As an avid golfer you are well aware of the creative
mind of Phil Mickelson. But did you know that his off-
the-cuff comments have led to the names of multiple
products?
As the story goes, the first time he hit a 50 yard
shot (that backed up ten feet) with one of Roger
Cleveland's new wedges to a small green at the Ely
Callaway Performance Center in Carlsbad, Lefty said
"THAT's my mack daddy wedge!" The
name stuck. And after hearing about Dr. Michael
Lardon's system for tracking a golfer's mental
performance during a round of golf, Mickelson
immediately started referring to it as a "mental
scorecard." Lardon had a light bulb moment
and went with it.
The mental scorecard and pre-shot pyramid
form the core of Dr. Lardon's new book,
"Mastering Golf's Mental Game." Lardon
is a Stanford-educated psychiatrist who has worked
with Olympic athletes and caddied for his brother
Brad on the PGA Tour. His previous book,
"Finding Your Zone, Ten Core Lessons for
Achieving Peak Performance in Sports and
Life," was a best-seller.
Catchy names aside, the concept of keeping
track of how well you played the mental side of the
game is uniquely suited to the competitive nature of
golfers. But exactly what are we keeping track of?
Lardon's focus is on everything you do in those
key moments before you hit a golf shot. Master the
process, and you should be able to eliminate most of
the mind-traffic that can lead to shots that are, let's
just say, suboptimal.
Rather than focus on the physical movements in
a pre-shot routine -- Keegan Bradley may look funny
but he does the same thing every time -- Lardon
describes in detail a "pre-shot pyramid."
that consists of calculating, creating, and executing
each shot. He explains how each part of the pyramid
involves a different part (or both parts) of your
brain; the logical side, the creative side, and a
combination of both at the moment just prior to
execution. Ideally, the mind stays clear at the
moment of truth, but Lardon is OK with you taking
one calming swing thought with you, as more of a
security blanket than anything.
 |
Dr. Michael
Lardon |
For many amateurs, a lot of the big errors
come into play early in the process when we often
miss the simple clues we should be paying attention
to. Maybe we forget to check the wind, or think
about the consequences of being short or long of a
green when pulling a club. I'm convinced that
thinking about that part of the mental pyramid, (and
keeping track of it using the score card) during my
practice rounds will help me to get into the routine of
"calculating" (as Lardon calls that part of
the pyramid) each and every shot.
Calculating a shot is just the first part of the
pyramid. Getting into the next two, creating and
executing, is really what the book is about. Lardon
provides plenty of real-life stories from his clients on
the PGA Tour (and other sports) to drive home his
approach. Some of his best stories involve
interactions with non-clients, such as a player who
was paired with his brother who was having trouble
making a shot choice and moving confidently into his
routine. After receiving some (free) advice, that
player went on to become a winner.
What I found different from other books about
the mental side of the game is how Lardon brings
into the discussion some pretty advanced science,
such as cognitive behavioral therapy, without turning
it into "Psychology 401." The mental
scorecard and pre-shot pyramid parts of the book
are preceded by chapters that discuss things like
attitude, motivation, and concentration. If you're like
me, you'll find pieces in these chapters you'll want to
refer back to often (and Lardon provides some
homework to remind you to do so). For example,
Lardon explains that our "fear response"
may have helped humans survive as a species, but it
can ruin our chances of hitting a tight fairway:
"There's no real survival-of-the-species
reason for you to be fearful of a tight tee shot with
water and out-of-bounds areas on either side, but
your brain registers the fear the same way it would
process physical danger. Your biology tricks you into
thinking the risks are similar when they obviously
aren't."
We've all tried to convince (or trick) ourselves
into thinking that "this shot is no big
deal" -- Lardon's book provides a number of
constructive ways to avoid the need for that kind of
last-minute self-talk. And there are even some
breathing exercises for when anxiety really gets out
of hand. (There's an app for that, really.)
"Mastering's Golf's Mental Game"
provides a solid foundation to build upon as you're
trying to maximize the results of your hard work and
practice. (What, you don't practice? There's even a
chapter that addresses motivation and burnout.) Like
the wonderful book "Golf is a Game of
Perfect" by Dr. Bob Rotella, it's a volume that
stirs a number of aha moments and almost begs you
to keep it handy as a reference. Dr. Lardon has a
companion website www.drlardon.com with a blog
(his latest post is an excellent analysis of the USA
Ryder Cup team's dilemma) as well as a number of
related resources including a downloadable
visualization exercise that Lardon developed for a
Division I college golf team.
You can, of course, also purchase Mastering Golf's
Mental Game on the drlardon.com website, and
I strongly recommend you do. It might be the best
$25 (under $20 on Amazon) you'll spend on your
game.
MORE ON DR. LARDON AND PHIL
MICKELSON
Lardon is also a nationally-ranked table tennis
player who, as a Christmas gift from Phil's brother
Tim, taught Mickelson a few table tennis tricks he
could use in the Ryder Cup team room. Which is how
their story started, but not how it ended. After
learning more about Lardon's techniques, Mickelson
was able to absorb a tough loss at the 2013 U.S.
Open at Merion and bounce back with a win at the
British Open. In the forward to "Mastering
Golf's Mental Game" Mickelson wrote, "I
went to Muirfield with more confidence than I had
going into previous British Opens. I played the
Scottish Open the week before and won in a playoff,
which confirmed many of the things we had talked
about. Then I played some of my best golf to win the
Claret Jug. It's one of the most satisfying victories of
my career."