Rinker’s Golf Tips April 20th Dr. Morris Pickens. “Dr. Mo,” as his friends call him, is a graduate of Clemson University and studied under Dr. Bob Rotella at the University of Virginia where he got his Masters and PhD. He is currently at the Sea Island Golf Learning Center and works with Zach Johnson, Davis Love III, Nick Watney, Stewart Cink, and Jonathan Byrd. Dr. Mo received his Masters on the acquisition of putting confidence. He said you have to get comfortable over the ball in order to have a chance to be confident. Confidence can change during a round and when we are confident we make a freer stroke. Alignment is not the most important thing, just have to be in the ball park. The ball is smaller than the hole and it has three places that it can go in.
We talked about his book, “Learn to Win” and his new book, “The Winning Way in Golf and Life.” Both books talk about the four “R’s” which are refocus, routine, react, and relax. His new book expounds on those four “R’s” and relates how this can be a seamless transition into life. The first “R” is refocus, which Nick Watney calls the math problem, where you make your decisions about the physical aspects of the upcoming shot. The more physical we can make it, the less our emotions get involved. The second “R” is routine and this is when we walk into the ball. “What am I going to do to get prepared to react to my target? There are three aspects to the routine; physical, visual, and mental. Physical is what we all see, how many practice swings and how many looks at the target. Visual is how our eyes process the golf course. Mental is what are we thinking about? Too many thoughts can bog you down and thinking nothing will most likely allow negative thoughts to come in. We had a caller call in and ask about jitters on the firs tee and Dr. Mo said the first thing is to not make a big deal out of it. One shot is not going to make or break your round. Dr. Mo said to take two or three practice swings at 110% or 120% to help release adrenaline, nervous energy, and anxiety. Then walk up and make your normal swing.
The third “R” react, happens at the end of the routine. Last look let my body athletically go. React. Want to practice reacting without hesitation so that our reaction will flow when we play under pressure. The opposite of reacting is steering, hoping, and manipulating impact. When we freely react, there is hardly any manipulation. Have to go and choose to play confidently and let yourself keep reacting. The last “R” is relax and that’s where we spend most of our time on the golf course. Dr. Mo likes his players to not think about golf during these times. Look at nature, enjoy the wildlife, and he said Zach Johnson calls it “Taking a Stroll.” Just enjoy whoever you are with and get ready to refocus on the next shot. We talked about the pressure of a demanding shot and Dr. Mo said we need to think of this as an opportunity to invite the challenge. This is not a burden. Let’s see if I can pull this off. Don’t defeat ourselves before we swing. Make a golf shot like a slam dunk contest. Let’s choose to be confident, and focus on our one positive swing thought, committed to the shot. For more information on Dr. Mo visit drmolearntowin.com.