10 Rules

 

10 Rules For How To Win Your Major

 

 

01 Believe you can win.
I still remember my first major, the 1985 city championship in Charlottesville, Va. Back then I didn't play a lot of golf, but I wanted to see how good the players in my town were. I shot in the 80s and finished third from last. When I got done, I decided to follow the leaders so I could see how my game compared. After watching them for 18 holes, my evaluation was this: They hit it farther than I did. They hit it straighter. Their bunker play was fantastic. And they chipped and putted better. But I left there believing that if those guys could win, so could I. I worked on my game, and over time I got better, including one winter when all I did each day after work was hit bunker shots. Eight years after I first competed, I made a 12-foot putt on 18 to win my city championship.

02 Don't be seduced by results.
How can Trevor Immelman get to the 18th green of the final round of the 2008 Masters and not know where he stands? It's called staying in the present, and it's a philosophy I teach all the players I work with. It means not allowing yourself to be seduced by a score or by winning until you run out of holes. Instead, you get lost in the process of executing each shot and accept the result.

Before Trevor teed off on Sunday with a two-shot lead, he decided he wouldn't look at leader boards. He had a plan: Pick a target, visualize the shot and let it rip. As Trevor walked up the 18th fairway, Brandt Snedeker put his arm around him and nudged him to walk ahead. Trevor told me it was the first time all day he allowed himself to think about the outcome. After marking his ball, he asked his caddie how they were doing. His caddie said he had a three-stroke lead over Tiger. Trevor said he went from being quiet and calm inside to thinking, How can I not five-putt this?

03 Sulking won't get you anything.
The worst thing you can do for your prospects of winning is to get down when things don't go well. If you start feeling sorry for yourself or thinking the golf gods are conspiring against you, you're not focused on the next shot. When Padraig Harrington won the British Open in 2007, he got up and down for a double-bogey 6 on the last hole to make a playoff after knocking two balls into the water. Padraig told me he had a level of acceptance that earlier in his career he didn't have. He said it never entered his mind that he might blow the tournament. His only thought was getting his ball in the hole so he could win the playoff.

04 Beat them with patience.
Every time you have the urge to make an aggressive play, go with the more conservative one. You'll always be OK. In a tournament, the rough is thicker, the pins are tougher, and the greens are faster. The moment you get impatient, bad things happen.

The best example of patience I ever witnessed was Tom Kite at the 1992 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. Kite had been 0 for 20 in U.S. Opens until then. On Sunday, wind gusts reached 35 miles per hour, but Kite didn't get flustered. On a day when a lot of players didn't break 80, Kite shot even par and won by two. In tough conditions, stay patient and let others beat themselves.

05 Ignore unsolicited swing advice.
Not too long ago, I was working with this player who was struggling. But a couple of strong finishes had him feeling better. At the next tournament he makes, like, eight birdies in the first round. Now he's feeling really good. He stops by the putting green to hit a few, and a player he knows walks up to him and says: "I don't know what you're doing with your putting, but that's not the way you used to set up." A few minutes later another player comes over: "You don't have your eyes over the ball the way you used to." Now my guy doesn't know what to think. He went from making everything he looked at to being a mess the next day.

You'll have lots of well-meaning friends who want to give you advice. Don't accept it. In fact, stop them before they can say a word. Their comments will creep into your mind when you're on the course. If you've worked on your game, commit to the plan and stay confident.

06 Embrace your golf personality.
Some players like Anthony Kim love to socialize on the course. Others like Retief Goosen keep to themselves. The key is to find what works best for you. The toughest player, mentally and emotionally, I've ever worked with is Pat Bradley, the LPGA Tour Hall of Famer. She was like Ben Hogan -- she didn't talk to anybody when she played. She told me she didn't have time to chat with players because she had an ongoing dialogue with herself. I still remember the day she called to tell me she was done. She'd been on the range before a tournament giving tips to other players. Later, on the first few holes, she found herself chitchatting with her playing partners. "I can't play golf this way," she told me. "I'm done. I've accomplished everything I wanted to accomplish."

07 Have a routine to lean on.
I tell players to follow a mental and physical routine on every shot. It keeps you focused on what you have to do, and when the pressure is on, it helps you manage your nerves. A pre-shot routine helped Curtis Strange win his first U.S. Open, in 1988. Afterward he went home and watched the tape with his wife and kids. He told me they kept commenting on how cool and calm he looked. Curtis said to me: "I'm thinking, Who in the world are they talking about? They can't be talking about me. I couldn't get any moisture in my mouth. My heart was jumping out of my chest." Curtis said he had so much emotion in his body it was unbelievable. He was working his tail off just to stay in the present, hit one shot at a time and not think about what it would mean to win the U.S. Open.

‘It's easy to build up a tournament into something so huge that you can't play.’

08 Find peace on the course.
When you practice hard and admit to yourself that you really want to win, it's easy to build up a tournament into something so huge that you can't play. I've seen amateurs not used to competing arrive two hours before their tee time and try to rebuild their golf swings. They become panicked practicers and try to perfect every area of their game. They get themselves so tied up in knots it's ridiculous. Tour players do this, too. I've seen guys come to Augusta, rent a big house and invite their family and friends. When Thursday comes around, they start worrying: What if I miss the cut and disappoint everyone? The golf course has to be your sanctuary, the thing you love, and you can't be afraid of messing up.

