What we can learn from one of sport’s most nerve-wracking moments
It’s become one of the most intimidating places in sport – the first tee of the Ryder Cup.
After months of build-up for the Europe and USA players, the moment finally arrives on Friday morning to walk into a scene closer in atmosphere to a football match or a festival.
Shouting, singing, chants, boos, then silence. Or as close as it’s possible to get with 5,000 people surrounding the tee block. All eyes on you.
The pressure of this moment is enough to make the world’s best players forget how to swing a club.
“As soon as they mentioned my name, my knees and my legs started to go to jelly," said Europe’s captain and four-time player Luke Donald. “I was thinking firstly 'let's try and just get the ball on the tee.’"
World number one Scottie Scheffler has admitted he couldn’t feel his arms.
“Anybody who doesn’t feel his legs trembling must be a dead man,” said European vice-captain and seven-time player, Jose Maria Olazabal.
Pre-shot routines are an established way to help golfers get their heads straight but the Ryder Cup first tee shot is way beyond that.
The silence itself can be suffocating. It’s why in Medinah back in 2012, US player Bubba Watson started asking the crowd to actually make noise as he hit. For him, a smart way to channel excitement over anxiety. Others, including Ian Poulter, followed suit.
Justin Rose, featuring in his fifth Ryder Cup in New York this weekend, prefers another way. When your body is running hot, he advocates slowing everything down, sucking in more air, taking your time.
Either way, the objective is often just to get it down there. It says a lot that the greatest players in the world just want to hit the ball.
Perhaps it’s why we have come to find this sporting moment so fascinating. It’s a stark reminder that these elite players are decidedly human.
In the most part, nerves are natural, useful even. A surge in nervous energy can itself be a performance enhancer by sharpening focus, attention and energy. Experiencing them also means you care, and are more likely to do the necessary preparation and treat the situation with the seriousness it deserves.
It’s how we interpret our nervousness that can make the difference.
"I think if any of us were out here on the first tee or in a position to have a putt to win a Ryder Cup or win a match and weren't nervous, that would be extremely concerning for our profession,” US player Justin Thomas said this week.
Research at the Harvard Business School suggests that reframing pre-performance nerves as positive – “I’m excited” – over the traditional perception as “bad” and unnatural, can help people not just feel better but perform better too.
As Billie Jean King said, pressure is a privilege. We may never experience anything close to the Ryder Cup’s first tee, but the lessons for facing down our own first-tee demons, whether it’s a club comp or a work speech, are clear. The discomfort of nerves is the price of being in the mix.
