I watched the final round of the Pebble Beach Pro-Am yesterday and it was nice to see Phil play such great golf…and tough to watch Tiger struggle like he did. The play between the two made me think of how tough it is to play your absolute best golf when pressure is at its highest. I think Tiger will be better because of this experience.
(I have no personal connections to this – it’s just my thoughts based on what I’ve learned about motor learning and pattern building. )
In order to play your best golf you need to leave the conscious thinking of your swing out of the equation. But when you are learning to do things differently you have to pay more attention and be more aware of what you are trying to do. It takes some mental energy to do this, and that can have affects on other parts of your game (ie. Tiger’s brutal putting). Moreover, you need to be able to trust the NEW pattern when the pressures are highest, and it takes some time and experience to be able to do that.
Tiger has been in contention more over his last few events and although he hasn’t been able to close the door, I’m confident that these experiences are helping him build in his new pattern and he’ll be back to golfing on autopilot in the near future.
Change takes time, if it was that easy we’d all be exactly who we want to be. Be patient with your own game and learning, and be patient with others.
When it comes to working with your Compression Board you’ll find quick progress going from level 5 or 6 to 3 and then it may take some more time to get down to level 2 and 1. The better we get the more challenging it is to improve. Embrace it and believe that you can do it.
Now, here’s a video for some fun: