Thursday, September 9, 2010

Tiger Woods' Mental Game is What's Broken, Not His Swing

The latest Tiger Woods' news is that he's working with Canadian swing coach Sean Foley to redo his swing. I agree that working with a pro to build or improve mechanics is often a great idea.

BUT, Tiger Woods already has a great golf swing and he's certainly proved it, time and time again. So what's going on that he's in such a slump? My take on it is that Tiger Woods' mental game is broken, not his swing.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Was Hoffman's Mental Game Good Enough for the Ryder Cup Team?

The news just came out and Hoffman was passed over for the fourth spot. One of the justifications I've read from various sources is that there's too much pressure at the Ryder Cup and Hoffman probably can't deal with it, especially considering how many top golf pros have folded from the pressure.

I disagree for three reasons.

Monday, September 6, 2010

Does Phil Mickelson have a problem with the mental game?

If you define the mental game as pressure, and how a person reacts under pressure, than my take on it is that Phil Mickelson does have a problem with the mental game. I say this for several reasons.

The Sports Secret I Learned From The Sundance Kid

In the movie 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,' Butch was auditioning Sundance for his shooting skills with a pistol. Butch told Sundance to shoot at a target. Sundance aimed his pistol at the target, fired and missed. Butch wasn't impressed.

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Thinking or Reacting: What's Better in Competition?

I worked with a player recently who was thinking too much in competition. He kept second-guessing himself and making changes while in the process of competing. Although he had proven ability in practice, he wasn't doing as well as he should have been in competition.

Friday, September 3, 2010

Could you compete against your idol (or mentor)?

Watching the US OPEN on Wednesday, I saw a young tennis player, Sally Peers, lose her match in straight sets against an older player, Kim Clijsters. What's interesting is that Sally had an autographed photo taken with Kim in 2003 when Sally was 12 and Kim was 20.