How I Won the Match Play Club Championship
by Patrick J. Cohn, Ph.D.

Have you ever heard the saying, “Practice what you preach?” Well, I recently had the opportunity to test out my mental training skills that I teach other golfers during my local club match play championship. Here is the story: I was playing very well going into the final match, but I knew the match was going to be a challenging match for me as I was playing a better player.

I was two holes up in the final match after only three holes, but then I got to the par three 5th hole and hit 2 balls into the water! I lost the hole obviously. However, in match play, you can lose a hole and still recover if you have a good mental game because each of 18 holes becomes a separate competition and that’s the way you have to treat match play.

In my previous five or so matches, my opponents most always got upset after losing a couple of holes with bad shots. They were unable to let go of the bad shot or holes, and this affected their mindset for many holes to follow – not a good mindset for match play. Moreover, knowing that they could not recover mentally gave me the mental advantage to let go of *my* bad shots and soon the match was mine to win!

Did I get upset after hitting two balls into the water on #5? Absolutely, but the difference for me was that I did not let those errors ruin my day or round. I knew that I had 13 holes left to play and I needed to have my head in the game.

As a golfer, you cannot afford to let the past affect you in the present moment. You have to live in the present and focus on what’s happening now rather than dwelling on the past or fearing the future! Composure is huge in any sport and this is just one important mental skill I teach athletes in all sports. Composure is the ability to accept past results and errors and play on with focus and confidence.

I also applied the idea that you can never lose faith and must stay in the game even when faced with adversity. In my case, I was two holes down after 11 holes, but stayed confident because in my previous matches I rallied at the end of every round. Past events can be a confidence builder if you use it correctly.

I hit a three-iron to 10 feet and made birdie on the par five #12 to win the hole and go back to one down. I then won the next hole to even up the match. Game on. I keep my cool and thought that I would hit the shots I needed down the stretch. I won #17 with a solid par to go 1 up and made a great up and down on 18 to win.

It's nice to be able to put my mental game coaching skills to work in my own game and live it rather than just teach it to others. This confirms that mental training works – I put it to the test and won the match play club championship!

My own experience highlights how important it is to have a good mindset and stay composed even when your back is against the wall or when you make mistakes. So many athletes become unraveled mentally from mistakes. They dig themselves into such as a deep mental hole that they can’t recover and thus performance suffers.

You have no better time than now to improve your mindset and composure for 2006! I have several options to help improve you mindset. Drop me a note and tell me what mental blocks you’ve encountered! I can teach you the keys to staying composed and over 12 other mental game skills to give your athletic talents a mental boost. Super-charge your mental game performance in 2006!

Learn how to apply your mental skills like Dr. Cohn on the course. Check out Dr. Cohn's Golf Psychology programs.