Reflecting further on the British Open and reading the coverage in the papers this week, I realised that another lesson about pressure management was played out at Royal Birkdale last weekend. The eventual winner, Padraig Harrington almost had to pull out of the tournament after injuring his wrist in practice. He got through an Open Championship that was played in hellish weather conditions to win out – and when he was interviewed afterwards he cited the wrist injury (and the threat of its return) as a positive factor in enabling him to win and, more specifically, in helping him to manage the immense pressure of the situation.
When questioned about why this was the case, he revealed that he actively used the injured wrist as a distraction from the pressure over the four days of the tournament. By focusing on protecting the wrist and how he needed to flex his game to take account of the injury he found a way of improving his concentration for ‘managing’ his way around one of the toughest courses in the world. It also enabled him to focus on his own game and not worry unduly about what the competition was doing. Harrington gave us all a great example of how a positive mindset can work to our advantage in adversity – he took a potentially disastrous situation and made it work for him in the context of defending the championship.
Another player who used a different perspective to his advantage was the leading Amateur Chris Wood, who like Justin Rose ten years ago, managed to beat the majority of the professional golfers by coming in the top five. Unlike Harrington, no one had any expectations of him, but he used this lack of pressure and attention to put in an amazing performance. Because he had not been there before there was nothing to be afraid of so he used his inexperience positively and to good effect. I suspect that this week he will not be ruing the fact that, as an amateur, he couldn’t collect the £150,000 his finish merited, but will be celebrating the performance, media attention and the experience it gave him.
Both of these great sportsmen have shown us that by taking a different mental approach and by being positive – great things are possible. And Harrington, in particular, reminds us that when things go wrong at work you can still have a happy ending!
July 26, 2008 at 8:04 am
This is a great xample of just how powerful thought can be. I have recently been telling my clients that they should think about taking some time of the grid. By this I mean switiching off the computer and the fone and going for a walk. Not only good for them but it stimulates the brain and makes for good ideas! Thankfully they dont have to go as far as Harrington !