BEYOND THE SCOREBOARD

Rotella describes enthusiasm as a catalyst. It strengthens other qualities in a champion’s mindset, including persistence. When athletes enjoy what they’re doing, it’s easier for them to keep putting in the work.

He compares sticking with something we love to biking downhill, while sticking with something we don’t love can feel like biking uphill.

It’s easy for our athletes to be enthusiastic when they’re playing well, improving quickly, and getting every opportunity they hoped for. Maintaining that enthusiasm though, gets harder when progress slows or their role on the team looks nothing like the one they wanted.

Do what you love, and if you can’t do that, then choose to love what you do.

Our athletes won’t enjoy every drill or be happy with every position they’re asked to play. But Rotella reminds us that they can choose how they approach those situations. Finding something to learn, improve, or take pride in can help them stay engaged, even when things aren’t going their way.

On the regular PGA Tour, players show up trailed by entourages: swing coaches, trainers, consultants, all of them tweaking something about their game. On the Champions Tour, for golfers over 50, it’s just the player and his caddie.

The difference isn’t talent. It’s that the veterans found something that works and stopped fixing it. As Rotella puts it, “they had a method that they’d proven worked for them. They didn’t care much if anyone else liked it.”

Rotella shares the story of a young pro who had a natural bread and butter shot he could rely on. After hearing that changing his swing would make him more accurate, he made the adjustment and began struggling. Advice then poured in from his coach, trainer, caddie, and agent. He described feeling “unbelievably fragile,” thinking about a different adjustment every time he hit the ball. His bread and butter shot fell apart, and he’d lost trust in something that used to be a strength.

Contrast that with Jack Nicklaus, who learned one swing and stuck with it his entire career, going back to his original coach occasionally for a tune-up, never an overhaul. Rotella’s rule: success validates technique. If your player is struggling, seek guidance on what needs to change. If something is working, make sure there’s a clear reason to adjust it.

“There’s a happy medium between listening to everyone and listening to no one. It’s a subtle sweet spot, but it’s one that champions seem able to find.”

Exceptional people create their own reality and ignore information that suggests their dreams are unrealistic.

The last chapter opens with the question Rotella says eventually comes up with almost everyone he works with: “What if it doesn’t work? What if I do everything right, and I still don’t make it?”

He doesn’t dodge it. He admits life can be unfair:

“There’s no trophy for the player who worked the hardest; the trophy goes to the player who used the fewest strokes, regardless of how he made that happen.”

Sometimes a more talented, less disciplined player passes you right by. That’s real, and pretending otherwise doesn’t help anyone.

So why try to be exceptional at all?

“The lessons we learn in sport are supposed to be what endures.”

The pursuit of being exceptional reaches beyond sports and gives us a chance to discover what we’re capable of, develop our talents, and learn lessons we can carry into the rest of our lives.

Effort matters more than outcome. For parents and coaches, that’s something we can help athletes recognize now:

• Learning to keep working through a difficult drill can help them tackle a challenging assignment.
• Recovering from an error can help them respond to a mistake at school.
• Being a dependable teammate can teach them how to show up for other people.

Athletes can want to win and still take pride in how they prepared, competed, and treated others when the result disappoints them. Those are things worth noticing throughout the season.