How to drain them like Jack

Golf Digest, June, 2001 by Bob Rotella

Afew years ago, I was invited to speak at a fund-raising dinner for the golf program at Georgia Tech. Jack Nicklaus, whose son Michael was then attending Tech, was the featured speaker. I was, of course, eager to hear anything he had to say about golf and the way he played it.

One remark Jack made struck both me and the members of the audience. He was speaking about facing a crucial putt on the last hole of a tournament.

"I have never three-putted the last hole of a tournament or missed from inside five feet on the last hole of a tournament," Jack said. He continued with his talk.

That was more than one member of the audience, a man in his 60s, was able to bear. When question time came, he stood up.

"Uh, Mr. Nicklaus," he said, "I really enjoyed your talk. But the statement you made about never three-putting the last green of a tournament or never missing from inside five feet on the last hole of a tournament--well, I was watching you in the Senior PGA just last month and I distinctly remember you missed a three-footer on the last hole."

"Sir, you're wrong," Jack said firmly. "I have never three-putted the last hole of a tournament or missed inside five feet on the last hole of a tournament."

"But, Mr. Nicklaus," the man objected. "I have it on tape. I could send it to you. Lee Trevino was in the broadcast booth, and he said you never used to miss short putts, but now you miss them to the right sometimes and then you missed an entire cup to the right . . . "

"There's no need to send me anything, sir," Jack interrupted him. "I was there. I have never three-putted the last green of a tournament or missed from inside five feet on the last green of a tournament."

Jack finished his talk and headed for the airport where his jet was parked. He has a busy schedule.

But the questioning man lingered, and he approached me. "Dr. Rotella," he said, "what's wrong with Nicklaus? Why can't he just admit it? You're the psychology expert. Can you explain it?"

I asked the man whether he played golf.

"Yes," he said.

"What's your handicap?" I asked.

"About 16," he said.

"And if you missed a short putt on the last hole of a tournament, you'd remember it and admit it," I observed.

"Of course," he confirmed.

"So let me get this straight," I said. "You're a 16-handicap, and Jack Nicklaus is the greatest golfer ever, and you want Jack to think like you?"

The man had no answer.

The point of the story, of course, is not whether Jack Nicklaus has ever missed a short putt on the last hole of a tournament. Of course he has. The point is that Jack's memory works differently from the memories of a lot of golfers. He has selective amnesia. He's able to block from his mind all the missed putts. He keeps and replays the memories of made putts. He's able to retain a firm belief that the next one is going in the hole. He's able to think of himself as a great putter.

Because he thinks that way, he's able to be a great putter. As William James, the pioneering American psychologist, shrewdly stated in the 19th century, people tend to become what they think about themselves. This simple truth is the basis for much of what I do as a sport psychologist.

It also points to the first step in any serious program to make yourself a better putter: You must examine yourself and your attitude toward putting. You have to assess your self-image regarding putting.

Are you the sort of player who gripes and complains all the time about your putting? When you step onto a green, are you glum and fearful, expecting the worst? Do you silently pray that your opponents will concede your next putt? Have you decided that you simply were born without putting talent, and this will be your burden to bear till the end of your golf days?

If so, you need a new attitude.

A fresh perspective

First of all, it's foolish to evaluate your putting if your mind has been holding you back. You may well have missed some putts in the past. But if you attempted them with a mind full of doubt, if you tried to steer the ball rather than let the stroke happen naturally--in short, if you putted with the wrong attitude--then those misses aren't relevant to the caliber of putter you can be. What would you think of a football coach who told you you weren't fast enough to play if your time trial occurred when you had a sprained ankle? You'd think he was unfair. Yet people routinely decide they're bad putters on the basis of putts they've missed when they've been carrying around a handicap far

more damaging than a sprained ankle.

Second, many people use "realism" as an excuse for negative thinking. Jack Nicklaus has undoubtedly missed more putts than your entire Saturday foursome combined. But either Jack chooses not to remember the putts he has missed or he's blessed with a natural tendency to forget them. Jack remembers instead the putts he has made, the putts that will help him be confident the next time he has a critical 10-footer.

There is nothing worse for your putting than dwelling on the putts you've missed. In fact, it's like multiplying the effects of a missed putt. If you lie awake after a bad round, replaying missed putts in your brain, it's psychologically no different from actually going out on a green and missing them again, over and over. You're training yourself to believe that you can't putt.