09 Test yourself in stroke play.
I'm a big believer that stroke play is real golf. I know lots of people who are good in matches who can't play a lick at stroke play. But most guys who are good at stroke play also thrive in matches. When you have to count every shot, it's a tougher game. Too often guys go out as a foursome and play "our best ball against your best ball." That has its place, but stroke play makes you mentally tough.

10 Find someone who believes in you.

The greatest thing I've got going for me is my ability to believe in other people's talents. I can see people doing things they can't see themselves doing. Every champion needs that. Hogan once told me he considered quitting the game several times early in his career because he didn't think he was providing for his wife the way he should. But Valerie wouldn't let him quit. She knew he'd never be satisfied until he won majors. Having confidence in yourself is important, but it helps to have someone who believes in you, too, whether it's a spouse, a friend, a teacher, or even a sport psychologist.

 

10 Rules For Reading Greens

Don't sell your sensory awareness short: Amazing as it might seem, almost everyone will get information from the stand-at-address perspective that you can't gather from reading the green with your eyes.

 

01. First sight is best sight. I've caddied for Phil Mickelson since 1992 and have seen some tremendous golf along the way, but the first nine holes on Sunday of this year's Masters was the most exciting front nine I've ever seen. Phil got it going early, birdieing the second, third and fifth holes, and then hitting it three feet under the hole at the sixth. We grinded on that three-footer for a long time, because we had opposite reads, which is rare. Phil saw it as a left-edge putt, and I saw it right edge. As I looked at it more, I began to get confused. That's the problem with studying a putt for too long; you end up seeing things that aren't there. Fortunately, I snapped out of it and stuck with my first read. Phil drilled the putt dead-center to keep his charge going. When it comes to reading greens, what the old-timers say is true: Your first instinct is best. So trust it.

02. Read with your feet, too. To get a perfect read on one of Phil's putts, I stand over the ball as though I'm going to hit it. I get a great sense of the break not only with my eyes, but with my feet. When I look down at the ball, I can tell immediately whether it's a fraction of an inch higher or lower than my feet. Then I factor that in along with what I see from the other perspectives. Don't sell your sensory awareness short: Amazing as it might seem, almost everyone will get information from the stand-at-address perspective that you can't gather from reading the green with your eyes.

03. Speed doesn't always kill. Phil possesses one of the rarest traits a golfer can have: He doesn't hesitate to negate break on putts by hitting them firmly. This is true even on fast greens, where the consequences of missing are severe, and it's especially true under pressure. His boldness and faith in his ability are what separate him from other players. An example of this came during the 2005 PGA Championship at Baltusrol. I read only a handful of putts for Phil the entire week because he had the greens wired and didn't need my input. But on the final hole, Phil pitched his third shot to within two feet and then out of the blue asked me to look at the putt and confirm his feeling that it might break to the right. As always I did my best to help him. Although it was a short putt, he needed it to win his second major. It only got worse when I looked at the putt, because I didn't see it moving right at all. I told Phil, "I like it straight. If you put a little speed on it and hit it dead center, it won't have time to move." Phil banged in the putt to win. On days when you're putting well, don't be afraid to cut the read on short putts in half and firm them in.

04. Develop an insurance read. One of the toughest reads is the six-footer that has a small but telling amount of break -- half a ball outside the edge, for example. After reading from my customary angles and making a decision, I use a final insurance read that gives me a feeling of certainty. Your insurance read can be any technique you like, but for me it consists of lining up the putt in the standard way -- squatting behind the ball -- and then imagining how the ball would behave if I started it dead center. I'll almost always see the ball peeling off a certain amount left or right, so then I know to aim that far out on the other side. Like I say, the insurance read can be anything, but you should have one.

05. One read for bent, two for Bermuda. On Bermuda greens, which are slower and have more grain than bent-grass greens, I give two reads: a firm-speed read and a dying-speed read. You have options because you can afford to take some of the break out of the putt by hitting it harder, knowing the ball won't roll too far past. On bent-grass greens, however, there really is only one true read: one where the ball will roll a foot and a half by the hole if it doesn't go in.

At Augusta, where the bent-grass greens are free of grain and as fast as they get, the reads are simplified, and Phil and I decide on a line based on our mutual understanding of that one speed. When you're reading greens for a partner, though, make sure you're speaking the same language, and with consideration for the surface you're playing.

Read More http://www.golfdigest.com/magazine/2009-10/10_rules_jim_mackay#ixzz27dNf5H00

 

10 Rules For Winning All Your Matches

"You need the mindset of making big leads bigger."

Related Links

• Swing Sequence: Stewart Cink
• 10 Rules from Bubba Watson
• 10 Rules from Jim McLean
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• 10 Rules from Michael Jordan
• 10 Rules from Luke Donald
• 10 Rules from Ray Floyd
• 10 Rules from Sean O'Hair

By Stewart Cink

With Guy Yocom

Photo by Brent Humphreys

August 2010

1. One hole can turn a match around
In the first round of the Accenture Match Play this year, I was 4 down after six holes to Edoardo Molinari. Mentally, I hadn't packed my suitcase, but it definitely was unzipped and sitting on the bed. Then I told myself, To turn this thing around, all you need to do is win one hole. I won the 10th, then made five birdies coming in and won, 2 up. Big comebacks happen all the time, and they start with winning a single hole, which can change the momentum completely. Just try not to wait too long.

