Old Habits

My golf swing is terrible. I keep slicing the ball left to right. I have worked hard to correct it. I have had lessons, and spent time working on the proper fundamentals that I have been taught. 

Still, when I step on the 1st tee with my buddies, with the pressure of wanting to show how much I have improved, I slice the first drive of the day. 

I have searched for the reason I choke on the 1st tee. I ran across an article by a well known  psychologist. His reasoning? 
"In stressful situations, the 

ability of working memory to direct 

attention to what's relevant is 

compromised."

This phenomenon is known 

as "choking": what does this mean exactly?

Choking isn't just poor performance; 

we all have ups and downs. Choking is 

performing worse than your skill level 

dictates or than you have performed in 

the past because you now find the 

situation stressful. 

Get the picture? What I have been practicing, and doing so well on while on the practice tee, is not translating to the course.

I do not believe this is what happening with our team. Let me explain.

Questions are flying around the internet about why Auburn lost last Saturday to an un-ranked Texas A & M team, that for all intents and purposes looked to be struggling.

First let me point out tat Kevin Sumlin, the head coach for the Aggies, is a winner. He has a great record as a coach, and he is a top notch recruiter. That being said, there is very good talent at Texas A & M. They won the game. They did what needed to be done, on the road, to win. Give them a lot of the credit for that. 

As far as Auburn goes, it's a problem that keeps rearing its head at the most inopportune times. Some would say the problem(s) have been exposed. Hence the discussions.


Lets listen to the coaches. We will start with Rhett Lashlee, our offensive coordinator.



What did you glean from his press conference? 

Now, listen to Coach Johnson the defensive coordinator.



It's clear to me, we have some recurring issues, and our coaches are trying to address them. Techniques have to be re-learned, and that means teaching the proper way to do things. Under the stress of the game, it's understandable that reverting to old habits would happen. 

Old habits are hard to brake. Layman's terms for this revelation in the study we've outlined. The professiional see this in these terms:  
"We found that over-thinking can be detrimental, that it's better if an activity you have performed thousands of times runs on autopilot."

 As fans we want to see results now, but reality is, change takes time and effort. The effort is there, we just have endure the process. The ride will be bumpy at times. The results will be magnificent.

War Eagle!