In a golf skills competition, who do you think would experience the most performance anxiety: a PGA tour professional, a local teaching pro, or a total amateur? Leslie Sherlin, a neuroscientist, and I sought to answer that question as part of a research program on psychological and physiological pressure. We devised a three-stage pressure test, measured each golfer’s neuroelectric activity and heart rate during each stage, and asked questions to better understand the mental strategies the golfers used during the tests.
A version of this article appeared in the September–October 2023 issue of Harvard Business Review.
