Anger Management

I am reviewing my underlined and starred sentences of Brad Gilbert's book, Winning Ugly, before I head to Vegas for the BCAPL Nationals tourney that starts at the end of this week.  The main reason is this - his advice and words somehow give me the killer instinct and more drive to win.

Re-reading parts of the books has reminded me of great ammunition he explains and explores, that I can use at Nationals.  Will it make me a winner overnight?  Nah.  BUT, the advice he gives is so awe-inspiring, that I can't wait to re-read it again!  Seriously.

Yes, it's another tennis book that can be related to pool.  But it has amazing tid bits of info in it that has immensely helped my mental attitude be stronger and tougher.

Let me share a little about Anger - his thoughts and mine: 

Anger is one of those emotions that is difficult to tame.  Well, tough to tame when you are in the middle of experiencing it.

Anger is an emotion I don't like to experience during matches.  Simply for this reason - I can't think straight. 
 
Has this happened to you?  You get so upset during a match, that after a shot, you return to your seat and someone says to you, "why didn't you play safe?"  And you look at the table in absolute disbelief.  "OMG!  How did I not see that?"  All reasoning and rationalization and proper thinking goes out the window for me.  I don't see the creative shots or safeties. 

My mind is so full of anger, and as I've shared before, the brain cannot mufti-task.  We think it does, but it can only focus on one thing at a time.

So there I stand at the table, and my mind only sees I should go for a shot because it physically cannot see there is another option.  Luckily, my brain is conditioned to at least MAKE shots, so that's what it can do when it's full of this negative emotion. 

See the ball?
It needs to go in the hole. 
Try and make it, dummy.

Same thing happens when you are really upset.  Have you ever lost your car keys because you were so upset you don't remember where you put them down?  Yep, lack of brain compartmentalization at its finest.  Lol.

But when you are alert, your mind awake, positive, and not distracted by anger, you can "see" the table much more clearly and make proper, sensible decisions. 

Brad Gilbert offers some advice on how to "tame" it:


Learn to recognize anger when it starts.  It can sneak up on you.  The time to do something is before you're consumed with it.  That takes great discipline.  You have to override your natural emotions and use rationale thought.  That's tough to do, but the longer you grind on something the harder it is to stop.  Don't let the spark turn into a blaze.  Identify the source.  Understand the cause helps the solution.  Get good at spotting anger early.  Ask yourself why is this happening and what can I do to change it?

And here is my favorite part of the page I am quoting from:

If your opponent creates the anger in you, let it make you stronger.  When your opponent has gotten you upset, turn the negative into a positive.  Don't think "I'm gonna lose this match because of the stuff he's pulling."  Tell yourself instead, "I'm gonna beat him for doing that.  He's gonna pay the price."  You'll work hard to win.