Clutch Formula Lesson 1

Clutch Formula Lesson 1 Transcript

Chapter 1: Why We Love Clutch
Triplett Wins!

In the 2000 Nissan Open at Riviera Country Club, Kirk Triplett stood on the 18th green poised to win his first PGA Tour event. Although Triplett held a two-stroke lead over Jesper Parnevik, both faced pivotal putts. Parnevik’s 30-footer was for birdie, while Triplett had a tricky 4-footer for par.
Triplett knew that if Parnevik somehow made his birdie putt, Kirk’s slippery downhiller would instantly become the most important putt of his life. Kirk recalled the way he had to shift his thinking:
“I thought to myself just before Jesper putted, ‘Hey, you have to be prepared to make your putt. Accept this challenge. Be prepared to make the putt.’ ”
In front of thousands of spectators surrounding the green, Parnevik’s putt snaked up the hill and found the bottom of the cup. But even as the crowd roared and tension mounted, Triplett was ready. Using skills honed over many years playing on the PGA Tour and practicing for key moments precisely like this one, his formula for success was simple:
“I was totally focused on my routine, stayed in the present, took a deep breath, and let my stroke go automatically.”
He hit the cup dead center.
Clutch.

The Rest of the Story
But there’s more to the story than Kirk just getting his first victory. Prior to the Nissan Open, Triplett held an unenviable record: the longest streak of starts on the PGA Tour without a win. It took him 266 tournaments, over 10 long years.
It’s not hard to understand the internal pressure Triplett felt every time he got into contention, not to mention all the external pressure from the media and fans. Was this the tournament when Triplett would finally break through and the streak would end? The longer the streak went on, the more pressure there was.

It’s easy to imagine how awesome Kirk felt when he sank the winning putt.
In his 267th tournament, Kirk Triplett finally captured his first PGA Tour victory. Triplett went on to win 10 more times, amassing career earnings in excess of $22 million. But that first win – and that key putt – was special.
We interviewed Kirk to get his thoughts on what it takes to be successful in pressure situations. You can listen to him describe that special moment in his own words. His interview is part of our extraordinary collection of conversations that make up the Clutch Interviews – a free bonus available online to all Clutch Golfer Formula book owners.

The Clutch Interviews feature incredibly valuable insights from stars of the PGA, LPGA, and Champions Tours, plus sports legends like Seahawks Coach Pete Carroll and Golf In The Kingdom author Michael Murphy. All of the interviews – including Kirk’s – will help you play smarter and be a better, more consistent golfer. The interviews can be accessed at iGolfU.com.
Our goal is simple: we want you to experience that feeling of utterly triumphant exhilaration that comes when you hit exactly the shot you want precisely when you need it most. And we want you to do it often.
There’s nothing else like it.
Why Clutch Is Captivating
We love riveting moments like Triplett’s. We love the drama, the anticipation, the thrill of watching athletes bear down and come up big in the face of extraordinary challenges. Moments when the game is on the line captivate our imagination and put us on the edge of our seats. We love post-action breakdowns and dissecting what happened, why, and who carried the day. We love the excitement of game-changing moments, and we especially love it when we get a chance.
Every golfer we’ve interviewed can readily recall at least one – if not dozens – of critical situations and the shot they had to hit. When they pull it off (or don’t), it can be the stuff of legend. Clutch shots earn us cheers or jeers, create fabled nicknames, and can even define an entire career. They are the warp and woof of our after-action tales at the 19th hole. Epic victory or epic fail, opportunities to seize the moment resonate with us forever.

Coming through when there is something on the line fills us with passion, energy, and the desire to come back and do it again. Regardless of age or skill level, golf gives each of us a chance to be the hero who came through when it mattered, hit the shot that won the tournament, took a few bucks off their buddies, or miraculously saved a round.
Athletes who consistently come through when they have to, particularly at the elite level, are the athletes we revere most. They have the uncanny ability to zero in and get it done in the biggest situations.
“Clutch is the most admired attribute in sports, the separator that differentiates our favorite athletes,” writes Golf Digest’s Jaime Diaz.
Of course we love being clutch. It’s our shot at immortality.
Every Round Has A Pivotal Moment
Every round will present you with a critical moment. Think back to the last few times you were on the course. You’ll nearly always recognize a particular situation or shot where your game could have gone either way. Maybe it was a drive. Perhaps an approach shot. Maybe a putt. It’s always different. But there’s always an inflection point that impacted your momentum. Big or small, those key moments define your round.
Every round will present you with the chance to be the hero. Learning to succeed in key situations isn’t just an option; it is a must-have skill. It’s what keeps your game from unraveling.
And it doesn’t matter if you are a seasoned Tour player or a weekend warrior. It doesn’t matter if it is a major championship or a two-dollar Nassau. No matter your level of play, if you got it done when you absolutely had to, you can say you were clutch.
Now that you know it’s coming, are you prepared?
Are You A Clutch Player?
Anybody can hit a clutch shot. Once.
All it takes is a moment of focus and intent. Or luck.

