? There isn’t logic to it, especially if you let yourself fall victim to the cycle of unproductive self-questioning.
    Fear begins and gets its fuel from the uncertainty of self-questioning. Most fear-inducing questions boil down to the same theme: What if I am faced with something terrible that I am not prepared for? But go deeper and it is just as easy to realize that this fear can fall away once we are willing to hear an answer to one of these moderately absurd questions. In nearly every case, the answer to a question of uncertainty is a simple, strong, positive question of its own: “What am I going to do about it?” When we ask ourselves “What if the plane crashes?” and we respond with “What am I going to do about it?” we are telling ourselves to look objectively at our particular uncertainty and deal with it thoroughly. In the case of fear of flying, for example, maybe it means reminding ourselves of the safety record of air travel, or even more simply, finding a way to deal with that uncomfortable moment of a flight (takeoff, let’s say) by focusing on a process (reading a book, listening to music, closing your eyes and meditating) that takes our mind away from an absurd fear. You will see how that same sort of directed focus can make your next round of golf better, too.

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    words of a champion: tom kite, u.s. open 1992

    Throughout his PGA Tour career, Tom Kite made himself into one of the most consistent performers the game has ever known. He once had twenty-one top tens in a season, and despite having only moderate physical gifts, he rose to number one on the all-time PGA Tour money list in the early 1990s. Kite did it with dedication and an indefatigable desire for improvement. For all that his career encompassed, his résumé lacked that one crucial notation: a major championship. Kite shook loose that burden with a gritty performance on one of the toughest days in U.S. Open history. With winds whipping hard around Stillwater Cove and the tiny greens at Pebble Beach the consistency of a parking lot, Kite negotiated his way through 18 tough holes, the forty-mile-per-hour winds, and all the lingering doubters to win his first major title. After lifting the trophy, he said, “From tee to green, it was not even close to one of the best tournaments I’ve ever had. But as far as hanging in there and doing the things that were required on a very difficult golf course, this may have been the best.”

    Later, Kite told
Golf Digest
in an extended interview that there’s a difference between recognizing fear and being afraid. The nerves will come out, he says, but that’s what makes the moment supreme.

    The thing that is difficult for people to appreciate is a lot of times when you see a guy that is coming down the stretch trying to win a golf tournament, he looks so calm and so collected and looks like he has everything under control.

    They don’t understand that the guy who is trying to win a golf tournament out there can look so calm. The guy is not calm. He may look calm and he may have learned how to control his emotions, but I can assure you he is not calm.

    No matter how many times you win, the nervousness is there—and it is great. That’s the best thing about it, to put yourself in that position and to get nervous, to really get scared. It is what it is all about.

    People don’t understand how wonderful that