The Secret To Louis Oosthuizen's Win at St Andrews for The Open Championship

Ever wondered how top-tier athletes maintain laser-sharp focus? Well, it's a lot more complicated than you might think! This episode uncovers the journey of South African golfer, Louis Oosthuizen, who found himself struggling to concentrate during games in 2010. After a serendipitous conversation, Louis discovered a new method for triggering concentration, leading to a significant improvement in his performance. We delve into this fascinating story, unraveling the science behind concentration, attention rationing, and mental discipline in the world of high-performance sports.

Louis’s revelation about the significance of rationing attention didn't just change his game, it revolutionized how we perceive concentration in high-stress situations. Using examples from traffic controllers and medical practitioners, we illustrate how this rationing of attention is essential across different professions. We present you with a new perspective, one that applies not just to athletes but to anyone looking to enhance their mental game. Join us as we explore Louis's transformative journey from struggling golfer to the winner of the 2010 Open Championship, and learn how his unique method of focus could be your key to unlocking a new level of mental performance.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Probably one of the best documented interventions came as a result of an opportunity to work with the South African golfer, louis Eustheisen way back in 2010, and his then manager, andrew Chubby Chandler, got in touch with me informing me that Louis wanted to do some work because he was really struggling with his concentration out onto the golf course, and a meeting was arranged in Manchester where he lived at the time. I'll never forget we sat down for that first meeting and I'd always assumed that a player of Louis great qualities, great golf swing, great body motion, wonderful tempo had probably done a lot of work on the mental side of the game, but he was kind enough to admit, or honest enough to admit, that he really hadn't. And he discussed about how he'd played in the US Open recently and was really struggling to focus on shots, really feeling as though he hit a lot of shots where he just wasn't there, and he described. I asked him what he was doing in between shots and he said oh, he said I'm concentrating in between shots, but I can't seem to focus when I get to the ball, and that began the opportunity to explore a very common theme that I think is very relevant for all golfers is the idea that you could go out on a golf course and you could focus for a full four, five hours, which is clearly impossible. What we really need to do is develop some skills that being able to switch attention on and, more importantly, switch it off. Many of you will have experienced those days where you play with your friends and you're having a great time. In between shots, you're talking away, enjoying the scenery, enjoying the day, and you come to play your shot. You seem to get into your shot really well and then play really well, and then you get into the competition at the weekend and really struggle because all of a sudden you're very serious. Now you're taking the whole thing 100% seriously. You're not speaking to anybody in between shots, you're withdrawing to your own head, your own space, and the game seems extremely difficult and four or five hours of something akin to misery can also follow on as a result of that.

Speaker 1: 2:14

With Louis, what we discussed was the idea of having a trigger to be able to switch on concentration and then switch off in between shots. And from that I'll never forget the serendipitous moment as I asked him to describe what state of mind he would like to be in over the ball and he told me. And then I said if that state of mind had a colour to it, what would it be? And you can imagine the look on his face with that question. But I pursued it a little bit further and he said well, I guess red. And I'll never forget the fact that whether this had become a trigger, I don't know. There was a red marker on the table and Louis straight away latched on to the idea that he said what if I put a red dot on my glove? That would be a way to trigger focus, it would be a way to trigger concentration. And he had his foot gyro golf glove with him and he put the red dot on the glove and it set in motion a chain of events where he went away happy to work on this trigger to generate a focus of attention for the particular shot, get involved in the creation of the shot and then switch off in between shots with his caddy.

Speaker 1: 3:22

Zach at the time was brilliant. He was very good at sort of distracting him talking about things other than golf went up to the Scottish Open didn't play particularly well there but felt there was progress and then went to St Andrews 2010 and in the first round. I think he shot 64 or 65, but was leading after the first round. Many of the pundits at the time said there was no way he would be able to hang on to that lead for four rounds because he'd only previously made one cut. In all of the majors that he played, he had never contended at the highest level. But four days later he was walking down the 18th fairway, crossing the Swilken Bridge, with a seven shot lead and won that open in 2010, and the press made a big thing about how he was looking at that red dot in between shots and there's something of a mystique arose about it.

Speaker 1: 4:15

People didn't really understand what was going on. It wasn't the red dot that was the key. It was the understanding of the ability to ration your concentration, to understand that you can come in and go out. You can be light in between shots and then just get creative on the shot that you have at hand. So when you listen to this, it doesn't mean to say that you should go away and put a red dot on your glove, maybe something you could try. Many people did after that open, quite interestingly.

Speaker 1: 4:45

But what I am suggesting is this understanding of rationing a rationing of attention and a rationing of concentration. You look at other disciplines, you know, I believe, that in the traffic industry there's only a certain amount of time, that those people who require focus clearly of attention and in a very stressful and a very dangerous place If you lose your attention, those people are only allowed to work for certain periods of time. And I know, in the similar examples in the medical professions and in the armed forces as well, this understanding that humans are not designed to just focus on one thing exclusively for an extensively long periods of time. It becomes difficult to do that and it becomes something that you could really play around with and a very exciting thing to develop. This idea of coming in and going out.

Speaker 1: 5:35

But just looking at the time in between shots is something to really enjoy, something to really have some purpose about. But then, having a trigger it could be the red dot, it could be the sound of the velcro, it could be a click of your fingers, something to tell your brain that now it's time to pay attention. This unique shot in this unique moment is now yours and you need to bring your attention to that, to create the shot. And then, once it's gone, once it's done. There's an acceptance level to that and we carry on to the next opportunity to create the next shot. So have a think about Louis, have a think about the red dot personalize the information, but really it's such an important element that can make a big, big difference to the quality of your mental game on the golf course.