Doing it consistently, though, requires a combination of skills. It takes a specific type of concentrated effort and willful determination. All effort becomes single-mindedly focused on a specific intent. There is no room for distractions or second-guessing. Making or missing the shot will determine the outcome. You have to get it right the first time. With so much at stake, the situation can seem overwhelming.
Performance skills are the key to tapping into the energy of crucial situations and using it to your advantage. They give you the ability to either:
1. Bring the moment down to a manageable level, or
2. Rise to the size of the occasion
Reducing the intensity of the moment is the common approach to dealing with pressure. Interpreting the situation as no different from any other normalizes it to something we are familiar with doing.
An alternative approach is to recognize the moment for all that it is and embrace it. Kirk Triplett rose to the occasion when he accepted the challenge at Riviera. It’s like a clutch super-power. Golf in the Kingdom author Michael Murphy referred to it as “allowing yourself to be as big as the moment.”
You’re going to face critical moments. Our goal is to provide a roadmap to meet those moments, by detailing the skills to work on, different ways to structure practice sessions, and a routine to execute on the course. It’s a way to find techniques that match your style, which is the path to a higher level of play and lower scores.
By using the Formula framework, you can design a routine that fits your unique style of play. With purposeful intention you can identify, develop, and excel at any performance skills you choose. And even though not every shot will be clutch, using the Formula consistently will elevate your overall performance and bring your game to an entirely new level.
Swing Technique Is Not Enough
You can develop the skills to perform under pressure, but it won’t be through swing technique. Despite what the prevailing golf culture would have us believe, you can’t develop performance skills through mechanics, and you can’t buy a better game with equipment alone.

The average national handicap 50 years ago was 16.7, but today is only 16.3. Despite all the advances in equipment, golf balls, and technology, a half century of myopic focus on swing mechanics hasn’t improved the index by more than half a stroke.
Everything can’t be blamed on technique. But as the saying goes, if the only tool you have is a hammer …
… everything looks like a nail.
We’d like to broaden the conversation beyond the swing.
The path to a higher level of play takes a different approach. It takes a new set of tools.
Change Instruction, Change Results
We don’t mean to imply that technique instruction should be ignored. Solid fundamentals are the foundation of a great golf game. Fundamentals are the first skills to master when beginning to learn the game or when learning new skills. Better technique is a lifelong pursuit.
But in addition to technique, shooting lower scores requires playing skills. Golfers need to be taught course and game management, shot-making, and internal performance management techniques. And when there’s pressure involved, golfers need additional skills in managing thoughts and emotions.

Blending technique instruction with playing skills, then combining them in purposeful practice, is the way to create a results-focused training environment that truly serves the golfer. We believe it is the sure path to lower scores. You will discover as many ways to improve performance from the inside as you will from the outside. Performance skills enable you to meet every novel situation with trust, confidence and resilience.
Our approach is a departure from the prevailing focus on quick tips, fault-fixing, and swing-based instruction. Far too many articles, analyses, and even teaching lessons focus on what is wrong with the golfer’s swing and how to fix it. The swing may get fixed, but it doesn’t necessarily mean results will improve.
That’s why this is not your typical golf “fix it” book. It’s not the way golfers typically try to improve. Not everybody will want to get off the “fix my mechanics” bandwagon.
But serious golfers will.
You don’t even have to be a great golfer. Just serious about improving. We’ll show you how to:
 Measure your performance
 Plan efficient training sessions
 Select the right drills
 Optimize your performance on the course
Plus you’ll relate to the real-life examples from Tour players that will help you visualize and remember how to apply the skills when the stakes are truly high.
One of your most important tasks will be developing a repeatable pre-shot routine. That’s why we created the action phrase “Lock, Load, Fire, and Hold” as the centerpiece of the Formula. Consistently executing your routine is the key to consistency on the course. The Formula is:
 A process that facilitates your ability to think clearly under pressure, enabling you to make smarter strategy decisions about shot selection and risk management
 A set-up routine that puts you in your most athletic position so you can take dead aim and make solid contact at impact

 A system to manage your thoughts and emotions, helping you to eliminate distractions and remain focused
 A step-by-step guide that will allow you to swing automatically and release freely with trust
Use the Formula to identify specific skills that will help your entire game. We’ve created a fill-in-the-blank template in the Resources section to serve as a guide to create your routine.
When identifying performance skills to include, pay particular attention to the way you react to pressure. Then structure your practice sessions to systematically develop your performance skills. Integrate them into your on-course routines in a way that enables you to effectively manage your thoughts and emotions.
One reason Tour players score better than amateurs is because they prepare better. Change your practice session to prepare like the pros. Include performance training and situational execution drills in every range session. Preparing correctly builds trust. It lays the foundation for confidence. When it’s crunch time, proper preparation allows you to swing automatically, stay focused, and remain committed.
Being Clutch
Every golfer has the ability to be clutch. The secret to consistently hitting quality shots in key situations lies in developing your skills, and then using a consistent routine to execute those skills.
The Clutch Golfer Formula is your roadmap to better golf and lower scores. It will involve some experimentation as well as trial and error. There will be ups and downs. It’s not always a smooth ride. It’s not the traditional route to improving. What it does, though, is produce results. We are reminded of Frost’s famous poem The Road Not Taken:
“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I –
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”

We invite you to step off the swing technique bandwagon, take the road less traveled by, and see how it will make all the difference in the way you play the game After all, the outcome is merely a reflection of the path taken to reach it.
Follow the guidelines in this book and you will make progress. You will hit more great golf shots, and your entire game will improve.
Coach’s Advice
1. Every round will present you with a pivotal moment. Be prepared for it.
2. Use a routine consistently and practice it until it is automatic.
3. You’re not going to win every time. Accept failure as an opportunity to learn, and resolve to keep trying.
4. Put in the work that is required to reach your dreams.
5. Clutch is fun! Believe in yourself.