Yoga and self-hypnosis keep Joost Luit’s nerves under control during KLM Open | Other sports

Shaking hands, a high heart rate and not being able to get a bite through the throat. Anyone who thinks that only amateur golfers suffer from stress under pressure is very wrong. Just before Joost Luit hits that first ball of a tournament, the six-time winner on the European golf tour is very nervous. At every tournament, these days in Cromvoirt in Brabant during ‘his’ KLM Open just a little more.

“Nerves on the first tee (tee area, ed.) It’s part of it, I’m standing there with trembling hands too. You don’t have to worry about that, it’s part of this job. If you don’t like that, then you better do something else.” After a good or bad round; Luiten is always straightforward.

The big smile on his face in the mixed zone at the club house of Bernardus Golf is a perfect match this Thursday afternoon for his first round of the 103rd edition of the Dutch Open.

After eighteen holes played, Luiten has a score of -5: seven birdies (hit under par) and two bogeys (hit over par). “My average is four birdies per round, then seven is very nice. A result with which I am very satisfied. You cannot win a tournament on the first day, but you can lose it.”

As happened to the two-time KLM Open winner (2013 and 2016) in Cromvoirt last year. After the first day he was at the top of the leaderboard, but in the three days that followed his game got worse and worse. Luiten would have preferred to leave the tournament quietly through a back door. The yips – ‘a mental block’ – kept him sidelined for months afterwards. “I felt like I just couldn’t hit the ball anymore, my dad did better.”

Those problems are now behind him. In 2023, Luiten hits, chips, pitches and putts as usual. This year he has already finished third three times, waiting for his first tournament victory since 2018 (Oman Open). And let’s just – hopefully – be in Cromvoirt this week.

After that first shot on hole 10, he could finally start his breakfast while walking. “I try to squeeze in some in the morning, because you have to have something inside. But it’s the reason you actually see me eating in the lane all the time. Once I’ve started my round.”

It is then up to him to get and keep the nerves and tension under control during the eighteen holes. Every golfer deals with this differently. The Pool Adrian Meronk, last year’s number three and on day one in Cromvoirt flight companion of Luiten, benefits from meditation. Lieut nods. “I do breathing exercises and kind of yoga exercises before I start. Everyone has their own routine, you try to use every advantage. And that also helps in the job.”

Luiten has been working with a mental coach for about six years now, who has also taught him the usefulness of self-hypnosis in the job. He laughs, acknowledging that it sounds ‘a bit woolly’. And no, I’m not a hypnotist. It’s a form of meditation. You bring yourself into a tunnel with the help of visualization exercises. If the game is not going well, you try to turn it around at times like that. These are techniques that can just make you calm down a bit. One day you need it, the next you don’t. You never know in advance, but it is nice to have these tools in your bag.”

If it is up to Luiten, they will remain unused in Cromvoirt these days. “The bad days are also part of golf, you are not going to prevent them. I have had them and will have them in the future. If you get stuck in that, you better stop.”