2. When to play your opponent
If you were playing a match that stood even on the dangerous par-5 18th hole at Pebble Beach, with your ball in the fairway and a 50-50 chance of hitting the green in two, would you go for it? The decision should hinge on one factor: your opponent's ball. If he's also in the fairway and 10 yards closer, you have to go for it. If he's closer but in the rough, you should lay up to your favorite wedge distance. If he's already hit his second shot into the front bunker, you should play a long iron or hybrid short of the green -- an easier third shot than his. With the match on the line, weigh your opponent's position more than at any other time.

3. Make your partner feel comfortable
Lucas Glover is my favorite match-play partner. What makes us a good team -- we've done some damage in Tuesday practice rounds -- is that we know how much advice to give each other, and when to give it. This is good team chemistry, because the player who likes help reading greens early on might not like it later, or vice versa. Some players don't want help at all. Others insist on giving you advice even if you don't need any. (It can be best to indulge them.) You need to know your partner's personality and temperament, and how and when to lift him up or leave him alone.

4. Become automatic on short putts
Practice putting a lot from three feet. If you establish a reputation for never missing the short ones, your opponents will concede more borderline putts. You'll like that, and so will your partner.

5. Putt for birdie first
Say you have a 10-footer for birdie, and your partner has a five-footer for par. You should putt first, because even if your partner makes his par putt, it will put pressure on you to prove that the strategy didn't backfire. If your partner doesn't make the par, you'll go into defense mode to avoid three-putting. You always want to putt with the same attitude as you would in stroke play. That means the guy farthest from the hole putts first.

6. Break the monotony
Giving strokes in matches gets tiresome. When I'm home in Duluth, Ga., my amateur buddies and I play games that keep me sharp. The first is called "two-step." After every shot I hit (except putts), my opponent gets to pick up my ball, take two strides in any direction, and make me play my next shot from there -- even if it puts me in a bunker. The second is "replay." Instead of giving a friend, say, 10 strokes, he can make me replay six shots a round. So if I hit one stiff, I have to play it again. They're hard games for me -- and they've made me a little sharper in real matches.

7. Decide in advance who plays first
In every team match I've played as a pro, my partner and I have sat down the night before and decided who would hit first from the tee. Generally the best ball-striker should hit first on all holes; don't get cute and have one guy hit first on the par 3s, and the other guy on the par 4s. That'll only take your team out of rhythm. If the order goes bad for any reason -- even if you're playing well but the other team is on fire -- don't hesitate to change it. But agree, in advance, on your willingness to do so.

Read More http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-instruction/2010-08/10-rules-cink#ixzz27dNL7Di4

10 Rules To Finish Off A Great Round

 

01
Play to win, not for a score
As a junior golfer in Southern California, I had two goals: Beat my dad, and break par. But something always happened near the end of rounds that stopped me from doing either. Then, on my 12th birthday, my dad took me to Alta Vista Country Club. I was playing well, and as the round went on, my desire to beat my dad got so intense, I forgot about my score. I did beat him that day, but only when we got inside did I notice I'd shot 71 -- one under par. If you're struggling to break through a scoring barrier, have a second goal going at the same time.

02
Take your eyes off the prize
At Oklahoma State, we each had two golf bags: a playing bag, which was for tournaments, and a practice bag. The practice bag was more coveted because you had to earn it. Only when you shot a target score assigned by our coach, Mike Holder, did you get that prestigious practice bag. A lot of guys would have hot rounds going only to choke, knowing that if they didn't finish strong, they'd have to lug around their old bag from high school. It was a great mental trick by Coach Holder. We eventually learned that the score would happen if we focused on the process.

03
Stay sharp with your putter
If you're playing great through 14 or 15 holes, you probably got there in large part because of your putter. That knowledge can make you "hole conscious," where you look at the hole out of the corner of your eye at address or let your eyes dart to the hole before you hit the ball. There's also a tendency to become "guidey," steering the putter through impact instead of releasing it and hitting the ball solidly. The lesson is, make an effort to putt the same way late in the round as you did early on.

04
Recognize a real gamble
At the 2007 Travelers, I was tied for the lead with two holes to play. I drove into a fairway bunker at the par-4 17th and faced a short but scary approach over water. Normally I'd hit a pitching wedge, but a ball in the water would have ended my chances, so I hit a 9. Unfortunately, it went long, and I made bogey. But I avoided double bogey. I birdied 18 to get into a playoff, which I wound up winning. The key was that shot over water. When you have a good round going, take the possibility of a penalty out of the equation whenever you can.

05
Don't fight the excitement
There's a school of thought that says you should be flat-lined emotionally when you have a career round in the works. I disagree. You're right where you want to be, the possibilities are tremendous and the mystery of it is downright fun. It's human nature to feel excited, and if you fight it, you'll just get out of sorts.

06
Root hard for yourself
At a 36-hole U.S. Open qualifier in Dallas a few years ago, I opened with a 73 and was going nowhere. Mentally I was in a bad place; even my good shots didn't excite me. My caddie, mental coach Neale Smith, had finally had enough. He all but ordered me to start reacting enthusiastically, telling me to pump my fist after good shots.

That afternoon, pumping my fist so often I almost felt silly, I shot 63, broke the Northwood Club course record, and got into the Open at Oakmont. The momentum I had came from forced enthusiasm. Having your buddies root you on helps, but doing it yourself is even better.

