Forgetful like Quarterbacks

I've mentioned this before in my blog, and I'm sure you have heard this before anyway, that the best quarterbacks are the ones who have short term memories and can forget right away any interception or dropped ball.  Those are the best quarterbacks.

If you can try not to think in the past when you're competing, it will help you immensely.  Because if you're thinking about that ball you missed six games ago and that you would be on the hill already.... that's not helping you here in the present moment.

And obviously the same goes for "future" thinking.  Thinking in the past or future keeps you from focusing 100% on the present moment.  And how can you play your best if you aren't committed to the shot in front of you?  Instead your shaking your head disappointed about what the score "should be."

But today I want to specifically talk about the past.... and, well, uh, trying to forget about it!  lol

As usual I compare things to everyday life when I talk about competing in pool.  And today is no exception.  Aren't you lucky?!

I think most of you know that I am a meteorologist (ie. weather person).  The other day a colleague shared with us he tried to boost the morale of our colleagues in Oklahoma.  He shared, "They need to have the mindset of a quarterback; forget quickly and get back in the game."

You see, early in the week, the forecast models were indicating that a snowstorm was going to occur across Oklahoma.  As the models adjusted through the week, the snow expectations became lower and lower.  Therefore, the forecasters in Oklahoma lowered the snow potential towards the weekend and put less snow in the forecast.

And of course they still got hammered on social media.

Ugh.

Everyone was saying that they missed the forecast "bad" because there wasn't any snow covering the ground like they'd imagined, come Saturday morning.

It's funny because when it snows people don't want snow and then when it doesn't snow, people wonder where the snow is.  But that's another story.  lol

The thing is, though, just like my colleague was saying, they need to not be worried about what's going on on social media or why the forecast didn't pan out.  They need to have the mindset of a good quarterback and get back to forecasting.

You see they can't sit there and second-guess themselves and wonder what they could have done (or should have done differently) because another forecast needs to be issued; we don't have time to sit there and feel bad about a bad forecast.

Now, don't get me wrong.  We do evaluations and after action reports and check stats, run scenarios on past events, etc.  But that is something down the road that we do.

The very next day we need to come on shift and we need to forecast the weather and have that quarterback mentality.

Same thing for pool.  If you are thinking about that shot you missed, that means you're not thinking about what's going on in front of you right now.  You're mind cannot do several things at once and you got to give yourself the best chance to play your best, and therefore you need to stay in the present.

I know I've said this a hundred times.  So, now today is 100 + 1.  :)