10 Mental Factors Related to Excellence
Antoine Nguyen, M.A. Performance Consultant
www.total-performance.ca


Extensive interviews with top Olympic and World champions have revealed many common psychological factors leading to excellence. Similar interviews were done with top professional golfers in the PGA and LPGA and, with no surprise, the results were similar. The common mental factors related to excellence can be summarized into 10 elements.

1. Commitment
For all elite athletes, commitment was an essential factor contributing to their success. They were totally committed to their sport. For PGA pros, their lives revolved around golf and nothing else stood in the way. It was their top priority. Commitment means that you must sometimes sacrifice other things to dedicate yourself to become the best player you can be in golf.

2. Belief
These top athletes have an unshakable belief in themselves and in their abilities to excel in their sport. They viewed every failure as a stepping stone to success and were utterly confident that they could make it if they were committed to excellence.

3. Goal Setting
The best touring pros had clear goals for every day, every practice, and every tournament. They had yearly goals and long term goals. They knew where they wanted to go and put all their energy into achieving those goals.

4. Quality Practice
Successful golfers believed that every practice should have a high degree of concentration and focus. They believe that the best way to establish winning patterns and achieve success was to practice with the highest degree of quality.

5. Practice Plan
Every time a pro goes to the practice tee, they have a purpose. They always know what they want to achieve and how to go about doing it. Their plan is very detailed and covers everything from warm-up to the type of shots they want to practise. They plan daily practices, pre-tournament practices, and practices before and after each round. They know when, how, and what to practise.

6. Imagery Training and Simulation
All of the best athletes make extensive use of imagery when they are performing. They practice imagery everyday, sometimes for seconds, and sometimes for hours. They try to see, hear, and feel different aspects of their execution as vividly as possible. They simulate performances in their minds and imagine how they would like respond to different situations. They use imagery and simulation to prepare themselves for training or competition, to perfect skills, to make technical corrections, and to see themselves achieving success.

7. Pre-Tournament Plan
Top touring pros make a structured plan before each tournament regarding course management and shotmaking strategies. They also plan their time and know when to wake up, how long to stretch and warm-up, when to eat, when to get to the course, how long they'll practice, and when to arrive at the first tee off.

8. Tournament Focus Plan
Top pros know how they would like to feel and what they ought to do to get into an ideal state of mind when they are on the first tee, during the round, and between rounds. They may recall a feeling, conjure up a positive image in their mind, or use various other mental strategies to be focused and emotionally in control. They always try to enter a mind state that works best for them in tournaments.

9. Distraction Control
All of the best athletes have strategies to deal with distractions or to get back on track when things don't go well. For example, they develop strategies to deal with slow play, the leaderboard, rain delays, or anything else that can affect their concentration.

10. Tournament Evaluation
Elite athletes always try to draw lessons out of each competition and continually adapt and refine their mental approach based on these lessons. They try to understand why they didn't perform well, or why they did. Top pros take note of the mental and emotional state associated with best and worst performances and integrate these lessons into their plan for subsequent tournaments.