Mind Over Sports

Most sports fans are aware of how, when Roger Bannister became the first human to break the mental barrier and run a mile in less than four minutes, soon-after other runners did the same. Bannister proved that running a mile in less than four minutes was nothing more than a “self-limiting belief.” And this could well have been one of the major reasons that 26-year old Charl Schwartzel was able to break his own mental barrier as related to winning the Masters. Scwartzel said a key to winning was seeing his good friend and countryman Louis Oosthuizen win the 2010 British Open. “That was a huge inspiration,” Schwartzel said, “to see Louis win the Open Championship the way he did. We grew up together from a young age. We played every single team event and we represented South Africa for so long. We always travel together, so we basically are the best of mates. To see him win there was just such a big inspiration, just to see him do it made it, in my mind, realize that it is possible and just sort of maybe take it over the barrier of thinking that a major is too big for someone to win.”