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 | Because of what I do I have the good fortune of working with some very physically talented athletes. No matter how hard they work, some of them make it to their life's goal of playing and winning on the PGA and LPGA Tours and some of them don't. It was a puzzle to me for years why some of this great talent couldn't make the grade. I noticed that some players of inferior physical ability would make it over those who had what appeared to be an almost flawless game. |
In 1991 I read a book, Learned Optimism, that explained much of this phenomenon to me. Simply stated, the person who persist in the face of adversity, regardless of the arena, wins in the long run. Research shows that people who persist win in work, love and play. People who give up, suffer more physical and emotional problems and never reach their full potential. That's an easy call, you might say, but read on. People who persist in the face of adversity are mentally tough. They are more resistant to depression, have stronger immune systems and succeed in most arenas in which they participate.
In a research study that was done using the 1987 Berkeley swim team, the athletes were given false feedback on their times at an exhibition meet. Olympic Gold Medalist, Matt Biondi, was a member of that team. When one of Biondi's teammates was told his time was a second longer than it actually was, he walked to the edge of the pool deck, sat down, and began to rock back and forth. Biondi was told his time in the 100 butterfly was 51. 7 when it was actually 50.2. He looked frustrated, and his coach told him to rest and he could swim the same event later. Biondi was the only swimmer that day who not only beat his false feedback time he beat his original time.
At the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics, it was predicted that Biondi would match Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals. In his first two events Biondi won first a Bronze and then a Silver. The sportscasters in Seoul began to prepare the US viewers for a "less than gold" performance from Biondi. Biondi responded by winning 5 straight gold medals.
I have learned that it is much easier to work with a player who gets 3 or 4 over par after 5 holes and then gets it back to even than the player who shoots 4 under one day but who gives up when he gets it over par the next. Psychologist call the ability to fight back and overcome adversity mental toughness. The level of mental toughness is defined by how a person explains their successes and failures. Those of us who see adversity as temporary and specific to that particular situation are called optimists. We are considered mentally tough. Those of us who see adversity as permanent and pervasive throughout our lives are called pessimist. We tend to give up in the face of adversity.
According to researchers, even the pessimist wants to hear from others that everything is going to be OK in the face of adversity even though the pessimist may not have the ability to explain bad events as temporary to himself.
Between 1900 and 1984 there were 22 presidential elections in this country. Seligman and his graduate students analyzed the nomination acceptance speeches for each of these elections and found that the most optimistic candidate won 18 out of 22 of those elections. The four elections where the optimist did not win were the three elections of FDR and the Nixon Humphrey election.
When the results of this study were released, the 1988 presidential primary was on the horizon. There were 13 Presidential candidates and 33 Senatorial candidates. Seligman and his students were able to acquire the stump speeches for all 13 Presidential candidates and 29 of the 33 senatorial candidates.
Early polls showed that Hart and Dole were front runners in the Presidential election. The analyses of the stump speeches showed that the most optimistic candidates for both parties was Bush and Dukakis. Their predictions showed that Bush would win by 6%. Bush won by 8.2%.
Seligman and his students also correctly predicted 25 out of 29 (86%) of the senate races including all upsets and close races with the exception of one.
So, who is in control when we vote if the masses tend to vote for the candidate who sells the most hope. We want to hear that everything is going to be OK, that bad events can be reversed and that things they are going well will have a long life.
What can we learn from Seligman's research:
1. If you want the most personal control, recognize the things that control you.
2. If you want to live a longer, healthier, prosperous life, learn to explain your adversity as temporary and specific to the context in which it occurs and explain your success as a permanent, pervasive process.
3. If you are running for office, give the masses what they want, HOPE.
4. If you are a voter, educate yourself on the issues and beware of the hope sellers. Look at a candidates record, not what they promise. Don't confuse charisma with honesty and a dedicated public servant.
5. Is it possible that our greatest community and world leaders must be optimist to weather accusations and difficult times without "giving up" in the face of adversity.
5. If you hit a drive sideways off the first tee, recognize it is one isolated shot and not predictive of anything but a potentially difficult second shot. Mentally dig in, be a good internal caddie, and go play one shot at a time without a focus on anything other than the shot you are playing.
David F. Wright, Ph.D., PGA
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About
the Author
David F. Wright, Ph.D., PGA is a PGA member teaching professional, a PGA Tour Instructor and Psychologist. He is a Senior Instruction Editor for Golf Tips Magazine. He was elected by his peers as the 1998 Teacher of the Year for the Southern California PGA. He is also the author of the book, Mind Under Par (888) 620-4653 and he is the founder of the Mind Under Par Golf Schools (888) 966-6643 at Pelican Hill Golf Club and Resort in Newport Coast, CA where he teaches full time. |
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