Success vs. Joy
- XLIII -
Coping with Pressure
It is critical to learn to play under pressure. You feel the pressure because your thoughts have moved ahead. The word ‘if’ is on your mind. You think, “if I get this, then I’m going to win.” Alternatively, “if he gets it and I don’t?”
Thoughts of ‘if’ cloud your reasoning and it therefore becomes important to remove them. ‘If’ creates a certain pressure within you, which means you are thinking of an uncertain future.
This, in turn, hampers your ability to concentrate on the present. All your well-honed playing techniques will fail miserably simply because your mind is no longer in control of your body. Your intellect is not supervising your body and your brain.
The best way of relieving this kind of pressure is to tell yourself that at the end of the day, you have to justify your actions only to yourself. You have to be honest with yourself, nothing else matters. You cannot fool the man in the mirror.
I have often told myself that this is not the last match I am going to lose. A loss does not mean the end of the world is nigh. Just have the discipline and the commitment to give your best as often as you can. What matters most is your enthusiasm for the game and not the outcome.
Ask yourself whether you are playing golf for the sake of the game or in the hope of making new contacts or closing deals. Play for the sake of playing and you will feel the tension and the pressure evaporate.