Marcel Siem In The Bag

We reveal Marcel Siem In The Bag details and the German tells us how he meets the mental challenges of the game at the highest level

Marcel Siem In The Bag

Driver: TaylorMade SLDR 7˚

Fairways: TaylorMade SLDR 13˚, Callaway xHot 16˚

Irons: Wilson Staff FG Tour M3

Wedges: Wilson Staff FG Tour 58˚, 51˚, 49˚

Putter: Scotty Cameron Futura X counterbalance

One of the biggest lessons for me during my career has been to understand how important it is to stay calm when things are going badly or you’ve hit a poor shot. Of course, the better you play, the easier it is to stay calm but every player hits bad shots and I’ve had to learn how to react to those moments. At our level you can save two shots a tournament by staying calm and being mentally strong when things aren’t going well. For me personally, that could be the difference between being inside the world’s top 50 and playing in all of the big events and missing out. Out here on Tour, you quickly discover that everyone can play the game, everyone can hit all the shots they need but the best in the world are the toughest mentally. There isn’t one player in the world’s top 10 who is mentally bad, it’s just not possible to get there. But I think the same applies at every level. Coaching is now so good that from an early age kids get taught how to swing the club really well. What separates them is their attitudes, how hard they work and their mental games.

My attitude changed when my daughter was born, that gave me a different view of life in general but it also made me realise that playing golf out here on Tour was my job. That this is not a game anymore, it’s more serious than that. But in the past I have found keeping control of my temper hard. When it goes, shots-wise I’m okay but I just make stupid decisions a lot of the time because my brain is not working properly! From the tee it can be so hard for my caddie to talk me into hitting a 3-wood or 3-iron instead of a driver even when it is definitely the right thing to do. It is just stupid because you lose so many shots because of that and for me, that could be the difference making the world’s top 50 and not.

Interestingly I found that I couldn’t read the putts properly when I was angry. It was super-weird because when I got angry I couldn’t see the line. I was always having to call my caddy over to take a look because everything seemed so straight. I spoke to my coach about this and he said because of the extra adrenaline you can find it hard to see the line.

So over the years I have come to understand that when you hit a bad shot, it is natural that you are at first going to be angry with yourself. You’ll be asking yourself why you hit that shot, how could you be so stupid, why did you make that decision – those sorts of things. But you have to blank that stuff out and there are tricks that every player has. I’m not going to tell you all mine but I will say that it helps to think about your loved ones!

For me, I was really pleased with how I responded at the Volvo Golf Champions in South Africa at the start of the year. I had been injured at the end of last year and I didn’t play for five weeks. I had to take a step away from tournament golf and so I worked with my mental coach. It was during this period that I thought a lot about my behaviour and my temper on the course. Then in the final round of my first tournament back, the Volvo Golf Champions, I made an eight on the par 5 3^rd. Of course, I was really upset about it when it happened but I stayed really calm and fought myself back into it.

The other important lesson for me has been to understand that you really have to work hard. You have to hit a lot of balls to get the repetition and the confidence you need. When I came out on Tour I rarely hit a golf ball, I only played but I was 300^th in the world, or something like that. Now, I don’t even know how many balls I hit in practice yesterday. Every professional golfer has to find his way to practice best, working hard but not getting too tired.

Marcel Siem In The Bag

Driver: TaylorMade SLDR 7˚

Fairways: TaylorMade SLDR 13˚, Callaway xHot 16˚

Irons: Wilson Staff FG Tour M3

Wedges: Wilson Staff FG Tour 58˚, 51˚, 49˚

Putter: Scotty Cameron Futura X counterbalance