The mentally tough Tiger Woods and Yelena Isinbayeva

Tiger Woods could not believe what had happened. "I did everything I needed to do, except for getting the ball in the hole," Woods said. "Just didn't make the putts when I needed to make them." He was unable to capitalize on his two-shot advantage at the start of the final round of the USPGA and lost out to Y.E. Yang. A few hours later in Berlin, Yelena Isinbayeva, the nine-time major champion had failed to make a successful vault in three attempts. The queen of pole-vaulting who holds the record of crossing the 5-metre mark, was unable to clear 4.75 metres. Up until Sunday, Tiger had gone on to win 14 out of 14 majors after leading on the final day. If Tiger Woods is the name at the top of a leaderboard on Sunday at a major tournament, one can be rest assured that will be the name atop at the end of the last round. But 15 out of 15 was not to be. The same was the case for Russian pole-vaulter and nine-time major champion, Yelena Isinbayeva. World and Olympic champion for the past 5 years, Yelena demonstrated immense mental toughness by crossing the 5-meter mark. No other female athlete has been able to emulate that feat. But on Monday, the invincible Yelena failed to make a successful vault. Like Tiger, she was shocked. She could not explain what had happened. Yet, both will get past this weekend. The consistency, commitment, and respect with which each has played his/her sport has been awe-inspiring. The unheralded supremacy with which they have reigned their sport the past few years is a true reflection of their mental toughness. Time and time again both these great athletes have exhibited psychological skill sets that have left their colleagues awe-struck. And this same mental toughness will be ever more evident post this weekend. Like true champions, these defeats will prove to be a learning experience. Bobby Jones had said, “I never learned anything from a match that I won; I got my golf education from drubbings”. Similarly, Tiger and Elena will use these blips as educational experiences. They will demonstrate unshakable perseverance in setting out to achieve their goals all over again. The mark of a mentally tough athlete is that they stand tall in the face of adversity. When things don’t go according to plan, when they get knocked down, they come back stronger and stand taller. The loss/defeat provides them with added incentive and motivation to try harder. They never give up. They don’t let negative thoughts enter their mind. Instead, they become even for focused towards their goals. The mentally tough Tiger and Yelena will bounce back. No doubt about that. And hopefully sooner than later.

Vasundhara Nangia
Sport Psychologist 
www.nangiaconsultants.com