The ART in FIRE

There’s a good one for you. Why do the pros fold under pressure? We’ve always thought because they are the experts they aren’t supposed to fold under pressure. Nevertheless, we have all seen them do it, and we have all witnessed it on TV, right in front of the entire world.

How does this happen to players like Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson? Certainly you do not think these two greats are immune to all of this, do you? If you were tuned in to see the final round of the Players’ Championship on Mothers’ Day you saw Tiger struggle almost the entire day.

He was in second place and five shots off the lead going into Sunday’s round. Everyone was waiting and watching with great anticipation to see if he could finally come from behind on the final day and win. It did not take place. He was pathetic, and even the announcers constantly commented on what a terrible day he was having.

This is all caused by something quite simple. It is called “PRESSURE.” That’s correct. It’s nothing more than simple, everyday pressure. We are all guilty of applying it to ourselves, and Tiger was under a tremendous amount. The entire golfing world expects him to win every tournament, and he knows it. Because he knows it he then puts an enormous amout of pressure on himself to perform at his best and win.

What does this have to do with you? Why do I spend time going over Tiger’s off day on the course? I do it to help you catch onto something very important.

One of the most often asked questions I receive from golfers around the world is, “How come I can do so well in the driving range, and then I never seem to be able to TAKE IT TO THE COURSE?”

I’m sure you have never been guilty of asking that one, but there is definitely a perfect reason why it consistently happens. You put too much pressure on yourself to perform above your capabilities.

I know that was not very tactful of me to just blurt it out like that, but you need to be able to deal with it so you can stop doing it. I see golfers all of the time who think they are supposed to be able to control every shot they ever hit, and even the best of the best touring professionals cannot do that.

Statistics tell us that a ten handicapper is only supposed to hit three greens–on the average–in eighteen holes. At the same time, the average ten handicapper thinks he should be hitting as many as ten to twelve greens on the average.

The TOP touring professionals only hit thirteen and a half greens on the average through the season. The lesser players out there whose names you wouldn’t even recognize only hit twelve greens on average through the season.

We need to learn how to stop putting pressure on ourselves if we want to begin to play our best golf on a more consistent basis. Space does not allow me to go any further with this in this issue, so I will continue it in the next issue or so.

In the meanwhile, I want you to begin to think about the direction this is all taking and where you stand in the mix of things. I will show you next time how and why this all takes place.

Happy golfing. See you then.