Editors’ note: Noel Blundell is a sports psychologist who works with elite athletes, including some of the world’s best golfers.
He was totally absorbed for two hours. Tiger walked into the grass bunker near the club house at the Australian Golf Club in Sydney and randomly tossed five golf balls into the grass. They wandered into a range of lies varying from the impossible to very challenging. He chose to play every ball from where it lay. No short cuts. There were no adoring crowds and he had shot 79 in the first round. Was this kid overrated?
Fortunately for myself and two colleagues Ken Berndt and Ian Triggs, we had chosen to take a break from working with one of our players Peter Senior who played the first 2 rounds with Tiger. It was chill time for us, sitting near the bunker with a couple of coffees reflecting on the day.
The ensuing couple of hours provided clear insights into the mental template of arguably the greatest golfer to grace the planet.
As Tiger approached each ball nestled in the unique textured Aussie grass I could sense his mind smoothly processing all the variables. How deep was it sitting? How will the grass affect the club shaft and club face? Will it pop or fly out of this lie? How far do I need to carry the ball? How much will it release on the different textured bent grass on the green?
There was an immense sense of calm, inquisitiveness and imagination exuding from the young man totally absorbed, fine tuning his skills. With a consistent routine he stepped up to execute each shot. After contact his absorption in his world continued as he integrated how the ball responded on the green relative to the shot he played. Did the ball spin and check?
Did it release and scamper across the green? How soft did it land? What was the relationship between his lie, the angle of attack of his club, and the flight and spin components of the ball? How did these foreign grasses affect his shot making?
Woods was a young prodigy was learning his craft. Was he worthy of the hype that preceded him? A wiry and elastic young man, he had enormous physical potential to smash the golf ball unprecedented distances but to me there was something brewing that transcended this capacity.
In my time on the international golf and tennis tours I had worked with and witnessed a number of supremely talented athletes. Often what accompanied such sublime talent was a mind that was easily bored, a propensity to move on quickly to another skill, not sticking to the task to wring the most out of the situation, flitting from this to that, their natural talent more than enough to assure results.
Woods was different. As observers we were transfixed by the aura of absorption coupled with his sense of calm. This capacity to challenge himself, in concert with a naturally inquisitive mind thirsting to learn from even the finest nuances that this new Aussie environment presented, suggested he had an X factor, and more.
Tiger’s short game, the Aussie ’96 version, was by elite professional standards still a mite scratchy. In 2009 Tigers short game package is the best in professional golf. It wasn’t difficult to project that he would refine his physical talent to an exemplary level but this was the least impressive attribute on show. His template of mental application and absolute commitment to the task he set himself was from the top drawer.
The two hours he spent was obviously not a chore. Butch (Harmon) was not as his side motivating, cajoling and instructing. How many players in the world are sufficiently self motivated and dedicated to spend two hours hitting a variety of shots out of a grass bunker?
Probably only one.
I wish in retrospect that I had been able to video Tiger’s session that day. I have since relayed this story to numerous clients, particularly, young talented players who thought they knew the meaning of application.
It never ceases to have an impact but, oh, if only they could have seen it with their own eyes.
This week at the Heath the lessons initially learned from ’96 will come to the fore in Tiger’s mind. The Heath provides options and challenges imagination. The area around the greens is be clipped, fast and undulating requiring more than the mind numbing flop shots so prevalent on the US Tour. There is a distinct Scottish links flavour to the Heath but the grasses and contours are distinctly Australian.
This is an incredible treat for Aussies to see live perhaps the most physically talented athlete in history whose physical talents are coupled with and transcended by a mental template par excellence.
Facebook Recommendations
Read all about it
Punch live
Up to the minute Twitter chatter
RT @popculturechris: Meanwhile, Gotye holds no.1 for a sixth massive week in the US - "that" song has now sold over 4 million copies there.
I like how a tip erodes so only you can use it MT “@paulwiggins: BBC News - Why are fountain pen sales rising? http://t.co/0hk2MRtf”
Recent posts
The latest and greatest
Protecting the Barrier Reef is the Fin end of the wedge
When you take on a job like being Environment Minister there’s some hits you can see coming. …
ICB: Is white bread the worst thing since sliced bread?
Welcome to this week’s I Call Bullshit column. It’s a regular column that looks at skulduggery…
Sometimes, you’ve just got to stick it to the bloody ref
We are taught early in life that we should not question authority. We must listen to our parents, our…
Nosebleed Section
choice ringside rantings
From: They must pay for one’s bitter disappointments
Michael S says:
"A teacher at Geelong Grammar had criticised her for using words that were too long, which had left her confused and had made her doubt her ability to write essays. She became ''quite distressed'' when her English marks began to fall." I can sympathise. My scholastic mentors conveyed to me a causal relationship… [read more]From: Welfare for breeders is a bonus for everyone
Change Up! says:
I have no problem paying my taxes. As a single, childless person on a very decent income, I can afford it and not have my life severely altered. Plus I understand that my taxes paying for things like schools, childcare and infrastructure is ultimately a good thing. A better community is better for me… [read more]Gentle jabs to the ribs
They must pay for one’s bitter disappointments
A private school girl’s family is sueing her elite, extremely expensive private school for not… Read more
Most commented