I love college football. I love the passion, the unpredictability, and the game itself. The team I cheer for is the UCLA Bruins and they had one hellava game on Monday night. The fascinating part of this game through my eyes as a mental coach had to do with the Bruins quarterback Kevin Craft. He is the third string quarterback who got the start due to injuries with the other quarterbacks. His first half against Tennessee was anything but productive, it was down right poor. He threw 4 interceptions in the first half, including one for a touchdown and went into halftime losing 14-7. What transpired in the second half was Jekyll and Hyde. He came out confident, poised, and under control. He passed for 193 yards on 18-25 with a touchdown to pull the Bruins ahead and then win in overtime. 

In the post game interviews Craft said he didn’t feel in rhythm in the first half and his coaches calmed him down at halftime. His coaches kept their confidence in him and had him stick to the game plan and focus on the process of staying focused on each play, forgetting what had just happened the play before. Craft not only turned his performance around he played his best at the end of the game when the game was to be won or lost. As a sports fan I love the underdog story doing well. As a mental coach I love to hear that the mental game made the difference, not the physical game. 

So many times we start a round of golf off poorly and we need to get it back. In golf we don’t have coach to settle us down, we must do it ourselves. You have control of your mental fundamentals, so you can refocus when it goes bad and who knows maybe do something special on the back nine.