07
Forget the holes up ahead
When I won at Phoenix this year, I finished 65-65. I birdied the ninth hole on Sunday to make the turn at two under, and it was hard not to look ahead to 15 and 17, both birdie holes. Likewise, it was tough not to think about a couple of the difficult holes and say, If I can just par those...I pushed those thoughts out of my head, because if I'd paid attention to anything but the shot I was playing, I'd have forgotten about details like my routine, my alignment, my pace. You've heard it before, but you really have to stay in the present.

08
The right way to play safe
Protecting a great round is fine, but don't ease up too much. If you decide to aim away from flagsticks, be bold about it and take dead aim for the fat part of the green. Make aggressive swings to safe spots. If you play chicken golf, vaguely shooting away from trouble, you'll invite bad shots and maybe disaster.

09
Keep gas in your tank
When my game is on fire, I burn more energy, and sometimes I'm not aware of it because I get caught up in the moment. But I've done a better job lately of drinking water and eating a snack (apples and other fruits so I don't have a sugar crash).

For the amateur, a lights-out round occurs so rarely that when it does happen, you'll burn even more energy through sheer adrenaline. It's important to eat and drink midway through the back nine and to move around more slowly. If you run out of gas, your hot round will fizzle out, too.

10
Have a swing cue on call
Great rounds often collapse when a player suddenly loses his swing or sense of feel. This happened to me at the Byron Nelson a few years back. I was five under after seven and suddenly couldn't hit a shot.

When the train leaves the tracks like that, you need an "out" shot, a trusted swing thought that will get you around. For me, it means playing the ball back, choking down and hitting a draw, making sure I swing aggressively. For you, it might be a trusty fade with the driver or an easy 3-wood. Just have something on call for those emergency situations.

Read More http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-instruction/2010-09/hunter-mahan-10-rules#ixzz27dEzJpla

10 Rules To Hit It Huge

 

1. You Probably Need More Loft
My wife, Angie, is a good athlete who played pro basketball with the WNBA's Charlotte Sting. When she started playing golf seriously, six years ago, she used a driver with 9 degrees of loft and could carry the ball about 170 yards. Just before she played in the Bob Hope Classic pro-am earlier this year (a fifth-anniversary gift from me), she switched to a driver with 13 degrees. She instantly increased her carry distance to 215 yards with the same amount of roll she had before. Angie isn't much different from most male amateurs in that the quickest shortcut to more distance is getting a driver with more loft. And don't stop there; get a light, properly fitted shaft, too. You should use every bit of technology available before taking the leap of overhauling your swing. A custom-fit driver can easily give you 20 yards overnight; changing your swing can take months, or longer.

2. Utilize Your Best Physical Trait
Long hitters are long for different reasons. J.B. Holmes has a thick, strong, corn-fed kind of build. He's very powerful from the elbows down, with strong, fast hands. Dustin Johnson is sort of skinny, with tremendous speed in his hips and torso. Me, I'm tall with a wide arc and long swing. People have different physical assets. It might be strong thighs, broad shoulders, a strong core, whatever. Find your strong point physically, and take advantage of it. And be careful that an instructor doesn't try to build your swing around a part of you that isn't your strongest point.

3. Try A Shorter Shaft
Twice I've been offered a spot in the Re/Max World Long Drive Championship, and both times I turned it down. It was nice to be invited, but I thought altering my swing specifically to get more distance for that one event might wreck my game. But I did toy with the idea, and even had Ping build me a driver with 5.5 degrees of loft and an extra-long, 48-inch shaft. The longer shaft, which many people assume is an automatic trick to generating more clubhead speed, didn't work at all. It threw my timing off, and I didn't hit the ball much farther even when I nailed it. I did much better with my standard 44½-inch driver, simply swinging a little harder.

Trying a longer shaft is a popular suggestion these days, but most players should, if anything, try a shaft half an inch shorter than what's in their driver. (The average, off-the-rack driver shaft today is 45½ inches.) Tiger Woods at his longest used a relatively short 43½-inch driver, with a steel shaft to boot. You'll find it easier to hit the sweet spot with a shorter shaft, and you can go after tee shots without losing much control.

4. Learn To Hit A Draw
Learn to draw the ball If you slice, you're not paying as high a price as players used to with the older equipment. That's because modern drivers don't spin the ball as much, and the ball doesn't spin as much, either. But the lesser penalty for a slice has lulled a lot of amateurs to sleep. The best way to really boom the ball out there is to swing from the inside and turn it over. You'll compress the ball more, and the shot will bore through the wind better. And if you find the right driver, you'll carry the ball farther with a draw than you would with a fade -- another result of modern equipment.

