The neutral line and how it can help you

I started working with Erik van Rooyen the week before his PGA Tour win at the Barracuda and a big aspect of our work that week was how he would spend his time in between shots. We wanted him to get back to what I call the neutral line, where your mind is calm and clear, before he played his next shot. Any shot can take you off that line, with things like anger, frustration, dwelling or excitement. When we go away from it, it takes us away from calm and clear.

You obviously need to have good self-awareness to acknowledge how you are feeling and you have to work on your acceptance. You will generally have plenty of time in between shots to create that calm and clarity again and take in the environment. Going to a place of gratitude is a quick way to clear the anger or emotion that’s blocking things. Erik didn’t get too excited or too down at any point that week. Whereas previously his frustration over a bad shot might have taken him to 8/10, he never went beyond a 4 and that began to have a positive impact on his performance.

We’re not trying to get rid of our emotions, we just want more helpful reactions and to have a healthy relationship with these emotions, rather than not wanting to have them at all. Look at Tyrrell Hatton; he’s able to use his anger and channel it into something that is helpful and his attitude is a huge asset.