Fly the Plane - Dealing With Pressure

Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger was the pilot of U.S. Airways Flight 1549 from New York to Charlotte on January 15, 2009.  Minutes after takeoff a flock of Canada geese flew into the plane, shutting down both engines of the Airbus A320.  Less than three minutes later, Sully safely landed the plane in only place he could - the Hudson River.

Captain Sullenberger’s actions saved 155 lives.  You play golf, which is not a matter of life and death.  Nevertheless, you can learn a lot from what Sully did that day and apply it to your next pressure situation on the golf course.

The Fight or Flight Response:  When the geese hit the engines, Sully’s heart rate spiked, his breathing became shallow and his muscles tensed.  This is called the fight or flight response and is triggered by the hormones cortisol and adrenaline.  The same thing happens to you when you step onto the first tee of an important tournament or when you face a three-foot putt to win a match.  You were born with this response in your DNA.   

Sully used tools that he had learned from over 20,000 hours of flying to neutralize this response and to calm his body and mind in order to do what he needed to do to fly the plane.  Those same tools will help you perform in a pressure environment on the golf course.

Fly the Plane:  Although the plane was 3000 feet above Manhattan with no engines, Captain Sullenberger was not afraid.  Forty years in a cockpit had taught him to compartmentalize and to focus on the task at hand.  He did not think about how the geese hit the plane – that was in the past.  He did not consider what would happen if the plane crashed.  He did not think about his family.  Those things were in the future.  He had absolute focus on the task at hand.  He stayed in the present and “flew the plane.”

To be successful in tournament golf, you have to stay in the present.  In Golf from Point A, the authors refer to the present as Point A.  On every shot, your focus should be on the process for executing the next shot.  Don’t focus on the last shot or the last hole, and don’t focus on your score or the trophy presentation.  All we have is Point A.  If you focus on the present moment, and your Process, you can nail that important shot. 

The Process:  Sully and Skiles had a series of tasks – the Process - to complete to have any chance of landing the plane.  For example, within two seconds of the bird strike, Sully instinctively turned on the auxiliary power unit in the plane, which was essential to control the plane without engine power. 

Your pre-shot Process includes two important elements:  The Think Box and the Play Box.  These concepts come from the work of Pia Nilsson and Lynn Marriott at VISION54.  In the Think Box, you make the decision on the club and shot to play based on distance, elevation, wind, hole location, lie and the topography of the green and area around the green.  From that work, you create a clear visual – a “masterpiece view” – of the shot you intend to hit. 

In the Play Box, you trust your masterpiece view and execute your routine of waggles, movements and looks at the hole.  Great players have Play Box routines that are consistent and take the same amount of time every time.  From 2000 to today, Tiger Woods’s Play Box has remained between 12.5 and 13 seconds– every time.  A consistent Play Box routine sends a signal to your brain that you are ready to “let it go.”  It creates the level of trust that you need to hit a great shot.  If your Play Box routine varies, the result almost always is a poor shot.

Breathe:  During the final three minutes of the flight, Captain Sullenberger most certainly used his breath to calm himself.  You should use your breath as well.

Watch good players execute their Process.  When they stand behind the ball, they take a deep breath.  This deep breath counters the hormones that cause the fight or flight response, slows your heart rate and relaxes your muscles.  The breath literally controls the body.

You also can use your breath before rounds and between shots.  In these moments, use what is called a “box breath.”  Breathe in to the count of four, hold your breath to the count of four, breathe out to the count of four and hold to the count of four.  Try it.  You will find that you can slow yourself down and quiet the noise of a pressure situation.

Deliberate Practice:  Sully had prepared well for the moment that the two engines failed.  First, as an Air Force fighter pilot, he trained in the air against the strongest pilots who would then give him feedback on what he did wrong.  This is called deliberate practice.

Most players practice by taking a bucket of balls, rolling it over, and hitting the same shot repeatedly.  They do not go through the process of picking a target and send balls down the range without much thought. 

Great players engage in deliberate practice.  This is practice that is designed to replicate a tournament environment as closely as possible.  Deliberate practice is focused practice that puts the player outside of her comfort zone and creates mental images of quality golf shots.  For example, a tour player working on improving his play off the tee will create multiple fairway landing areas within the range and rotate among those fairways, keeping track of fairways hit. 

War Games:  Finally, pilots work hard to never be surprised.  Sully said to himself during those crucial 208 seconds that “this is exactly what I planned for.”  How did he do this?  He did it by practicing failure – by playing war games.

Pilots use flight simulators to rehearse extreme flight scenarios like a total loss of engine power over water.  The training provides pilots with important technical skills and also teaches them something more important: how to deal with the emotions that come with pressure.  

You should do the same thing.  Develop tools to address failure on the course.  When Tiger Woods hits a bad shot, he gives himself ten steps toward the green to allow his emotions to subside.  After ten steps, he dismisses any negativity in his mind and begins preparing for the next shot.  That is a good plan for you to follow.

Mentally rehearse how you will respond to setbacks during a round.  Ask yourself “What if I hit my drive out of bounds on the difficult third hole?”  By simulating these scenarios before the round, and developing a plan to respond to them, you will learn to control your emotions and respond with a good shot.

You will face pressure situations in most tournament rounds.  By applying the tools used by pilots – staying in the present – at Point A;  employing a consistent pre-shot process; using breathing techniques; engaging in deliberate practice; and playing war games – you will be better equipped to deal with these situations and to play good rounds with the heat is on.  Remember, fly the plane!