Jarvis Coaching

How Brendon Todd Improved His Mental Game: Lessons for Golf and the Game of Life Seventeen months ago, Brendon Todd found his way back after Monday qualifying for the RSM Classic with a 61 and made his first cut in over a year. He aimed to keep improving his game, enter as many PGA TOUR events as he could, and qualify for the Korn Ferry Tour Finals. “That was as far as my mind could dream at the time,” says Todd.  Since then, many have written and discussed the specific changes made to Brendon’s golf swing, changes that took him from #2045 in the world at the end of 2018 to #54 in the world now.  While work on his mental game has been briefly documented, little—if any—has been written about any specific changes. So, with Brendon’s permission, here’s a look into his mind and some of the most important changes we made to put him in a better position to take on his competitive challenges. BUILD A MENTAL FRAMEWORK We started working together in August of ...

How do you overcome the Yips? “It began the moment I let go of the last pitch I ever truly trusted, the one that went to the backstop and changed my life, and in the few seconds that followed.” --Rick Ankiel, Major League baseball player 1999-2000, 2007-2013. Are you an accomplished athlete suddenly unable to keep the ball in play, find the bottom of the cup from 3 feet, hit the mitt, or kick the ball between the goal posts? Are you suddenly unable to get your body to perform a movement or a sequence it has repeated effortlessly in the past? Are you overwhelmed with difficult thoughts and feelings?  Are you this person? If so, consider this… Nothing is closer to the experience of the yips than stuttering. Nothing. I know because I’ve been greatly affected by both and had to learn over the years how to navigate through the landmine of absurd thoughts and emotions that go with each. The yips, like stuttering, are a case of an “automatic ability” gone awry. What’s the ...

Performance 101:  Preparation for THE BOX “I learned at a young age that when the door of opportunity opens, only those who are prepared will walk through before the door closes.” --Earl Woods Prepared to Compete On the eve of Tiger’s professional debut two-time US Open champion Curtis Strange interviewed him and asked what he expected when he teed it up as a professional for the first time. Tiger repeated what he had already said—that he entered every tournament to win. “You’ll learn,” Strange told him. Tiger shrugged off Strange’s skepticism. What Curtis didn’t get was just how prepared Tiger was for the competitive environment of professional golf. Because of his training, Tiger knew what to expect and what he was capable of.  When it came to the mental game, Tiger had two coaches early in his life—his dad Earl and Dr. Jay Brunza.  As if taking a page from Brad Stulberg’s Peak Performance playbook, Earl was intent on growing Tiger’s ment...

What is the task at hand when the wheels are falling off? What can be accomplished in a short walk? A lot...if you have solid mental training. . I always tell my students the key to creating the wins that people know about is creating the wins that only you know about. Look for the wins within the win. You ask, What does that mean?  In which space did Tiger create his epic win in the 1997 Masters? Spoiler alert: “The mental training for golf that my dad had put me through proved itself during that short walk from the ninth green to the tenth in the first round.” ... “Anyone can win when they’re playing great golf, when they’re at a level where everything is going well. That’s easy. But trying to grind when it’s just not there, it’s really hard. It’s hard on the mind. For me, I rely a lot on the past, remembering shots and situations." Tiger If you want details about how Tiger used the mental training he got as a kid to turn things around, ASK ME. It’s a ...

WAIT WELL TO PLAY WELL                                                                                  Photo from The Golf Channel My friend  @drrobbell  tweets out a powerful mantra every week: “Patience and Persistence.” At the heart of both, is the learned skill of waiting well. Waiting is an inherent part of the game of golf. It takes approximately 1.5 seconds to hit a golf shot. The rest of the time—you must wait. It’s interesting to consider what this can look like in the life of a professional golfer. One player I work with recently put it like this: “I feel like I’m really good at waiting well coming off a good stretch of tournaments. At the same time, it’s excruciating to wait between tournaments when I’m playing poorly. When I’m playing well, I’m good at taki...