Staying Focused Over the Long Term

I once shot 15 over par. On one hole! I made an 18 on a Par 3.

I might have set a record for the course. It was 2016, and I was playing in an amateur tournament at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio, where professional golfers play the World Golf Championship-Bridgestone Invitational. Winners of the event include Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka, and Hideki Matsuyama.

I had an opportunity to play an amateur tournament there.

I was standing on the 17th tee box, a couple shots behind the leader. I knew I needed to hit my tee shot close to try to make birdie and have any chance of overtaking the leader.

The 17th hole was 146 yards. The tee box was elevated, and there was a strong wind swirling from different directions.

I did all the calculations in my head. Take one less club because of the elevation change, but take two more clubs to compensate for the wind. Aim for the right side of the island green—although my natural ball flight goes left to right anyway—because the wind was gusting right to left. Flirting with the right side of the green would also give me an easier uphill putt. It was probably a strong 7-iron for me.

My first tee shot landed in the water. The wind died as I hit the ball, and the ball went more right than I had expected it to. Plop.

There aren’t any mulligans or drop areas in tournaments, so I hit another ball off the tee. And another one. And another one. And another one. All went different places, but all wet. I was living out Tin Cup in real time.

I felt like I was at the tee box for an eternity. People at the clubhouse were watching. Playing groups behind had started to jam up to watch.

I reached into my golf bag for another ball. I searched and searched for another ball and found my very last golf ball in the bag.

The last thing you want to do is not finish a tournament round because you run of golf balls. But there I was, with the real possibility of taking a DNF (“did not finish”) with just two holes remaining.

I hit that last ball. It landed about 25 feet from the hole, and I two-putted for my 18.

What was my lesson here? I was focused on the first shot. Then I became less and less focused with each subsequent tee shot until all hell broke loose.

There’s a point when we lose control of what we’re doing and how we’re thinking. But no matter how bad things are going, we have to remain focused.

I didn’t focus after my first tee shot splashed in the water. With that first ball in the water, any opportunity to win the tournament sank—just like the ball. I lost focus with the next ball, and the next, and the next one.

It wasn’t until I was down to my last golf ball that I forced myself to refocus. And I hit the green as a result.

You’re going to be studying long hours each day. That’s a long time to stay focused and engaged with the materials.

Consider taking short breaks when you study. The general rule of thumb is to take a 10-minute break every hour or hour-and-a-half of studying.

So avoid those marathon study sessions. Sure, get in your hours of studying, whether it’s six, seven, or eight or more hours of studying a day. But give your brain short breaks to reset and refresh.

If you find yourself glazing over the material without feeling like you’re understanding the material, take a short break and come back to it.