5. Accept Days When You Don't Have It
I started the last day of Bay Hill in 2008 in a five-way tie for the lead. For the first 10 holes, I hooked almost every shot, even when I consciously tried to hit a big fade. I was hitting the ball so far off line it cost me not only accuracy but distance. I fought that darned hook the entire time, and after a while it was too late to recover. I finished tied for eighth. If I had it to do over, I would've just accepted my natural ball flight that day instead of wrestling with it. There are times when you'll wake up with a certain ball flight, or you just don't feel as strong or flexible as you normally do. Roll with it. That's what separates great players from the rest of the field

 

10 Rules For Maximizing Your Competitiveness

'If you have 100 percent confidence that you can pull off a shot, most of the time you will.' -- Michael Jordan

 

1. Focus on the little things. During my basketball career, I always told myself to focus on the little things because little things added up to big things. I equate making putts with making free throws, and my biggest mental challenge shooting free throws was in my second year, 1986, when I came back from a foot injury for the playoffs and had a 63-point game against Boston in the Garden. I had to make two free throws to send the game into overtime, and all I focused on was the basics -- I'm not gonna be short. I'm gonna extend and reach for the rim -- all the fundamentals that I had worked on at home and at practice for all those years. Golf is no different. Don't assume, for example, that any putt is good. Make sure you putt every three-footer with conviction.

And keep score every time you play. I do.

2. Have total confidence in what you can do. If you have 100 percent confidence that you can pull off a shot, most of the time you will. I'll never forget the time I was playing with Seve Ballesteros in Valencia [Spain]. It was just a fun round, but very competitive, of course. Seve misses a green, and his ball ends up right up against a tree. He has absolutely no backswing, and I'm thinking he's out of the hole. Next thing I know, Seve's on his knees with some kind of iron in his hands, and he's choking down all the way to the hosel. He chips this thing, and it bounces onto the green to a few feet, and he makes par. Unbelievable!

Tiger's the same way. One time we're at Isleworth playing for a little money, and he has me 1 down on the 17th hole, a par 5, and I'm getting a shot, so I think I'm in good shape. We get up to his ball, and he's 267 yards from the green, downhill lie, and he's in a divot. I'm thinking he's gotta lay up.

Not Tiger. He takes his 5-wood, puts it back in his stance and just wails it. The ball took off like a freakin' laser, right onto the green. The guy makes eagle, and I'm saying, "This is crazy."

But that's Tiger.

3. Don't think about the prize; think about the work. At my basketball camps every year, I award the kids shoes if they make a certain number of free throws or if they complete an around-the-world or something like that. But I always tell them that if they're thinking about the prize, they should be thinking about the work. Prepare, practice and perfect it. Do the work, and the prizes will come.

4. Keep it simple. There are a lot of correlations between basketball and golf, especially on the mental side. Whenever I played a big game, I tried to stick to things I knew I was capable of doing. I do the same in golf. I've seen Tiger hit that stinger, and I know it's doable for me, too, but it isn't a shot I've practiced much. Why would I try that in the heat of the moment?

My instructor, Ed Ibarguen, has me focus on a specific target before every swing. One of my biggest problems is, sometimes when I see water right I try extra hard to stay away from it. And what happens? You end up going right in the water. That's because you're focusing on the wrong thing.

Eddie tells me to pick a blade of grass on my line or a building in the distance and to blindfold myself to everything else. That's keeping it simple, and that works especially well in pressure situations.

5. Control your emotions until the round is over. Celebrating during a round can be a good thing if it inspires you to keep doing great things. But be careful not to overdo it. Sometimes, celebrating too much adds pressure and makes you feel like you've got to live up to it the rest of the round. Worse, your celebrating can motivate your opponent. My enjoyment doesn't come until the round is over. Most of the time, anyway.

When I made my first hole-in-one, last year at Turnberry near Miami, it lived up to expectations: After a hole-in-one, you don't really care about the rest of the round. It was a great shot, 205 yards into about a 30-mile-per-hour wind with a 3-wood. I hit it kind of low, but it never left the flag. Took a couple of checks and went in. It was an unbelievable feeling.

6. Use tough losses for motivation. Turning negatives into positives has always worked for me. I think back to when I was cut from my high school basketball team as a sophomore. That was the biggest disappointment of my sports career, but it only made me work harder.

When I was 12 years old, playing baseball, we had to play a three-game series against a team from Texas. If we win, we go to the Little League World Series. We lost the first game, 4-3, and the next game I pitched a two-hitter, but we lost, 1-0. Honestly, I wasn't that disappointed about the Little League thing, because getting that close to the World Series was quite an accomplishment. But all of the disappointments you have as a competitor can ultimately provide motivation to help you move up the ladder.

7. Competitors always want to have something riding on the outcome. It isn't the amount of money, it's something to keep the focus at its highest. Whenever I meet people, they always have this idea that I like to play for big money. My line is always: I play for whatever makes you nervous. That's enough to give me a competitive edge. It could be five dollars. It could be 10. It could be a shirt in the pro shop. It doesn't have to be for $500,000 or a million. Sometimes it might be enough if we're just playing for pride.

The first time I ever played with Tiger -- at Medinah, I think -- I was a little nervous. We had a little something riding on it, and obviously you're thinking he's probably analyzing your swing, and you aren't focused on what you're supposed to be doing. You aren't relaxed. So that's what I'm doing, and I shot 88. The next time, I say, "Look man, you killed me the last time we played. I shot 88. How many are you gonna give me today?" So he says, "I'll give you five a side." We're playing at my home course, which at the time was the Merit Club [outside Chicago]. This time I'm feeling pretty confident. No jitters. I know he isn't paying attention to me, so all I have to do is play my game. And I fleeced him. Beat the [crap] out of him. ... Actually he played pretty good. He shot 65 to tie the course record at the Merit Club.

But I shot 73.

8. I love trash-talking, and there's an art to turning it into a competitive edge. Trash-talking is a means of (1) giving you confidence, and (2) taking your opponent's mind off what he's trying to do and putting a little more pressure on him. I don't talk trash to demean people.

