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Six Seconds to Success
Emotional Intelligence:
The Path to Better Golf
by Dr.
Gary Wiren and Minx Boren,
PCC as published in PGA
Magazine, November 2002.
The Scots take great
pride in having brought
the world "the game
of golf" and, of
course, it is a game.
But it is also a test.
It is a test of patience,
character, skill, mind,
good sense, physical prowess
and stamina but, most
of all, it is a test of
emotions. The impact our
golf performance has on
our spirit is extraordinary.
When things are going
well, we can feel as though
we are standing atop Mount
Everest. When they're
not it's as if we're trudging
through Death Valley.
This article is intended
to assist PGA Professionals
as they teach players
of all levels to address
that challenge. We will
be providing you with
information about Emotional
Intelligence, a learnable
set of skills that allows
your students to "manage" emotions
on the course. Emotional
Intelligence (EI) is a
cutting edge mental technology
that has become popular
through the works of Dr.
Robert Cooper and Dr.
Daniel Goleman, among
others. Many people are
using it to create more
success, satisfaction
and joy in their lives.
My co-author, Minx Boren,
and I will be applying
its principles, including
the use of the "six
second pause", to
help your students achieve
success and find pleasure
on the course.
The magic of coaching
is that it shines a light
on options and possibilities
that may have never been
considered as a choice.
When it comes to choice,
Emotional Intelligence
(EI) is a particularly
powerful tool. It is like
having a couple of extra
clubs in your golf bag.
EI teaches you to name,
know, and choose your
emotions in order to make
more positive and beneficial
decisions in any situation.
Instead of reacting to
a poor shot or bad break
in an ineffective way---such
as slamming clubs, berating
the golf gods, mumbling
self-deprecating remarks
or holding anger inside
until you are ready to
explode---competence in
EI allows your students
to act sensibly and productively.
Emotional Intelligence
is about a student choosing,
and focusing on happiness,
joy, enjoyment and effective,
even admirable, behavior
in golf and in his or
her life.
Don't miss this point:
A response is always a
choice.
The good news is that
by your students understanding
and applying EI, they
will add more joy to their
game and play better.
If you don't believe
that emotional calmness
and a sensible approach
to circumstance are important,
look back at the performance
of 2001 U.S. Open Champion,
Retief Goosen of South
Africa. His emotional
control was so evident
that the sports announcers
labeled him the "New
Easy", as in totally
unflustered and easygoing.
Are you aware that Goosen
was struck by lightning
at 17 years of age? Hi
clothes were blown off
his body, his glasses
thrown 30 feet away and
his club shafts welded
together. So it may be
less of a wonder that,
after missing a two-foot
putt in the final round
that would have won him
the U.S. Open, he calmly
replied to the press, "It's
a game, not a life and
death situation." He
chose an emotionally intelligent
response to put things
in perspective.
When our students recognize
that they also have a
choice, they cease to
be victims reacting less
than favorably when confronted
with a challenging situation.
The following blueprint
is a guide to the principal
steps in your students
managing their emotions
and creating more positive
outcomes.
Name It! Know It! Choose
It!
Name
It --- Have your
students identify how
they are feeling, especially
after a poorly executed
shot or a bad break,
like an unlucky bounce.
Are they angry? Do they
feel embarrassed or
foolish? Are they frustrated
or discouraged? By paying
attention, they can
feel the emotion and
its potential for impacting
their frame of mind.
They needn't deny it,
but they do need to
recognize it. Have them
notice whether they
are angry, frustrated,
fearful, or discouraged
because negative emotions
can sabotage their next
shot, and the next,
and the next -- maybe
even the rest of the
day. How does that happen?
The physiological reactions
to emotion are well documented.
Every experience is first
processed through our
amygdala or "reptilian" brain
before traveling further
along the brain path to
our more logical cerebral
cortex. It is our built-in
caveman "fight or
flight" instinct
that first hits us when
facing danger and it is
geared to elicit an immediate
rather than a carefully
thought out response.
In life-threatening situations
that may be fine, but
in golf---and in many
of life's other moments---it
can be destructive. Our
ancient brain doesn't
discern between a threat
to our ego and a physiological
danger.
So what to do? Have your
students begin by taking
a six-second pause to
start the process of making
a more emotionally intelligent
response. Why six seconds?
Because by avoiding a
negative reaction long
enough and remaining composed,
they can stop the primitive
brain from opening their
biochemical and neurological
floodgates which impact
their heart, mind, and
muscle. What do they do
during that pause? Proceed
to Step 2.
Know
It --- Your students
must realize the impact
of emotion upon their
performance. When they
fall into the grip of
a powerful negative
reaction, their muscles
tense, heart rate increases,
blood vessels constrict,
and the ability to think
clearly is impaired---not
the best condition in
which to hit the next
shot or any after that.
It should be obvious
to anyone who plays
golf that negative emotions
do not enhance our game.
Additionally, negative
emotions can also dull
our enthusiasm and our
resilience, making it
more difficult to recover
from a bad swing, a
bad shot, or a bad outcome.
What is needed is to
forestall the reactive
process long enough
to allow the information
to continue along the
brain path to include
a more logical response.
This is not about ignoring
or bypassing our emotions
but, rather, about marrying
them to our logical
analytical thought processes.
Okay, so, after a great
drive, your student has
just dumped his or her
approach shot into the
water. To make matters
worse, it is the 18th
hold and, before the shot,
he or she looked like
a certain winner. What
now? The most emotionally
impactful thing your student
can do immediately is
to take a deep breath,
acknowledge his or her
anger, frustration and
disappointment and know
that those emotions are
not going to empower your
student to make an effective
next choice---one that
just might lead to a sensational
recovery.
For example, Fred Couples
once hit his second shot
on a par-5 over the green
and out of bounds. He
calmly dropped another
ball, played a miraculous
4-wood to three feet from
the cup and walked off
with his par, rather than
a double bogey. His response
to the errant shot was
a positive and focused
choice. Couples' behavior
was the kind you witness
in competition time and
time again from the world-class
players.
Choose
It --- Have your
students determine the
response/action they
want under the circumstances.
The problem is not being
able to tell oneself
to think differently.
It takes a focused awareness
of their thoughts and
behavior before they
can choose to act differently.
The bottom line is that
they have six seconds
to regain self-control
and make a choice as
to how to respond.
Otherwise, that accelerated
heart rate and a flood
of hormones trigger the
ingrained emotional patterns
that cause us to react
in habitual and often
harmful ways. By forestalling
potentially negative reaction
long enough---not calling
yourself a "stupid
blankety-blank" or
pounding the club into
the ground---your student
will be able to think
more clearly, weigh options,
and respond effectively
to the moment.
Dr. Gary Wiren is a
PGA Master Professional,
author of the PGA Teaching
Manual (as well as many
other books), and the
1987 PGA Teacher of the
Year. Dr. Wiren is Chairman
of the Golf Around the
World and can be reached
through them at 561-848-8896
or by e-mail: garywiren@aol.com.
You can also visit their
website: www.golfaroundtheworld.com
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