DeChambeau in perfect state of mind
NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. – Bryson DeChambeau stands out for a variety of reasons — the tam o’shanter cap, the unique swing, the single-length irons. And his IQ.
It’s best to have a dictionary on hand when the current leader of the FedExCup Playoffs begins to explain things. He doesn’t do simple explanations, either. No, this is a man who loves physics and fully believes that the mind is a ter-
rible thing to waste.
So when DeChambeau starts to explain why he’s standing out as the best player on the planet after winning the first two events of the FedExCup Playoffs, hold on.
“Practice and better understanding of my biomechanics,” DeChambeau began Wednesday at Aronimink Golf Club, home to the BMW Championship, the third leg of the lucrative postseason. He went on to add he has a better understanding of his inner response mechanism than he did earlier this season when he lost his swing and how his body responds to each shot he hits.
And how he’s been working with a company called Neuro Peak and uses an electroencephalogram machine (EEG) to measure his brain waves to maximize his recovery and performance on and off the course.
“I’m trying to get myself more into a parasympathetic response, which is more of a restful state,” DeChambeau said. “Sympathetic stress is a stress state and that’s what I’m trying to accomplish.”
He’s hitting the golf ball pretty well, too.
After winning the Memorial, DeChambeau rebounded after missing the cut in the PGA Championship — which cost him a shot of making the Ryder Cup team on points — by winning The Northern Trust by four shots and the Dell Technologies by two shots.
The victories shot him up to No. 7 in the world and moved U.S. Ryder Cup captain Jim Furyk to select DeChambeau, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson with three of his four captain’s selections on Tuesday.
By the looks of things, everything is working right now for DeChambeau.
“I think he phrases stuff differently than he needs to at times, but the belief in what he’s doing is very important in this game,” Jordan Spieth said. “When you’re that exact and you feel the slightest bit off, you’re trying to fine-tune to the nth degree. That’s what it’s about, the best miss in this sport.
“There’s a lot of ways to go about the way you swing the club. He likes his way. He’s at kind of what he likes to call an end range of motion. If he really finds where it’s at, this is a sustainable thing for him for a long time.”
What DeChambeau currently needs is rest. Two wins in two weeks, a Ryder Cup nod, extra demands on his time … it all adds up and takes a toll, especially on the mental side of the equation.
“I’ve used so much brain energy over the past couple weeks,” DeChambeau said. “I work my body really hard and it’s been trained for a lot of years, but from a brain perspective, with all the media, with the Ryder Cup, the two wins, people on my phone texting me and I haven’t been able to get back to everybody. I wish I could. It’s almost impossible to do so this short of time frame with everything that’s gone on.
“It’s put a huge toll on me, but that’s why I’ve put a lot of people around me that have kind of protected me and kept me focused on the task at hand because, ultimately, what’s most important is getting the golf ball in the hole.”