Everyone Is a Winner In Golf Most of the Time

I was talking with my brother today about the amazing degree of control which the team members on both side of the Ryder cup displayed in abundance throughout this unique battle of sportsmanship. Whether or not you are even interested in golf, you would have found the last few hours totally exhilarating to watch.

As my brother questioned, how did those golfers maintain their focus, steel their nerves and raise their games to such a peak under the pressure of this most revered competition in golf? So many of the team members were complete rookies to this competition, but they didn't play like it.

The USA team went into that last round of the Ryder Cup with a fair amount of catching up to do, and put on a wonderful display of both golf and mental strength. They deserved to win. The European's deserved to win too and they did finally manage to win the cup by just one point. Talk about exciting!

One of the things which I love about golf is that in most games everyone is a winner. In the majority of golf games you are playing the golf course and not the other golfers. That's what the handicap system enables you to do. A golfer tries to lower their handicap as they compete against the course.

But there are also added games within the game of golf; different championships and tournaments which set one player against another or one team against another, and this adds a totally different dimension to the game of golf. The Ryder cup is the ultimate example of this. One team plays against not just the course, but against the other team whilst at the same time representing their country in front of a large and excitable audience.

The audience certainly adds their input. They shout and scream, take photographs and generally do a lot of different things which would be distracting to an unfocused mind. You simply cannot block everything out, but you can learn to use things to your own advantage.

My brother mentioned a specific incident when he was playing rugby. They had three seconds to go and his team would win if he managed to make a penalty kick. Analyzing the situation it was anything but an easy kick; in fact it would be more accurate to say that the odds were stacked very heavily against making that particular kick count in the way they wished.

Just as he was lining it up a supporter of the opposite team said loudly "I've seen those kicks missed before". He used that in his mind to fire himself up and be even more determined to keep that ball on target. He did exactly that, and took great pleasure in replying "not this time". It's not what happens around you, it's how you use those details in your own mind which makes the difference between winning and losing. This is true of any sport, not just in golf or rugby.

Going back to those rookies in the Ryder Cup, they were only rookies to this particular tournament. They had earned their places upon their teams through proving their technical ability and mental strength in many other tournaments prior to this event. To watch the 21 year old Fowler make four back to back birdies down the stretch to halve his game on 18 nobody would have believed he was a rookie.

Everyone was sitting on the edges of their seats as they watched McDowell split the fairway on 16, when the Ryder cup was resting upon his game. He then proceeded to hit a perfect approach and incite the crowds to support him (they needed little encouragement) as he stalked up to the green. Here's a perfect example of using the crowd to strengthen your mind in another different way. And, as you know he sank that putt. He clearly basked in the limelight, and made it work for him.

The rest I'm sure you know. Despite Mahan's best efforts against McDowell the European's managed to clock up 14 1/2 points and get their hands back upon that beautiful cup. I would like to have been there at Celtic Manor to see those celebrations!

I couldn't help but observe that these days golfers take the time to learn mental toughness at an early age. Professionals know the primary importance of one's mindset if you want to win. You simply cannot win on technique alone.

Roseanna Leaton, avid golfer and specialist in golf hypnosis mp3s and author of the golferwithin golf mind training system.

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