I don't talk about their parents or any of that. But I do love talking trash no matter who I'm playing. President Clinton is the only U.S. president I've played golf with, and I talked trash with him, too. Why wouldn't I? Talking trash, especially with someone like that, is giving him a better understanding of who I am. He wants to experience what it feels like to hang out with Michael Jordan, and that's me.

I enjoy moments like that. I love competitiveness. So why would I do anything less?

9. Nervousness is not a bad thing. I was nervous a lot of times before games. The key is, does that nervousness go away once the ball is thrown up because of your preparation and your routine. Once the game got started, I was back in my routine.

Golf can work the same way if you put in the work to prepare. Yeah, you're going to be nervous on the first tee, but all it takes is one good shot, and that nervousness goes away.

If you have doubts, nervousness will expose that. At some point you say, I know I can play this game. I'm gonna keep it simple. Fairways and greens. Make bogeys when I feel like I can't make a par.

10. Learn from Tiger's competitiveness. We'll never really know which of the two of us is more competitive.

He plays golf, and I played basketball. But he'll do anything to beat you.

One day we were playing with a friend of mine, Jacob Brumfield. He played pro baseball [with four major-league teams] in the '90s. Jacob was so trash-talking Tiger that when we got to the 18th hole, Tiger told him he'd play every shot on that hole from his knees and Jacob could play normal. Now that is confidence. That's the kind of stuff I'd do in basketball.

Understand that Jacob is a 3- or 4-handicap who drives it about 270. So Tiger got to tee it up for every shot on the 18th hole, but he played them all from his knees -- every shot! He tied Jacob on the hole with a bogey, but that was just as good as beating him.

On Being An Athlete

Gary Player, featured here in the December 1965 Golf Digest, retains his commitment to fitness at 75. He'll join Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus as an honorary starter at next year's Masters.

 

1. MAKE IT PART OF YOU
When I was 9, my older brother, Ian, was called off to war. Before he left, he took me aside. "I might not come back," he said. "But whether I do or don't, I want you to promise me that you'll always exercise and keep yourself fit." When Ian got home, he found I had kept my promise, and today I'm about as fit as a 75-year-old man can be. The secret is commitment. It cannot be a fad. Even if your exercise program is small, you must make it a part of your life.

2. WALK AT A GOOD CLIP
Not just on the course, but off. Good walker-golfers can go 36 and have energy to spare. Sam Snead had a wonderful stride and a rapid, consistent pace. He moved like a jungle animal and never tired. On the flip side, I once played with a famous football player in the old NFL Golf Classic. He was known for his endurance, but after three days he was absolutely whipped. Walking is natural, but you can improve at it: Walk rapidly and smoothly, swinging your arms to help you breathe.

3. DEVELOP BOTH SIDES OF YOUR BODY
The perfect golfer would look like Popeye: thin waist, powerful legs, huge forearms, with the left and right sides equally strong. When you perform any repetitive motion like the golf swing, it's important to strengthen the corresponding muscle groups. Swinging a weighted club is a great exercise, but if you're right-handed, make the same number of swings left-handed. This will keep your back and hips in balance and prevent injury.

4. FOCUS ON YOUR HANDS AND WRISTS
Henry Cotton once told me that your hands, fingers and wrists can never be too strong. Hitting practice balls will work out your hands, but you want to do special exercises, too. Suspending free weights using your thumb and each finger individually is a big help.

I do my favorite hands-and-wrists exercise when my grass at home gets long. I take a sand wedge (the heaviest club in the bag) and "cut the grass" with it, holding on firmly so I can accelerate to a full finish.

5. WORK ON YOUR CORE
Strengthening your core muscles, your stomach especially, has become a mantra in golf-training programs. It's not news to me; I've always felt that my core essentially holds my body together and prevents back injuries. I still do sit-ups. I can do hundreds in a day as long as I break them up into two or three sessions.

6. FIGHT BECOMING OVERWEIGHT
Golf is the game for a lifetime, but that lifetime will be shorter if you're overweight. And while you're at it, encourage a young person to lose weight. Every week, I make a point of finding an overweight youngster in the gallery and taking his father aside. I tell these fellows, privately and very politely, "My son is a diabetic, and my father was a diabetic. When you get diabetes, you take insulin twice a day, and that doesn't stop it from affecting your eyes, your liver, your limbs and everything else. Please get your son on a good diet now." I think they're usually grateful.

7. EAT 'SUPER FOODS'
The biggest technological advance in golf in the next 50 years won't be equipment or exercise. It'll be nutrition. Pro athletes will have "super diets" and will avoid starches, sugar and most of the commercial foods available today, which are loaded with all kinds of steroids, pesticides, sewage and industrial wastes. They'll eat "super foods," such as almond milk, which is loaded with proteins and tons of nutrients. Other common examples of super foods are raw fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole-grain breads, avocado and yogurt.

8. TRY TO GET WINDED, 10 MINUTES A DAY
Whether it's climbing stairs in your house, riding an exercise bike or jumping rope, the key is to get at least slightly out of breath for 10 minutes. It's practically impossible to be badly out of shape if you do this each and every day. Be opportunistic; an example is to always take the stairs instead of the elevator. I make a game of seeing how long I can go without using an elevator. And I always trot, not trudge, up the stairs.

