Poise

I hadn't really thought of this before until I heard Tony Romo and Jason Witten mention it several times this past season, but POISE is an important part of playing well under pressure.

I don't think we stand up there at a table in a tough match of the finals and think, "Have poise, dammit."

Instead, what I think happens it poise is part of handling situations under pressure.

You don't see many people win matches or tournaments or games without some sort of poise.

Basically, Jason Witten, tight end of the Dallas Cowboys, said that the team made less mistakes this year because they had more poise.

What does poise do?  Poise is confidence.  Poise is not being nervous.  Poise is handling the pressure without mistakes.

You can imagine this well when we think about how the Cowboys had a better season this year.

What happens when time is running out is, quarterbacks will have more interceptions.  They rush and feel rushed.  They are trying to hard to get more points.

Poise with Romo and Witten and the rest of the team caused them to handle the pressure better; to still take their time.

Witten said, "I think we've always been tough. I think being poised is what we're doing a better job of. Not panicking when we're down at (the) half.

I think poise is what most champions have during important, stressful, pressure situations.  Actually, if you feel poise, then you don't feel pressure - you simply rise to the occasion and play well.  And further, you make less mistakes, too.

See Romo talking about their poise with this video clip.