The Australian

September 15, 2007

Psychologist helps deal with mind game

Brent Read, Golf

NEALE SMITH describes US Tour school as a crap shoot.

Guys who spend the entire year struggling to keep the ball on the fairway suddenly strike it hot and win themselves a ticket to the big time.

On the flip side, some golfers spend 11 months splitting fairways, rattling pins and sinking putts -- and then all of a sudden their game goes south and their year goes up in smoke.

"I think you can play pretty well and not get through tour school," Smith said.

"There's guys that play well all year and don't get through tour school. There's guys who play poorly and do. It's a bit of a crap shoot, tour school."

Smith speaks from experience. In 1992, he won Tour school, catapulting him on to the US Tour. Untold riches were within reach, the world was at his feet.

The euphoria didn't last long though.

Smith spent 1993 on tour, made only a handful of cuts and found himself attempting to eke out a living on lower-level tours.

"I played Australia several years, Canada several years, had a win in Canada, but never made it through the tour school," Smith said.

"That was disappointing because I was pretty green when I was on tour. I had a much better chance to play successfully out there, but never earned the right to get back out there again."

For the next decade, Smith did everything in his power to get back to the Tour. By his own reckoning, he played tour school another eight or nine times, never matching his heroics of 1992.

By 2002, he was ready to channel his energies into his other area of expertise -- sports psychology.

Smith, who completed a Bachelor of Education in Sydney before heading to the United States, completed his Masters of Science in sports psychology at California State University, Fullerton.

He was perfectly placed to talk to fellow golfers about the mindset required to be successful. Smith had sampled both ends of the spectrum. He had won, lost, laughed, cried.

"I have had some success and I have been pretty bad as well," said Smith, who went to school in the NSW far south coast town of Bega, playing numerous sports and making the Australian junior track and field team.

"I have seen all scope of professional golf. I won the tour school, got straight on the tour, it was exciting and the future was bright then a few years later I was playing the NSW pro-am circuit.

"It wasn't so exciting at that time. I have experienced success and failure. To have walked in those shoes I think the guys appreciate that."

Smith is now the mental mentor for some of Australia's best golfers, among them Nick Flanagan and Nathan Green.

Based in California, he has also worked with Paul Gow and American professional Hunter Mahan, and acts as mental coach for Stanford University, alma mater for none other than Tiger Woods.

"Through Stanford I have got to spend a little bit of time with Tiger," Smith said.

"The stuff he describes is pretty on the ball in that area. He trains well, he eats right, his mechanics are good, he's confident, he plays one shot at a time.

"All the cliches, he does very well and is very clear on. My perception of the Tour is there is a ton of talented players with Tiger above them all."

Asked whether he knew of Woods having a mental coach, Smith replied: "I would be available if he wanted to contact me."

While Woods hasn't come calling, Smith's work with Flanagan and Green has reaped rich dividends for both players.

Green is putting the finishing touches on his second straight year with more than $US1 million in prizemoney while Flanagan, one of this country's emerging stars, will join the US Tour next weekend after winning three times on the second-tier Nationwide Tour.

Both have spoken of the impact Smith has had on their game. His philosophy involves working with the players and their coaches to ensure they have their routines in place, both on and off the course.

Smith likes occasionally to caddy for his clients as well. Last year he did the Nationwide Tour Championships with Gow while last week he caddied for Green at the BMW Championship.

"It's amazing what you can see and hear on the bag, right there," Smith said.

"I really value good mechanics. I think some of the sports psychs just think if you look at the target and believe in yourself it will go there.

"You need to have a good working relationship with your coach and your mechanics need to be in order. You have to have the right sort of training and eat right and you have to have a strong mental game.

"Tournament golf in itself is very stressful and if you're under stress for five hours that's not going to work. It's going to catch up with you."

While Flanagan, Green and others have embraced sports psychology, Smith says there is still a stigma attached to the profession.

At the end of the day though, the vagaries of the game itself remain the biggest hurdle. According to Smith, there needs to be acceptance that some days the gods don't smile on you. "Sometimes you can have a day where you play fantastic and you shoot 74," he said.

"Other days it can be really scratchy and you shoot 68. It's an odd game because of that. I think golf is designed to frustrate you, it's designed to be challenging mentally.

"If you understand those assumptions, golf is a lot easier to deal with."