GOLF PSYCHOLOGY

“The Road Less Traveled”

Dean Sunseri, MA, MED

            Have you ever watched a PGA tournament playoff, and looked closely at the faces of the players as they walked to the playoff hole?  Often, one player looks anxious, timid, defensive and a sense of distant hopefulness.  The other player has the eyes of an aggressive hunter; bold, excited, focused and ready for action.  What we know from recent studies is that each player is feeling the same amount of adrenalin, pressure or nerves; yet the difference is how this energy is being channeled through the brain, through the central nervous system to the muscles.  Which player would you pick to win?

            There is a mistaken notion in the field of sports psychology that says a person needs to relax in the above situation, and play like it is just another hole on my home course with my friends.  Others advocate that you must just let go of caring about the shot.  This is an almost impossible task if you are performing in a tournament that has a lot of meaning to you.  I am not saying that relaxation and letting go has no value, because it is very important, yet in a high-pressured situation, I would like you to learn how to channel that nervous energy to increase you focus and skill level.  The adrenalin energy is sent in that situation so that you can use it to enhance you ability, so if you try to get rid of it, you are getting rid of an important resource.  It is like a retail store that refuses to use extra help during the holiday season to handle the extra demands.

            The part of our brain that we call the “old brain,” is the control center that helps us cope with high-pressured situations, and instructs our body to secrete adrenalin.  This is often described as nervousness, the butterflies, racing thoughts or surges of energy.  Scientists have discovered that there are basically 2 pathways from the old brain to the muscles via the central nervous system.  In other words, when you get in a pressured situation, you will come to a fork in the road, and choose one of the two paths.

            The first path is the Defensive Pathway.  It is the pathway of danger, and the emotion is fear.  The goal is to find safety, and one is obsessed with the fear of loss.  Imagine that a huge Doberman is chasing you, and you will experience this pathway.  One feels out of control and is just reacting to the threat, hoping not to lose something precious.

            The second pathway is the Enhanced Performance Pathway.  One views the situation as an opportunity to gain something important.  Imagine that you are a duck hunter, sitting in a cold duck blind for hours, and all of a sudden a flock of ducks come flying in.  The adrenalin wakes you up out of a cold stupor, and you become very focused with the purpose of hitting your target.  You are excited and eager, and your senses become very sharp, very quickly.  After you hit a few ducks, you later are amazed at how quickly and accurately you responded to the flying ducks.  The surge of adrenalin actually helped heighten you skill, act in a highly focused manner, and enhance your performance.

            In terms of surges of adrenalin, the 2 pathways feel the same, yet the outcomes are very different.  When Vijay Singh, Chris DiMarco and Justin Leonard were in the PGA Championship playoff, I would guess that they all were feeling about the same amount of adrenalin, yet Vijay Singh was clearly in the Enhanced Performance Pathway.  In an interview after he won he said, “In a playoff, you’ve got to be aggressive and go all out for it, because you have nothing to loose, and the worst that could happen is second.”  His attitude definitely reflected the Enhanced Performance Pathway. 

If you look at competing athletes in a pressure situation, often their faces will tell you which pathway they are channeling, the Defensive or the Enhanced Performance.  More important than those athletes, when you are in a pressure situation, which pathway do you channel your adrenalin?

Dean Sunseri, MA, MEd, is a specialist in Sports Performance Psychology and has coached Golf Tour Professionals, NFL Football Players, Professional Baseball Players and Professional Hockey Teams.  He can be contacted at ds@ihaveavoice.com or 251-626-5454.