We’re Entering the True Post-Tiger Era of No Fear

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The Tiger effect was real. When Tiger Woods was leading a tournament, it didn’t matter if he was playing well or playing poorly. He intimidated the other players to such a degree that it was easier for him to win than it would have been for the average player. That’s not a knock on his record. He… Read more »

The Curious Case of Joel Stave

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For an interesting look inside the mind of a top-level college athlete, read Albert Chen’s piece on Wisconsin quarterback Joel Stave in the Aug. 31 issue of Sports Illustrated, linked here. In it, he describes the painful process Stave went through to recover from a form of the “yips” in his throwing motion — a… Read more »

The Breakdown of Tiger Woods

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Go back and recount the incredible things Tiger Woods has done in his career—and there are a lot of them—and one of the most common threads in those stories is his competitiveness. He had swagger, like virtually all the greatest players do. It is a mixture of confidence, self-belief and even arrogance that makes the… Read more »

The Reinvention of Tiger Woods

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Tiger Woods has always played golf like it is a combat sport. He is ferociously (and famously) competitive, and he has spent almost two decades physically and mentally dominating the other competitors on the PGA Tour. And just like that, he’s back. Great day at the #TWCharityPlayoffs with @tigerwoods! https://t.co/Vah4LHpPhr — Hero World Challenge (@TWFoundation)… Read more »

Sport Psychology, Hypnosis and Golf: A Commentary

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In the last fifteen years, helping players on the PGA Tour as a sports psychiatrist, I have rarely heard the term hypnosis used. However, hypnosis is often defined by a state of attentive and receptive concentration, with a relative suspension of peripheral awareness that is common when players are playing their best. This timely article… Read more »

Solving the American Ryder Cup Puzzle

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Whether you look at the results on the course or the friction surrounding Tom Watson’s captaincy, it’s clear the American Ryder Cup system is in disarray. The 16.5 to 11.5 result at Gleneagles was Europe’s eighth win in the last 10 Ryder Cups—including the last three. Even if Watson had somehow managed to conjure the… Read more »

Golf Digest: How the Mental Scorecard Worked for Phil (and How it Can Help You)

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BOOK EXCERPT Adapted from Mastering Golf’s Mental Game: Your Ultimate Guide to Better On-Course Performance and Lower Scores, copyright © 2014 by Dr. Michael T. Lardon. To be published by Crown Archetype, an imprint of Random House LLC, on Sept. 16, $25. Over the past 10 years, I’ve been helping golfers like Phil Mickelson find high-value… Read more »