The Sports Psychology Blog
This Sports Psychology blog, comes as Tiger Woods heads into day four of the US Open, one ahead of the field.
Golf: Tiger Woods - The Greater Presence
'At times, his work on Saturday, suggested that there was a greater presence at work'. The words of BBC online golf commentator, Rob Hodgetts, after Tiger Woods headed the field, on day three of the US Open, after carding two eagles in the last six holes.
With Tiger's dominant record, in leading from the front, on the last day of a major, then there is every chance, he will secure his third US Open crown today. And all of this, despite obvious pain from his knee.
Sometimes playing through pain, can help a player. They cease to try so hard, and play a game that suits their physical condition. Thus, there is a greater harmony between the players mind and body. And in the presence of that greater harmony, their game flows more easily and naturally. Not that was ever a problem for Tiger, of course.
When the player stops trying too hard, and learns to trust their game, then they can sometimes connect to the state of deep-play. Deep play occurs, when the game plays the player. And it is in the presence of deep-play, that those magic moments occur on the golf-course, that the player cannot explain.
Like when Tiger Woods, chipped in for a birdie, from green side rough, on the seventeenth. Or his monster eagle putt on the thirteenth and beautifully judged eagle on the eighteenth.
Some players, rarely experience the sensation, of the game playing the player. Often because, they cannot tap into the deep level of trust that this calls for. But not Tiger Woods. He, knows himself. And he knows his game. And through repeated success, has developed those deep levels of trust. And also, made sure that his ego, has not blocked or overlaid, that special feeling. It's a feeling of trust; of quiet; of calm; of being settled with your game.
Like a musician with their muse, the player thus becomes a conduit for the game. The player and the game as one. No difference.
As Rob Hodgetts observed, there was a greater presence at work. It was the presence of the game of golf, playing through the world's top player. When that happens, simply expect the unexpected.
