I’ll be the first to admit this.
For two weeks, I’ve been avoiding a conversation with myself.
Fourteen days ago, my team sat me down and told me they were confused. They wanted to know where MPGA was going. Who we were talking to. Who the ideal student was. And if we were going to grow our social media presence, they needed to know who we were building it for.
Fair questions. Every single one of them.
Here’s the part that stings: I wanted them to figure it out with me. I wanted the direction to come from the group, from the conversation, from some collaborative process that would let me off the hook. But they pushed back, and they were right to push back.
“Dr. Mat, you have to set the direction for us and we’ll support you. You are the brand and there is no one else in this entire world that can make that decision for you. Just tell us who it is you want to reach, and we will build it out from there.”
I went quiet after that. I’ve been quiet about it ever since.
Then this morning, I hopped off an executive coaching call and shared an illustration with my client about skyscrapers. The foundation of any high-rise goes down before it goes up. You don’t see that work when you walk past the building. It’s invisible. But the depth of what’s below determines the height of what’s above.
I gave that coaching, and then I sat with my own words.
I’ve been putting off the foundational work. I’ve been walking past my own building and admiring what’s already up, while ignoring what still needs to go down.
So here it is. The answer I’ve been sitting on.
My heart always comes back to junior golfers. Not because I don’t believe mental training matters for every golfer, because I do. But when I’m most honest with myself, I know exactly the kind of kid I was built to serve.
I borrow this from Patrick Lencioni’s model of the Ideal Team Player. He describes three traits that define someone who is truly coachable and ready to contribute: Hungry, Humble, and People Smart. I’ve been thinking about what those traits look like in a junior golfer, and here’s how I see it:
Hungry is the kid who practices when no one is watching. They don’t need to be told to work. They show up early. They stay late. They think about their game when they’re not on the course. Hunger isn’t about talent. It’s about a relentless desire to improve that lives inside them, not around them. A hungry junior golfer doesn’t wait for someone to hand them motivation. They bring it.
Humble is the kid who knows they don’t have it all figured out yet, and they’re okay with that. They take feedback without getting defensive. They don’t crumble after a bad round, and they don’t inflate after a good one. A humble junior golfer understands that the game will always be bigger than their ego, and they lean into that reality rather than fighting it. They listen more than they argue. They’re more interested in getting better than being right.
People Smart is the kid who reads the room. They understand that golf is played alongside others even when it’s individual. They know how to compete without tearing someone else down. They treat the range attendant the same way they treat the tournament director. People Smart junior golfers are self-aware. They understand how their attitude and their energy affect their playing partners, their team, their parents, and their coaches.
When I picture a junior golfer with all three of these traits, I know exactly who I want to be in the room with. That’s the student I want to build MPGA around.
I don’t have the full picture mapped out yet. The foundation still needs more work. But I’m finally digging.
That’s where I am today.
Thanks for being part of this.
Your Mental Coach,
Dr. Mat Mental Performance Golf Academy mpgagolf.com
Author of ONE: A Spiritual Playbook for the Mental Game of Golf
Don’t skip twice.