The clutch factor is a virtue that all athletes wants and are envious of. It is so often that competitions, matches, and games come down to the very last stroke, shot, or down and players have to come through for their team. Sometimes teams have to make a late game comeback and grab the victory from behind. Other times the game is made for the athletes; all they have to do is finish and they will have the victory. The latter situation is what it came down to for pro golfer, Jordan Spieth, over the weekend at the annual, The Masters, tournament in Augusta, Georgia.
Spieth had the tournament all but won this past Sunday, April 10, and was only nine holes away from becoming the fourth golfer to win back to back green jackets. He birdied the ninth hole and was leading by 5 strokes in the final round. Suddenly in an awkward change of events, Spieth cracked under pressure blowing his lead, giving it to Danny Willett. Spieth finished tied for second place in a tournament that looked as if he was for sure going to be the victor.
The late game situations really come down to a mental game. If your head is not in it, then you might as well give up because your chances of getting lucky and winning the game are slim to none. All of it comes down to your mental game. –Phillip Christopher
This is an athletes biggest nightmare. Choking under pressure is not a rare thing either, as it happens on every level of sports. Personally, this year has been a terrible year for me in “clutch” situations. I am a member of the FC basketball team and throughout the season we lost six games by single digits, including the Valley championship in which we had the lead by five with a little over two minutes left. For FC, our bad performances in clutch situations does not end there. Two years ago we lost the Valley championship in football by one point after having a 28 point lead at halftime. We see these clutch performances get the best of athletes in college sports as well. Just watch a game in March Madness and you are almost guaranteed to see someone blow the game. The biggest problem for athletes now, is, how do we avoid these situations or rather guarantee a win? The answer is you cannot, it is impossible.
Some players try to practice for endless amounts of hours hoping to increase their winning percentage in these situations, but there is really no point. The late game situations really come down to a mental game. If your head is not in it then you might as well give up because your chances of getting lucky and winning the game are slim to none. All of it comes down to mental.
I remember watching a video one time with a sports psychologist and he said that in these high pressure situations athletes should picture themselves making the shot, throwing a good pitch, or making the put and then make themselves feel as though they are melting. It seems like a whole bunch of mumbo jumbo to me, but he was pretty confident in his methods and was convinced they work. So if you ever find yourself in a situation where the stakes are high, I guess you should imagine yourself melting because I can not think of any better advice.
If there really is no way to prepare for clutch situations, then you might think there’s no point in risking yourself the embarrassment or heartbreak of losing a close game. If you are thinking this then maybe you should remember a famous Micheal Jordan quote. “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” You see, as athletes we must take these heartbreaking situations and grow from them. Take them and use them as motivation to get better, even though these clutch situations are inevitable you have to at least try and be prepared for them.
Whether you are Jordan Speith or just a regular athlete that will never make it to the pros, remember, heartbreak is coming. In your sports career you will lose eventually and it may be in the most heart wrenching way possible. When this happens you have to take that feeling you have and use it as motivation. Otherwise, you will lose the love you have for your sport.
For last week’s world of sports read, World of Sports: Villanova wins national championship at the buzzer.
This writer can be reached via Twitter: @Phillip11499 or via email.
