On The Tee with Hank Johnson

By Hank Johnson, PGA Founder and Master Instructor, Hank Johnson School of Golf
Friday, July 11, 2008

Pressure: How to Make it Work for You

I've had the privilege of working with many students who play tournament golf at the highest level. In doing so, they are forced to deal with the pressure that is a normal part of any competitive sports arena. I know from my own tournament experience that having an effective way to deal with that anxious, uncertain feeling that all competitors experience from time to time is critical to competing successfully. Following are some of the thoughts and concepts I have used with these players to help them handle pressure situations successfully.

First of all, you need to understand the difference between pressure and stress. Many times, pressure is an ally, while stress is almost always an enemy. Pressure in and of itself is neutral. It is how you choose to view it that determines whether it is good or bad. If you use it to your advantage, it is good pressure. Let it control you and it becomes bad pressure or stress. Pressure itself is not the enemy. Stress is the enemy.
Stress usually appears when you are not fully prepared for or not completely focused on the task at hand. It always shows up when you have been cutting corners, and looking for shortcuts in your preparation. Stress occurs when you are asking yourself to do something you are not fully prepared to do. Stress also lessens your confidence. When stress becomes a factor, you make bad decisions. You do not perform well. You feel anxious! Frankly, when stress comes into play. You Choke.
Lets use the example of being poorly prepared to take a big test. Thats really all competitive sports is anyway. Because you know youre poorly prepared, its impossible to have confidence in your ability to do well on the test. Why should you have confidence? You cant fool that person you look at in the mirror every morning. You know youre not prepared. You know you have no reason to feel confident. Enter Stress. Stress causes doubt. Doubt makes you expect failure.
Now when you know you have done everything you can to prepare for the challenge, pressure can become a motivating force. Good pressure heightens your senses and provides the climate for you to perform better than you have in the past. Thorough preparation allows you to use good pressure as an ally, Good pressure makes you more focused and often creates the environment for great performance.

The more you thoroughly prepare the more qualified you are to handle pressurized situations. Good pressure often brings out extraordinary results. If you learn how to embrace pressure and make it work for you. It can be a fertile climate in which accomplishments can grow.
So it is really very simple: The better prepared you are for any situation, the more you will honestly believe you can succeed . And the more you will succeed . When nothing is a stake, extra-ordinary efforts rarely occur. When everything is at stake they often do. Pressure is always present in competitive sports situations. There is really no effective way to eliminate it. You can, however determine whether it is an ally or an enemy. It all depends on how thoroughly prepared you really feel like you are.

Bring Your Teacher An “Empty Cup”
There is an often told story about a young student who sought out a Master in one of the Martial Arts.Each time the Master made a suggestion to the young student, he resisted trying the new suggestion. His reasons were, “I‘ve already tried that……I don’t think that will work…..that doesn’t fit with what I’ve always heard, ect.”The Old Master turned and walked away. The young student called after him, “Master, where are you going?” The Old Master responded, “Your cup is full, there is no room for my suggestions. Come back when you can bring me an empty cup.”
Four kinds of cups represent the four basic types of students that teachers encounter. One is the full cup as described above. This student’s mind is already so full there is no more room for information. Suggestions bounce off without getting inside.
Next is the cup with a hole in the bottom. Information goes in but, goes straight through. Nothing is retained because of a lack of effort to absorb any new information. Students in this category are usually highly distracted and not really concentrating on the instruction they are receiving. Nothing is really accomplished during the lesson and the cup (the student), doesn’t contain any more information than before the lesson.
Then there’s the dirty cup. When the fresh, clear instruction goes into this type of cup, it becomes cloudy and useless because of pre-existing “dirt”. No matter how great the instructional information is, once contaminated by bad information already in the cup, it becomes useless.
Finally there’s the student that’s like the clean, empty cup with no leaks. Pure instruction goes in, remains pure and is stored for ongoing use. These types of student usually make continuous progress and benefit greatly from time with the teacher.The message? Bring your teacher a clean, empty cup with no leaks!!!! This will let you get the most out of your golf lessons.

Hank Johnson, PGANovember 17, 2008

By Hank Johnson, PGA Founder and Master Instructor, Hank Johnson School of Golf
November 13th, 2008

What are you going to do today to become a better golfer?
Goal: The end or final purpose which a person aims to reach or accomplish
Action: An act or thing done; a deed
Result: Consequence or effect.
Goals
Following are some suggestions to help you keep your golf goals properly focused.
One way to start a golf competition or round of golf is with a result focus. Golfers with this orientation to competition are only happy when they are visibly successful. On the other hand golfers who are action-focused concentrate their energies on getting the job done; not on worrying about the praise or rewards they will receive.
Why is it better to focus on action goals rather than result goals? Because results are out of our control. The belief that results are under our control shows a fundamental lack of understanding about competition.
In sports there are no guarantees. No matter how hard you practice or how well you play, someone may be better than you on a given day. Here are five tips to help you stay action focused.

1)Focus on concrete, specific actions.
2) Set daily and weekly goals as stepping stones to you long term goals.
3)Set hard goals rather than easy ones.
4)Keep your goals clear and positive.
5)Get regular feedback on your progress.

These are five basic steps to achieving an action focus. Use these principles and you'll be able to change your natural tendency to worry about results into an effective ability to get the job accomplished.
Understanding action focus will help you become much more effective in getting the results you want from your golf game. Learn from Champions who have discovered the secret of high level achievement. Stay action focused and expect to succeed. Don't worry about the end results. Focus on your own actions and let the results take care of themselves.
Practical application: In the front of a small notebook or journal, write down you goals in terms of results. For example; win the club championship, qualify for a special tournament, make the high school golf team.
Next, write down your goals in terms of actions. For example; Spend a minimum of one hour each day practicing your short game, work out a minimum of three times each week to improve strength and flexibility, have a lesson with your teacher at least once each month.
Each day, write down what you actually did to carry out your action focused goals. Review your actual activities at least once per week to make sure you are really carrying out your action focused goals.
Goals without an action plan are just dreams

October 31, 2008
Have You Ever Wondered?
Have you ever wondered why some players (perhaps you) hit the ball farther With their three wood or even their five wood than they do with their driver? You might also be curious as to why at some point in certain players set of clubs; every club starts to go the same distance? For instance, their five iron doesn't go any farther than their six iron.It's because of the scientific fact that for a given club head speed, club head design and impact angle of the club head relative to the ground there is a minimum effective club face loft.That's correct. For any given combination of the factors mentioned above there is a minimum club face loft required to launch the ball on an effective trajectory and impart enough spin on the ball to keep it in the air.If a player goes below the minimum effective club face loft for their individual impact factors, the ball actually goes shorter.One of the major benefits of modern club fitting technology is the ability to scientifically determine the minimum effective clubface loft for each individual players launch conditions. This provides the opportunity to recommend the perfect set make up for each individual player.You can now determine with technology when your set should transition from traditional irons to hybrids. What the least lofted fairway wood your launch conditions will work with. What is the real minimum effective driver loft you should use?You don't have to guess or wonder any more. Now you can get the same accurate answers that the tour players have been getting for years. Make sure your equipment is helping you play your best golf.
posted by Hank Johnson