Balancing control and aggression key to winning

Caddie's Role: The captain of my home club's senior cup team was obviously at a loss in trying to dig up a person to provide some words of inspiration to his team in advance of this year's matches.

How flattering that a bag-man could possibly inspire such skilled golfers. Mind you they haven't heard me speak yet. Given my proximity to golf at the highest level over the years, my words of wisdom to these selected team members is going to be from a psychological perspective, because the mind most definitely rules the body in the fickle game of golf.

I watch great golfers play this incredibly difficult game week in week out. It is sometimes easy to become complacent about how good they actually are.

When you see golfers consistently hit their tee shots over 300 yards, and straight, it becomes mundane. When you witness them frequently nip chip shots off a tight downhill lie onto a bone-hard green to gimme distance you can forget just how hard it is to do that. It is all very impressive.

But what is most memorable about all these great players and the amazing shots they frequently play is how they recover from a bad situation, how they dig themselves out of a dark hole.

Given their talent the shots are relatively easy, the mental fortitude is not always easy to maintain. It is what separates the good from the great. Golf is a selfish game. Usually there is only one person that can get you out of a tight situation after you tee off.

Low handicap golfers attain their status by playing singles golf, there is no other way of getting your handicap reduced. In team golf, the rules change. You are now playing for the others and if you are a team player that chip off the downhill lie becomes a little more difficult. You are but a small link in what each individual can make a very strong chain. A chain is as strong as its weakest link.

In my experience of observing life in a competitive environment, the constant is that everyday is going to be different. I remember listening to Thomas Bjorn giving a lesson and being intrigued by his basic sound piece of advice.

Balance was the key. He maintains we all get out of bed everyday feeling different. I don't know if he was referring specifically to the physical side, but it is even more true for the mental approach. There is nothing wrong with feeling different, it is perfectly normal, the professional recognises change and deals with it, those less experienced don't know how to deal with it. Searching for both physical and mental equilibrium is vital.

Despite the game at the top end being about routines it is important to recognise when precisely to alter the routine.

In matchplay this is particularly poignant, because what your opponent does could have a direct effect on what you do.

This is where preparation is important. You need to have a course strategy.

A plan for the way you think the hole should be played given your opponent has hit a good shot and maybe a more cautious one if he has hit his tee shot in trouble. There is also a third scenario, if you are playing particularly well and you are confident trust your ability and play the hole as you decided in your practice round.

The bottom line is you cannot beat thorough preparation. Eliminate as much guess work as you can with sound preparation. For me as a caddie the most important day of my week is the day I walk the course without my player and familiarise myself with the course. It is not the fancy stuff or the radical ideas that create a winning environment, it is the basic things that induce the winning formula. Retief Goosen, my boss, is very observant, he absorbs everything when he plays his practice rounds. He is very aware of the right thing to do when the wind is a certain way or the pin is in a certain place. Soak up the finest of details as you play your practice round.

All this is basic preparation. That is the simple part. Throw pressure into the equation and the dynamic changes. This is when it is most important to stick to your routine, your normal check-list before you hit your shot. It is when mere mortals are most unlikely to do it. Always remember, golf is a pro-active game. You are in control, you pull the trigger.

If you want to observe how important getting your head around a shot is, watch Jim Furyk's visualisation and pre-shot routine. If he is not in his shot-making zone, he steps out and re-enters that vacuum only when he is ready to hit the perfect shot. The energy is concentrated on the mental rather than the physical. How common was it until quite recently for players to take up to three practice swings. That work has been honed on the range, the key on the course is to hit the perfect shot, you can only do this with an organised mind.

It is also important to recognise we are not machines - it is equally important to relax and digress between shots. Being competitive is a vital attribute in performing well in golf.

The balance between control and aggression is the art of being competitive. It comes from understanding yourself and your ability. Know what you are capable of and use your strengths. It's what all great players do.

It is a great privilege to be chosen to play on your club's best team. Given the less egotistical nature of playing golf for a team there is some extra compromise to be made by more habitual singles players.

The most important decision to make is whether you actually want to play in a group and if the decision is that you do then the self discovery of playing the game for others adds more selfless rewards but also includes the more powerful dynamic of compromising for the sake of the club.

Trust your unique ability and enjoy using it for the benefit of the team.