Concentrate, focus, look at the ball, check my grip, feel loose, bend knees, stare at the ball logo, carry the club slowly backward remembering to keep my head still, and whack! My golf ball leaves the tee as I focus on the ground where the ball once rested. I raise my head as the driver follows through to my left shoulder and search the center of the fairway for the expected outcome. To my dismay, I catch a white streak hooking sharply left into the environmentally sensitive unplayable grassland on the first fairway of The Circling Raven Golf Club - mulligan!

Scanning the course in hope no one saw my dismal display of golf talent, I quickly reload, reaching into my pocket removing my second $4 golf ball and place it on the tee. I follow the same ritual performed minutes prior - whack. This time I immediately look left expecting the resulting hook as the ball leaves the tee. I often remember the layman's definition of insanity and often recite it to my clients, "The definition of insanity is repeating the same act over and over expecting a different outcome." My second ball enters the hazard at precisely the same place as my first ball. I am insane.

Is there help for my golf game? Possibly if I use the tools supplied by the science of performance. What earns one the opportunity to play PGA golf, become a prima ballerina, an astronaut, an excellent skier or chess player? Sports psychology examines successful people and determines commonalities in their success. Successful people are motivated, work well in a team, have great imagination and imagery, have sharp focus and accept criticism. Let's examine the science.

Motivation - people are motivated either internally (intrinsically) or externally (extrinsically). Intrinsic motivation offers the desire to be successful or help another because we feel it is the right thing to do and gain little or no reward extrinsically. Extrinsic reward offers an external or visual reward for our work; a paycheck for working, candy for being quiet in the store, praise or press for giving money to charity. Successful individuals are motivated intrinsically and practice, work or perform not for external reward but because success feels good.

Motivation outperforms talent. A study of outstanding scholars, athletes and artists found that all are highly motivated, self-disciplined and willing to dedicate hours every day to the pursuit of their goal. Superstar achievers are distinguished not so much by their extraordinary natural talent as by their extraordinary daily discipline. Great achievement mixes a teaspoon of inspiration with a gallon of perspiration.

Cohesion - being part of a team allows us to share our workload. We gain trust in our teammates and expect them to be there when needed. Teams and cohesion encompass people we trust and can count on. Successful people keep their team close to them and gain energy from the people they trust. They cheer when a teammate succeeds and feel down when a coworker or teammate becomes injured or struggles in their task.

Imagery - visualizing the world as you wish it to be. If I am taking a midterm test and am afraid I will fail, I visualize my failure and fulfill that prophecy. If I study (a must for success) and visualize the correct answers on the paper, my chance for success increases. Furthermore, while studying I focus and visualize the questions I believe will be on the test and create a photo memory of the information. I then recall the information by recalling the visualization. In sports, I need to visualize success. Watching others succeed, remembering my own success and visually repeating that success will lead to my ball heading in the direction I wish.

Focus is the ability to block outside influences and offer all attention to the task at-hand. Imagine what Kobe, Tiger or LeBron might be thinking prior to shooting a free-throw or hitting a putt? They have the ability to ignore the boos and camera shutters to accomplish their mission. They are masters at leaving the outside world outside of their perception.

In stage one sleep, one's attention focuses on sleep and blocks out the sounds of the world. As in sleep, an athlete can enter an altered state of consciousness and block out the world. The crowd disappears, the gravity of the task diminishes and emotion becomes void. They enter a hypnotic state of alertness resembling stage one sleep and can focus on difficult tasks easily.

An Internal monologue maintains positive thoughts during competition by keeping a running, positive conversation in one's mind. Positive self-talk changes one's perspective. Telling myself that I can hit the golf ball straight down the fairway increases the odds of the ball landing where I aim it. Negative self-talk creates failure. When doubt enters my mind, I tend to focus on failure instead of success and fulfill my cognition.

Accepting criticism allows us to understand and accept our failures. After hitting my second ball into the rough my father offers, "I wouldn't do that again if I were you." I turn and smile at his sarcasm and accept his challenge. I take a step back, visualize the ball heading straight down the fairway, take a deep breath, relax and hit the ball dead-center, 275 yards down the course. I offer another smile to my dad and nod, "Thanks for the advice."

Bill Rutherford is a psychotherapist, public speaker, elementary school counselor, adjunct college psychology instructor and executive chef, and owner of Rutherford Education Group. Please email him at bprutherford@hotmail.com and check out www.foodforthoughtcda.com.