That very same man, revealed to be a sports activities psychologist for the group, was then proven boarding the Jazz’s personal airplane because the group jetted off to face the Los Angeles Lakers, the place he sat courtside at The Discussion board — immediately behind the bench — consuming popcorn and sipping soda.
“As a 17-year-old child in rural South Carolina I am considering, ‘they’re paying this man?'” Pickens informed CNN.
“‘That is ridiculous. I need to do this as a result of that does not appear like a job.'”
And so started a journey that has seen “Dr. Mo” assist coach skilled athletes throughout a spread of sports activities — from the NFL to Nascar. However his true house has all the time been on the golf green.
A eager golfer in his youth, Pickens penned a dissertation on “The Acquisition of Placing Confidence” en path to receiving his Ph.D. in sport psychology from the College of Virginia. Since then he has cast a reputation as one in every of golf’s high psychologists, working with a few of the sport’s largest stars throughout a 27-year profession.
Strain
Fittingly, each gamers received by way of nail-biting four-hole playoffs. For Pickens, attempting to duplicate game-day stress is the largest problem he faces as a sports activities psychologist. Strive as he would possibly — speak by means of it and run demanding drills — there’s merely no approach for Pickens to simulate the psychological pressure of an occasion, not to mention a major-deciding playoff.
“It is virtually unattainable — as a result of it is a physiological factor — to get their adrenaline going like it will be going Sunday,” Pickens mentioned.
And but, the psychologist’s efforts appear to get the most effective out of Johnson, a self-confessed hypercompetitive particular person who relishes Pickens’ follow wagers that stake small sums on the result.
“I am all the time attempting one thing I am doing in my follow in order that in relation to the underside line of competing, week in week out on tour, I do know I have been there earlier than. I’ve seen it, I’ve felt it, and I might be profitable.”
Thoughts administration
The power to coach effectively touches on what Pickens believes to be the 2 important psychological traits required of elite golfers: self-discipline and the power to manage the thoughts.
It might appear paradoxical, however Pickens says the largest psychological problem going through golfers as they swing is solely that the ball is stationary.
Whereas in soccer or tennis, gamers’ ideas and corresponding actions are instinctively occupied by the shifting ball, golfers — compelled to consciously fill this psychological silence — should as an alternative practice themselves to “occupy their thoughts.” Cross-sport comparisons might be present in basketball’s free throw and baseball’s pitching.
In essence, that is what Pickens’ position boils right down to — serving to gamers to handle their thoughts, particularly within the important 5 to 6 seconds earlier than the swing. Like a type of meditation, gamers have to know exactly what ideas are coming by means of their heads.
“Some gamers depend,” Pickens explains. “Stroll in. One, membership behind the ball. Two, ft down. Three, have a look at the goal. 4, again to the ball. 5, again swing. Six, by means of swing.
“When you’ve got consistency within the enter out of your considering, you have acquired a greater likelihood to get consistency out of your output to hit the shot.”
For Johnson, who had suspected there was one thing “off” in his sport previous to working with Pickens in 2006, the recommendation caught instantly and has endured all through his 24-year professional profession.
“I assumed I had a great routine, I assumed it was constant, I assumed it was repeatable, but it surely was something however that,” Johnson mentioned in a video on Pickens’ web site.
“It was extraordinarily inconsistent, it was not thought out, it didn’t enable me to play at my greatest nor did it give me confidence and consistency shot-to-shot.”
Related strategies helped Cink to clear his thoughts from an over-fixation on outcomes, the American says in a video on Pickens’ web site. At 49 years outdated, Cink continues so as to add to his eight PGA Tour wins, claiming a 3rd RBC Heritage title in April 2021.
In the meantime, managing the thoughts was a lesson {that a} hot-headed younger Glover — US Open champion in 2009 — picked up shortly when he began working with Pickens after graduating from Clemson College in 2001.
“I discovered instantly that my mood was affecting my rounds somewhat an excessive amount of,” Glover mentioned in a video on the psychologist’s web site. “Dr. Mo mainly taught me that it was alright to get upset and mad however to let it go shortly and do not let it have an effect on the subsequent shot.”
Self-discipline
Nonetheless, the power to occupy the thoughts is nothing with out disciplined follow, Pickens asserts.
Quite than going out and easily hitting some balls, high professionals have to be laser-focused of their coaching. Crucially, as with the pre-swing routine, gamers ought to take away emotion from their follow — not merely reflecting on a great or unhealthy day however dispassionately analyzing their efficiency.
For Pickens, that is one in every of Johnson’s most exemplary — although usually misunderstood — belongings.
“It is not that Zach would not have feelings. Typically folks misread and suppose he did not have them,” Pickens explains. “He is simply actually good at managing them and specializing in what he desires to concentrate on.
“And he is unimaginable at going ‘okay, that is what I need to get finished and this is how I will go do it.’
“Lots of people name themselves professionals however they nonetheless simply go play golf. The blokes that make it, they perceive, ‘I’ve to deal with this like a job.'”
