A Lesson Learned
By Walt Chapman, PGA Professional
(This article appered June 10, 2007 as exclusive content for PGA.com.)

How about that Woody Austin? I can tell you, shooting a 62 is incredible, no matter where you do it. Doing so on the course that played the second toughest on the TOUR last year, and in the final round to end up winning by five shots, well, that's just amazing. The Stanford St. Jude Championship will be one of the more talked about tournaments of 2007 due to Woody's final round play.

By his own admission, Woody has not played the kind of golf that he expects of himself thus far in his career, and he also claims that he might be the most nervous guy out on TOUR. But yet, he was able to manage those nerves this week and play some of the most solid golf you could hope to see. In fact, he went the last 49 holes without a bogey. That is unheard of on TPC Southwind! I've played in this tournament, on this course, a few times myself, and I can tell you that Woody's performance is one of those you should consider yourself lucky to witness. People just don't play that kind of golf on this course.
 

So of course, the question is, how did he do it? How can a guy who often has troubles controlling his emotions and nerves play such a steady and spectacular round of golf? Well, he did it by sticking to a consistent mental pre-shot routine. And ff you don't have one, you need to get one, it will help you through the most intense pressure situations that you might face on a golf course. Woody may have been incredibly nervous on the inside, but you couldn't tell at home. He went through each shot with a strong focus and a consistent routine that told his body he was ready to hit and was expecting a certain result. And in the end, he was able to produce the shots he expected. And of course, the end result was a runaway victory.

These routines really tend to help on the more difficult holes. For example, the 11th hole at Southwind is a very small island green, where your mind may focus on the water (hazard) instead of executing the shot. Having a consistent pre-shot routine allows the player to remove the negative thoughts and produce a successful shot.

Here is a breakdown of the process that occurs during the Mental Pre-Shot Routine:

Visualization of the Shot - The process of picturing the desired shot toward your target.

Collecting of Physical Information in Mind - The gathering of any weather conditions, the lie of the ball, the turf conditions, the yardage to the target, the stance, hazards, and uphill or downhill considerations.

Consideration of Present Ball Striking Ability or Trends - Before the golfer can make a club selection or a decision on the type of shot desired, the present ability or likelihood of executing that particular shot should be evaluated.

Selection of Club - Based on the three items above, the golfer can now make a club selection.

Practice Swing(s) - Now that the golfer has made a club selection, a practice swing should be made visualizing the shot or feeling the swing.

Alignment toward the Target using an Intermediate Target - After the practice swing(s) the golfer should get behind the ball and using an intermediate target ( a blade of grass or a divot), align the club and body toward the target.

Thoughts before and during the Swing - Prior to swinging, the golfer should take a deep breath to allow tension to leave the body. There are two methods that the golfer can now apply to the process:

1. Speaking to yourself internally: saying the words: "See the shot", "Feel the Swing", and during the swing, "Trust it" or "Let it go".
2. Visualization in one's mind: Seeing the shot, seeing the target, and during the swing: Thinking about the target.

Obviously, this seems like a very long process, but once a golfer performs this routine several times it will become more simple, quick, and repeatable. Every accomplished golfer has a pre-shot routine that they rely upon to help them in pressure situations.

Of course, no one expected anyone -- especially Woody Austin -- to fire such an amazing score to win the tournament. But Woody has always believed in himself and his faith paid off this week.

The intensity and pressure of a PGA TOUR tournament is incredible, but there are ways to deal with them. Some do it better than others. This week, Woody played the type of golf he has hoped to play, and no amount of pressure could knock him off his game. No matter what type of pressure accompanies your golf game, you'll be better if you can develop and stick to a consistent preshot routine before each shot.

Check back each week for a new article and browse the archives (coming soon).

You can email your article to Walt at walt@waltchapman.com