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Is it All In Your Head?
Isn’t it interesting that so many athletes of various stripes visualize their outcomes and affirm their success in addition to practicing, on the court, the track, or the course, yet they rarely talk about it.
There’s always the exception that proves the rule of course. We watched Rory McIlroy, the 21 year old Irish golfer, win the US Open in June this year. He took the lead on the Thursday, just as he did in The Masters back in April, but this time he went on to win. It had been claimed that his age, lack of experience, championship nerves etc, etc had caused him to lose The Masters, yet here he was just 2 months later the winner of a major tournament.
What changed? He hadn’t aged much, couldn’t have gained that much more experience… perhaps his nerves had improved.
Or maybe none of the above.
Rory tweeted this Muhammed Ali quote:
“It’s the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief, and once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen.”
As I said, we’ve heard that most athletes use various mental techniques to improve their games, and here was one who’s willing to talk…well tweet about it.
I can’t imagine Rory or any athlete affirming that they lost the championship, or the game. But I had to ask myself, what am I affirming? I’m no great shakes at any sport, but what about other things in my life…do I affirm what I want…or is it more what I don’t want? Hmm. Great question. Get back to you on that one. It might be a while.
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