Paying tribute to the best thinking of 2007

IT is that time of year again when we tend to enjoy looking back and recalling the people, places and events that shaped the previous 12 months in golf and in life generally.

We look back and reflect and then proceed to looking forward to making New Year resolutions about how THIS year is going to be SO different! Unfortunately few resolutions are maintained, whether golfing or otherwise. In fact, it is probably more true in golf than in most other walks of life.

Before we get to making those resolutions it’s perhaps worth casting our mind back to the highlights of 2007 in terms of mental toughness and clear thinking under pressure. We are talking about the ability to first implement and then carry
out a strategy that produced a winning result. Without delay we can cast our minds back to the Open Championship at
Carnoustie.

Could we finally get a European Major winner after waiting, generally impatiently it has to be said, since 1999? Thankfully, yes we did. But why exactly did Harrington win? A couple of obvious examples spring to mind and are extremely instructive when we consider the fine line between success and failure.

Firstly, when he was asked in his post-round interview in Angus whether he had allowed himself the luxury of thinking that his putt on 18 in the play-off was for the Open Championship. The popular Dubliner responded with a look at the interviewer which can roughly be described as a wide-eyed stare of amazement. This betrayed his feeling that he believed he had just been asked a ridiculous question.

His look also confirmed that in fact at that critical point in the championship, he was simply absorbed in his routine. Ball, line, target and stroke. All the things going on at that particular moment that he COULD influence. He was also asked about the fact that in ‘normal’ play he had blown The Open by taking six up the last.

Again, he said very quickly that he didn’t allow his mind to dwell on what had gone before. All he focused on was the fact that he had a CHANCE of victory in the play-off. This was what he chose to focus his mental energy on at the critical
time – not what had gone on before.

These two pieces were gems in themselves but for me the ‘secret’ was to be revealed in his actual winning speech. Clutching the Claret Jug he went through and thanked all of his ‘team’ individually – Bob Torrance his swing coach, Paul Hurrion his
putting coach and Dr Bob Rotella his sports psychologist.

A set of people who has worked with consistently over a number of years. For me the absolute KEY to Harrington’s success has been his willingness to stick with, and work with, a set group of individuals through thick and thin. By doing this he has created consistent patterns by sticking to certain key principles. Crucially, in my opinion, has never fallen into the No 1 mental error out on tour which I call ‘FIXATION with FIXING’.

So many players keep falling into the trap of trying to change this, change that, fix this, alter that. We unfortunately live in a world of instant fixes but the only thing for certain about the game of golf is that if you keep chopping and
changing your results will always be inconsistent.

Ask yourself this: Could you look ahead to the next year and have the mental discipline to put in place a plan, ensure you have good people around you who supply good information and then stick to that plan regardless? If you do you will become one of those very rare individuals who are actually able to maintain that plan through thick and thin.

To become the best that you can possibly be does involve consistency – and consistency will ALWAYS prove elusive if you spend the next 12 months desperately searching for new answers, tools and techniques. Work with good basic swing principles, follow a programme of good mental tools and work your body appropriately In 12 months’ time you might just have a smile on your face as you look back – as we love to do – on your golfing events of 2008 with a genuine sense of pleasure.

Now there’s a thought!