Back in 2020, when the basketball legend Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven others were killed in a helicopter crash, PGA Tour stars wore replicas of his shirt at TPC Scottsdale in the WM Phoenix Open to mark their respect for all he had done for sport in the United States.
Tony Finau and Max Homa (see headline photo) were among those who pulled on the famous vest in tribute.
In truth, as his friends reveal in this video, Bryant didn’t like golf. He also played it badly which, they said, proved that “he’s human – he ain’t no robot.”
His golf might have been bad but Bryant’s approach to his own sport is something we can all learn from.
In this video, the sports psychologist and former basketball coach Bill Beswick explains how Bryant would always use his mistakes rather than dwell on them.
“In his first year as a professional, his team reached the play-offs and he was the young superstar,” says Beswick.
“And in the last minute of the game he had three shots to win the game for his team.
“He missed all three and, at the end of the game, the commentators were astounded that this great talent had missed all three shots and they noted how he was sat down on the bench with his head was in his hands.
“They were talking about how he must feel. He must be feeling dreadful, they said.
“And when he came off the court they managed to get an interview with him and they said, ‘Kobe, you were sat on the bench with your head in your hands, you must have felt terrible.’
“And he looked up and he said: ‘What’s feeling got to do with it? I was working out why I missed those shots. And now I know why I missed those shots I can do something about it.’”
This is the great lesson that Beswick identified.
“It’s a great coping strategy when you have a setback,” he says.
“Setbacks knock you emotionally off-balance but you’ve got to work beyond the emotion to get to: Why did I have that setback? What can I learn from it? How am I gong to avoid it in the future?”
It’s all part of what Bryant called his Mamba Mentality which he defined as: “Focusing on the process and trusting in the hard work when it matters most. It’s the ultimate mantra for the competitive spirit. It started just as a hashtag that came to me one day, and it’s grown into something athletes, and even non-athletes, embrace as a mindset.”
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