Is it just me, or can everyone else sense how much pressure these competitors are under? Now I do realize that it’s just a game… but again, we all have to give these women a ton of credit for putting themselves out there for the golfing world to critique. I remember hitting balls out on the driving range, when I was a young kid, and always being aware when someone was walking by and watching me hit golf balls. I’d almost sense that feeling of added pressure to want to hit a really good shot for that person to see. I’d unknowingly take much longer over the ball than I normally would… just to make sure I hit that perfect golf shot. But of course, as I’m sure you all know, when you try to hard in the game of golf, things typically don’t get much better do they? Usually these are the shots that end up being the worst of the bucket! We can only imagine what’s going through the heads of these players knowing thousands and thousands of golfers out there will be critiquing their every shot. Wow! It wasn’t until I started working with my mentor, Bob Toski, that I really began to understand the ins and outs of how to think and prepare for a golf shot. Mr. Toski, in his distinctive teaching style, helped instill a confidence in me, and helped me recognize that I really was only doing it for myself, and not those curious onlookers walking by.

What makes people unconsciously change the way they handle certain situations when something important is on the line? Well, I don’t know if I’m qualified to answer this question, but I do continuously hear Tiger, and other peak performers, expressing how they handle these situations… and it’s really very simple. Tiger has mastered, or at least come as close as anyone has ever come to mastering, the ability to focus only on the present, and pay attention only to what he wants at that moment in time. Tiger shows up each week with the purpose of winning, but I’m certain that there isn’t a moment in the week that Tiger actually thinks about winning, and if he does, he has trained himself to quickly dismiss that thought. Tiger has mastered the skill of winning by recognizing, through proper guidance, that the only way to win is by taking one step at a time and focusing only on that next step. Tiger only focuses on himself and what Tiger needs to do to maximize that moment in time.

So now lets focus on this week’s episode, specifically this week’s elimination challenge. It was intense… it was stressful… it was most likely pressure that neither of the players had ever faced. Both Cirbie & Tina deserve lots of props for fighting it out and pulling off some pretty good golf shots. But, there are a couple of things that I’m certain both players took from their experience in this challenge, first and foremost Cirbie.

It was quite obvious, and was a major topic in tonight’s show, how long Cirbie took to execute a couple of shots. Why was this the case? In Cirbie’s case, I feel it was simply lack of experience. Cirbie is very new to competitive golf, especially at the professional level. Because of this, when the pressure was on, Cirbie was indecisive and had a very difficult time making a decision on a very straightforward golf shot. Again, this is nothing against Cirbie by any means. Cirbie was forced to learn a valuable lesson, which will only make her better, in front of thousands and thousands of people. Tough for most to swallow… but Cirbie learned like a champ. If Cirbie spent more time in her practice sessions coming up with a more repetitive and methodical pre-shot routine, I’m certain it would help her feel more secure in pressure situations.

In Tina’s case, I believe Tina did have her eye on the prize, and completely underestimated her opponent. She thought she had won before the competition even started. Tina obviously has more experience and has accomplished much more in the game of golf than Cirbie has, therefore, Tina had every right to feel confident, but she clearly let that affect her performance. After Cirbie almost holed out her first putt, Tina was visibly caught off guard. Tina did lose focus and I believe her energy shifted more towards what she didn’t have control over… which was Cirbie. She was not able to focus 100% of her attention on executing the shot she had in front of her… instead she was more focused on Cirbie’s play. In this scenario, Tina (and all of us for that matter) can take a page right out of Tiger’s book. Tiger is well aware he is the best player in the world, and I’m sure he feeds off of this, but as stated earlier, when Tiger is over a golf shot, he is capable of putting 100% of his energy into what he has control over. Think of the power this could hold and how valuable it would be if we were able to never let any outside agencies get in our way.  Now that's peak performance.