9. BE SMART ABOUT LIFTING WEIGHTS
When other players first saw my weight-training program back in the 1950s, they thought I was crazy. Frank Stranahan, a terrific amateur player, and I were the only ones doing it. In fact, lifting weights has made me a better golfer. Two suggestions:

First, bench presses are very popular, but I still prefer old-fashioned push-ups to strengthen the chest.

Second, do your weight training in the evening, and follow it immediately with a shower--cold water, then hot. This will help your body recover faster, so you aren't as stiff the following day.

10. GET ENERGY FROM YOUNGER PEOPLE
When I'm on vacation, I try to play golf with younger people, the fitter the better. I think you tend to take on the characteristics of the individuals you spend the most time with. Doing activities with young, healthy people has had a way of making me rise to their level. The best traits of young people--their optimism, curiosity, alertness and energy--are contagious and will definitely make you feel younger.

10 Rules On Being A Savvy Risk-Taker

This risky shot led to a triple bogey and a playoff loss in the 1963 U.S. Open.

RELATED LINKS

Podcast: Arnold Palmer

Listen to an exclusive podcast in which Arnie talks about his game, the best players he ever saw, his father, his friendship with President Dwight D. Eisenhower and the things that stir him most emotionally still. Go to golfdigest.com/go/palmerpodcast. The podcast is also available free on iTunes.

 

1. Measure risk against reward.
When I drove the first green at Cherry Hills in the final round of the 1960 U.S. Open, many people thought it was a risky, heroic effort. I didn't see it that way at all. It's a narrow hole with a creek running along the right side, but I figured even if I drove into the water, I still could get up and down for par. The reward--a sure birdie and possibly an eagle--outweighed the risk. The easy birdie I made got me started on my 65 and a career-defining U.S. Open victory.

Always measure worst-case scenarios with the best that can happen, and have a biased eye toward the best.

2. Think twice before reaching deep.
When Jack Nicklaus came on the scene in the early '60s, he could really boom the ball. When I played with him, the urge to keep my drives up with his was irresistible, and the results weren't always the best. Swinging all-out is good; swinging beyond all-out usually leads to disaster.

3. Bold putting isn't risky.
The most important thing in putting is getting the ball to the hole. Or should I say, past the hole. In my prime, if I didn't make a putt, you could bet it was going by the hole. When you continually come up short, you open yourself up to risk because you've stopped moving the putter with authority. Before you know it, this will eat away at your confidence on the greens. You have to give the ball a chance to drop, every time.

4. Don't compound mistakes.
My losing a seven-stroke lead to Billy Casper on the back nine of the 1966 U.S. Open at Olympic resulted largely from Bill shooting a 32 on that nine. But I didn't play well, and if there's one shot I wish I could have over, it would be my second on the par-5 16th hole. After driving into thick rough, I chose to hit a 3-iron instead of playing out to the fairway. The shot went all of 75 yards, and I wound up with a costly bogey and eventually lost the championship to Bill. The lesson: Don't compound mistakes by trying a shot you most likely can't pull off on your recovery.

5. A low ball means a lower risk.
I can still remember my father's directive for playing iron shots: "Hit the ball on a line, at the hole." I always tended to hit my irons fairly low and straight, without much fade or draw. On the whole it's a good way to play for a few reasons. First, low balls are less affected by the wind. Second, the swing that produces a low shot is usually a bit steeper, meaning you can get the club on the ball on less-than-perfect lies. And third, you usually hit it nice and solid.

6. Don't try shots you haven't practiced.
In the 18-hole playoff for the 1963 U.S. Open at The Country Club, on the 11th hole my ball came to rest in a rotted tree stump about two feet tall. I thought long and hard before deciding to play from that stump instead of taking an unplayable lie. What a mistake that was. It took me three swings to get the ball out (see photo at right), and I wound up making a triple bogey and eventually lost to Julius Boros by six strokes. It's one of the shots in my career where I wish I'd had a mulligan. The mistake was trying to hit a type of shot I'd never practiced (not that there are many tree stumps around to practice from). Uncertainty amplifies risk and breeds mistakes.

7. Be true to yourself.
I've been asked many times if Phil Mickelson is too aggressive, and my answer has always been a firm "no." There's an element of risk with many of the shots Phil plays, but he has been rewarded more times than he's been penalized. Moreover, being too cautious could make Phil play defensively, which in turn invites mental lapses and other mistakes. Let your personality determine what constitutes a reasonable risk, and go with your gut.

8. Reduce risk from rough.
At the 1961 British Open at Royal Birkdale, I had the lead with four holes to play. My drive on the par-4 15th sailed into thick rough, and I decided to go for the green. It was a risky shot, but two things helped minimize the danger. First, I chose the most lofted club that would still give me a chance to hit the green: a 6-iron. Second, I used as much old-fashioned strength as I could to hit through the ball, taking a divot a foot long.

I knocked the shot on the green, and the par I made helped me win my first British Open. Today there's a plaque at the spot from where I played that shot [it's now the 16th hole].

9. Know the difference between risks and gambles.
During the first round of the 1961 L.A. Open at Rancho Park, I made a rather famous 12 on the par-5 18th hole. I hit four consecutive 3-woods out-of-bounds, starting with my second shot. There was O.B. both to the left and right of the green, which made the shot risky--but only mildly risky. It didn't constitute a gamble because my lie was good, I was playing well and I knew in my heart I could pull the shot off. Only a gust of wind ruined a pretty good shot. And the next one. On the third try, I overcorrected and hooked it O.B. Then I did the same thing again! But to this day, I don't see that strategy as a gamble.

