Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Rickie Fowler wins his first PGA Tour event with a great mental attitude



A great last weekend for Rickie Fowler, who won his first PGA Tour event at the Wells Fargo Champinship in North Carolina.

He beat Rory McIlroy and D.A. Points in a sudden death playoff.

Barry McDonnell, Fowlers long time swing coach, who passed away a year ago, gave a very interesting interview in August of 2009, that proves extremely relevant, in a world in which so little importance is given to teach young golfers how to manage their minds.

 McDonnell said:

 “I spent most of my time on the mental side. I keep working my kids’ minds. It’s harder to groove your mind than your golf swing,”

In his post victory press conference, Fowler let on, as he spoke, that McDonnell´s influence regarding his mental strength had been significant.

But what I liked most, was Rickie´s answer to the question on what he thought was his most improved part of the game, over the last two years:

Fowler:   "Yeah, I've played well the last two weeks. I've been hitting the ball well and swinging it well, and I feel like mentally I've been doing all the right things. But the biggest improvement has been course management and patience and kind of staying focused throughout rounds and not letting bogeys and doubles get the best of me and moving on and making the most out of the bad rounds like I did on Friday and focusing on putting together a good week".

And the piece of the interview that I really liked was his answer to the question if there was any part of his "physical" game that he had particularly concentrated on improving.

Fowler´s reply was short and simple: "My short game" (and he went on to underline that he had really improved his bunker play).

In my opinion, there are three solid mental golf lessons to be learnt from young Fowler´s win:

The first is that patience is key for a young rising star that seems to have a bit of trouble getting his first win. McDonnell´s lessons, and similar advice fom some experienced Tour players, served Rickie very well.

Second, good golf course management is essential as it turns into less strokes on the course, but, even more importantly, by avoiding stupid mistakes the golfer has a much higher probability of "staying" in his unconscious playing mode, the mode that allows our best golf, by being properly syinchronized in mind and body.

In third place, intensive practice of all aspects of the short game is vital. Not only does it allow us to "save" par, or sometimes birdie, when we miss the green, but it also allows us to
"stay" in the unconscious mode for longer periods of time, by avoiding the probable anger and frustration of an untimely missed birdie, or worse, a costly bogey or double. Anger and frustration takes us straight to the conscious mode of playing, that is bad for the swing since we are not synchronized in body and in mind.

Good on Rickie Fowler who´s promise is undeniable, and he should become one of the greatsof golf in the months and years to come.

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