As he holed the putt to win the Masters, Adam Scott raised both hands exultantly to the sky. There were a few thousand spectators around the green throwing their arms up in unison. Raising your arms is a universal celebration, and as well as being a signal of victory it is also a signal strength.
There has been plenty written and spoken about “acting as if” and “faking it ’til you make it” as if there is some magic in doing so. Well, it looks like there is.
Amy Cuddy from Harvard University has studied the power of body language and proven that how you hold your body posture influences your feelings of power and influence, affects your body chemistry and influences the way others perceive you.
Prior to job interviews one group of applicants sat quietly in closed postures – arms folded and legs crossed, almost making themselves appear small. Another group spent two minutes walking around with their arms raised in extremely open and powerful postures. When they were subsequently interviewed, the interviewers rated those who had practised open and powerful body language prior to the interview as being more confident and more likely to win the job.
In tests conducted on them, students were able to increase their testosterone levels and decrease their cortisol levels by spending just two minutes in powerful pose positions. These powerful poses also exist in the natural animal world.
The implications for golfers are that if you tend to be fearful or nervous before you play, practising these power poses for a couple of minutes might help your level of confidence for the game ahead. I’d suggest it’s probably better that you practice these poses in the locker room, rather than by the first tee.
I vividly remember coaching the NSW golf team in an Interstate Series match. There were five players in the team and after 9 holes we were behind in four matches and level in the fifth match. The players were reminded of breathing, eye control and posture. They adjusted their body language and the results followed: we won four matches and halved one.
I have written before about the Chain of Excellence where you can influence your performance through breathing and posture, which influences your performance state and leads to a better outcome on the golf course. This is something the artists of comic book superheroes knew already. Have ever seen a superhero who was not standing with their chest out and hands on their hips to make themselves look bigger?
Watch Amy Cuddy’s presentation. It is well worth 20 minutes of your time.
http://www.ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy_your_body_language_shapes_who_you_are.htm