10. Don't let a partner tempt you.
Galleries liked to see me make bold, risky plays, and sometimes it was hard not to give them what they wanted--even when I knew the odds were against me. For you, the pressure to hit ill-advised shots probably comes from your partner in weekend four-ball matches. Certainly you can take more risks than normal with your partner backing you up, but even in the most tempting situations you should never try a shot you don't have at least a 50-50 chance of pulling off.

 

How To Become A Great Performer

 

1.
See the positive in a setback.
For Matt Kuchar, the 2009 BMW Championship was a crushing experience. We thought a top-5 finish would get him into the Tour Championship in Atlanta -- a "home game" because he lives nearby. When he finished with a 75, he was very disappointed. But he asked himself, What can I learn from this? Matt thought he played too conservatively on Sunday, so he resolved to have a more aggressive mind-set. Three weeks later, he shot a final-round 69 at Turning Stone and won. The positives are always there if you make the effort to find them.

2.
Allow success to find you.
Coming into the Barclays this past August, Matt had nine top 10s on the year but no wins. The tendency here is to press. But we agreed that rather than make any changes, he just needed to keep getting in position. Players often get impatient and make a swing change or shift in strategy, when all they need is perseverance. That's what Matt had, and he got his win that week.

3.
Don't think golf owes you.
Camilo Villegas missed a three-footer to win his semifinal match against Paul Casey in the Accenture Match Play in February. He went on to lose in sudden death. Camilo's reaction was interesting: "I made a lot of putts this past week. Even great putters miss putts sometimes."

A week later he flew to his home country of Colombia to support the first Nationwide Tour event played there. He returned for the Honda Classic with a feeling of gratitude for all that he has in life. He had a bounce in his step and a free stroke with the putter. He had 28 putts on Sunday and won by five. The lesson: We are entitled to nothing in golf. Playing the game, with appreciation and in good health -- those are gifts. That realization can have a major effect on you.

4.
The game sends messages.
In 2009, Stuart Appleby finished 137th on the money list. His swing was good; more than anything, he seemed unmotivated. I thought the game was telling him he needed to rediscover his passion. We talked about it, and he responded, working very hard. Last August he wound up an 11-week run by shooting 59 to win at The Greenbrier. How did he celebrate? By playing five of the next six weeks. The game speaks to us, tells us why we're underperforming. Listen up.

5.
Play with a fearless edge.
The Sunday before the Barclays in 2009, it looked like Heath Slocum was going to miss out on the FedEx Cup playoffs. When he just squeaked in, he felt like it was all a bonus and decided to play without fear. Mind you, he didn't play reckless, but gone was any feeling of restraint. That freedom produced great results and a one-shot win over Tiger Woods.

6.
Talk sense into bad shots.
Disappointment over poor shots is something Heath has struggled with. He used to interpret anything less than a perfect shot as a failure. When this happened, he played with no psychological freedom. Solution: After poor shots, Heath recently began saying aloud, "I accept the outcome of that shot." It doesn't mean he liked the shot, only that he was coming to terms with it. At the McGladrey Classic last fall, Heath was a master at letting go. He played relaxed and won.

7.
Score isn't the only measure.
When Arjun Atwal won the 2010 Wyndham Championship, he was ranked 450th in the world. Two weeks before, he drove all night from West Virginia to New York to try to qualify for the Turning Stone event. Playing on an hour's sleep, he made it into a playoff but lost. I've saved the text he sent me after that round. It reads, "I'm learning. And getting better, dude." Point being, it often takes time for improvements to show up. You need patience. Arjun had it; at the Wyndham he became the first Monday qualifier to win on tour in nearly a quarter century.

8.
Be a peaceful warrior.
When Justin Rose tied for fourth in the '98 British Open at 17, his potential seemed limitless. But the ensuing years were a mix of slumps and near misses. At the Memorial last June, Justin and I agreed on a plan: He would do everything quietly and in a calm spirit, never losing his inner peace because of something on or off the course. He was a peaceful warrior that week and shot 66 the last day for his first tour win -- one of two in 2010. Like Justin, strive for peace, and leave behind all that self-imposed pressure.

9
Rhythm will ease pressure.
A few weeks after the Memorial, Justin staggered home with a 75 at Hartford and missed out on another win. The next day, I handed him a "Sunday Guide for Closing," which he was to take into the next week. The plan had three elements: (1) Find the rhythm in your pre-shot routine; (2) soften your grip pressure; (3) think release to the target on full swings and release the blade with the putter. These keys counter stress, which causes your muscles to tighten and stops the flow of your swing. Justin turned it around and won again that week, looking relaxed all the way.

10
Make a mental to-do list.
D.J. Brigman got off to a so-so start on the Nationwide Tour in 2010. He thought his mind-set needed work, so he went back to an old checklist we'd made. It contained keys like going "all in" on every shot and showing up on the first tee with good rhythm rather than trying to find it. D.J. won the Children's Hospital Invitational after dusting off that list. Of course, every golfer's list will vary, but the point is to make one. It'll give you a frame of reference and clarity of purpose.