I recently read several articles focused on the hidden meaning behind some of Tiger Woods’ quotes, following his second place finish to Graeme McDowell in last weekend’s Chevron World Challenge. Now I will be the first to admit that you can often diagnose problems in athlete’s performance by paying close attention to not only what they say, but how they say it. I use this technique almost daily in trying to help my clients gain a mental edge over their competition.

The problem is that many people seize on the words they use and fail to factor in the context within which they are said. This was the first time in Tiger’s career that he led by three or more shots going into the final round and did not come out the winner. In that context alone it is easy to see why several journalists jumped on the following quotes: “It was a great week, even though I didn’t win.” And “I’m proud of today even though I lost” to conclude that Tiger has lost his edge. This is an understandable mistake to make considering he once said: ”Finishing second is never fun.”

But I’m afraid this is far too narrow of a focus to read much into those quotes. I choose to look at the larger picture where I see Tiger moving forward throughout the year, in his life and on the links, to a place where he looked like his old self for three consecutive days and came within a whisker of getting his first victory of the year. The circumstances in his life have caused him to slow down and build his life and game back up, and I think Tiger is taking the correct mental approach for where he is right now.

One of my favorite sayings is “If you think you can or can’t you are probably right.” In fact when you think you can’t you are almost always right as it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Tiger does not appear to have a problem there as he said at the end of the tournament “I didn’t come here to lose.”

I always tell my clients that goals help you and expectations harm you. If Tiger were to let himself get caught up in people wanting and expecting the old Tiger to reappear and dominate the golf world again, he would have a hard time making any progress at all. Acknowledging the progress he is making is crucial in getting himself back to the top. Tiger knows how much work it takes to be a champion and he’s rebuilding his foundation. Finishing second last weekend will likely provide a nice springboard into next year for him.

Once Tiger starts “running” again, I suspect he won’t be satisfied with second place finishes again either.

Posted in The Mind Side Blog