Do you begin work more on motivation?
No not at all. Sometimes motivation is not even an issue. Typically a client will come to see me and we will sit down and complete what is known as a needs analysis. We identify their specific golfing strengths and weaknesses. It might be that they have all the motivation in the world but they haven’t got good concentration or they’re unclear about what their practice plan should be, or they are rubbish at coping with pressure. Basically I’ll do an interview with them to find out from the client what they think they need to work on and build a picture in my mind of what areas of mental toughness they most need to work on. We will then formulate a structured Mental Toughness Programme based on their needs. It’s very individualised. There is no set way of starting work with a client.
Do you think golfers in general create their own pressures?
Definitely. Typically the individual will focus on the outcome - what they want to achieve. I’ve got to win. I’ve got to get this putt. I must make the cut. Instead of focusing on the outcome it is better that they focus on the process - what they need to do - to achieve that outcome. This way you’ve got smaller, more manageable tasks to focus on so there is less pressure. Yes the score is what you want, and its good to know what you want, but its more important to focus on how you’re going to do it.
Yes absolutely. The whole point of going out and playing golf is that its supposed to be a challenge and enjoyable and a lot of people get so caught up in the mechanics and the outcome that they lose focus on what they are doing - and that you should be enjoying yourself and taking confidence from the things that have gone well or the things you have achieved.
Do you find a lot of people come to see you for that reason?
Yes that comes up a lot, especially with the pros. Each and every shot can be a calculation of how much money it is costing them. If they’re thinking about that they are less likely to play the kind of golf they want to play. That is all to do with the state of mind they are in. If you play a casual round with friends for example, you are probably more relaxed and play better. Focusing on money can cause you to tense up and lose your tempo and rhythm and so on.
Is thinking of the money a common problem for professional golfers?
Oh yes! Especially for the guys on the EuroPro and Challenge Tours because they’ve got the pressure that maybe their parents or friends are helping them with money - to pay for them to be in the tournament. Or they’ve got a sponsor and they’ve got to do well in this tournament in order to get onto the next tournament. To get on the Order of Merit they have to make money. It’s a difficult task to take your focus away from that, but the guys who make it tend to be the ones who are able to do that.
What sort of clients do you deal with in the professional section?
Do you work with any high profile players on the European Tour?
The highest profile tournament I am working with at the moment is the Challenge Tour. I had a couple of guys who didn’t make the European Tour last year. There was one guy who didn’t make it by two, and I felt really sorry for him - he worked really hard. He will be better prepared this year though having had the experience. He learned a lot.
Once you get higher up into the rankings and money is not so much of an issue, are the pressures then only wanting to succeed?
The costs of entering some of the competitions are so high now, plus travel, accommodation, your psychologist, dieticians, etc etc, the outgoings are incredible. They say the more money you’ve got the more money you spend, and I would guess that it is still a massive pressure.
Temper is something that a large majority of golfers experience at some point, If not everybody. What are some of the worst scenarios you have come across?
Out of all the pros I have worked with, I have never worked on a serious anger management issue. I’ve worked with quite a few club level golfers and youngsters on anger management, but not pros, and that for me is quite an important indicator that actually there is no room for anger in top level golf. It’s quite cheesy but anger is one letter away from danger. There is no room for snapping and throwing clubs in top level golf!
It does happen though and perhaps it is anger born out of frustration?
Yes. I suppose when I do come up against anger issues, typically what we do is sit down and talk about this behavioural pattern. It is important for the golfer to acknowledge that losing their temper is a habit or routine. What they must ask themselves is does this particular habit help them play better golf? If it does then fantastic, and for some golfers they can thrive on this anger, but for the vast majority of people it doesn’t work. So if it doesn’t make you play better golf, then we have to find some way of disrupting the habit.
Another thing we look at is how to control our state. We can control how we are feeling. There are four main areas I tend to look at. First we identify what kinds of things we are thinking - our self talk, secondly what kind of things we are seeing - images in our mind, the third is our breathing patterns and the fourth our body language. If we can control these four areas, then we can control our state. On the thinking side of things, the bottom line is that if you are standing over a putt thinking I can’t believe I’ve just missed that last putt or this hole has been terrible so far - your temper is likely to build. These thoughts will make you feel angry, frustrated and annoyed. These feelings affect your rhythm and your tempo can go. Perfect ingredients for ruining the next shot. A sequence of events has occurred that began with how you were thinking and ended with a negative change in performance. I can’t stop the thoughts coming into your head, but I can help you deal with them effectively. You can take control of your thoughts. Your mind should be your greatest asset, not your worst enemy!
