Thread by @codykessel

For the professional athlete, there IS a key difference between process and results, though.

The best summary I have read about this nuance comes from Dr. Bob Rotella in "Golf is Not a Game of Perfect."

And I want to share it with you.

A thread 🧵

"The trusting mentality is essential for getting ready to play competitively. If you want to be able to trust your swing on the golf course, you have to spend time doing it on the practice tee. Human beings are creatures of habit. They cannot, as a general rule, spend all ...

...all of their practice time in the training mentality and then switch to the trusting mentality for competition. Under pressure, an athlete’s dominant habit will emerge. ..

...an athlete who spends most of his practice time in the training mentality will generally fall into the training mentality when he least wants to, when the pressure is greatest. He will start thinking analytically, judgmentally and mechanically...

He will not be able to trust his swing and let it go. The dominant habit is the one an athlete practices most. Therefore:

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝟔𝟎 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲.

Conversely, the closer a player gets to competition, the more practice time he must spend in the trusting mentality. A player preparing for a tournament should hit 70 to 90 percent of his practice shots in the trusting mentality in the last days before the competition begins.

He needs to accustom the mind to the style of thinking that works on the golf course—to thoughts of target, of routine, of acceptance.

This is particularly true of the warm-up period just before a round. This is preparation for competition, when trusting works.

At this stage, a player ought to strive to hit all of his shots in the trusting mentality. If he lets himself revert to the training mentality and starts trying to fix swing mechanics, it will be very difficult to get back into the trusting mentality on the first tee.

For a competitive round, a player should get to the course at least an hour ahead of time so he can spend his warm-up period steeped in patience and trust."

This is a lesson every great athlete must learn in their own way for their own game and personality. But for me, this is the best explanation I have heard of how to leverage "deliberate practice" in combination with competitive consistency and excellence.

Follow me @codykessel for more threads threads about athletics, performance, sports psychology, human thriving, and more. Stoked to be a part of this always-learning Twitter community.

#AlwaysLearning #Thread #SportsPsychology #Sports #Process #Outcome