Reveal: Blue or Pink?

If I can share something with you all (in confidence of course, right?), I do not understand the gender reveal thing that has gone viral the last few years.  Maybe if I was in my fertile age wanting to have kids, it would make more sense to me.  Or, maybe if I had any friends who were prego, I would understand more.

Don't get me wrong, I think it's interesting and different, I just grew up in a different era where this didn't happen.

I have seen car smoke colors, release of balloons, cake cutting, etc, but I have to admit that when I saw the gender reveal of Sky Woodward's child-to-be with his girl Ashlee, it got me excited!  So, maybe that's what was needed!  A connection to something I love (pool) to make sense about the reveals.

I thought that was super cool!!  What did they do?

Check out the photos!

Congrat's to Sky and Ashlee - baby boy coming in April 2021!

Female Matchup Live Streamed

I saw this match up advertised on Social Media and thought it was really cool!

It's going to be live streamed on Sunday May 19th, and it's local females playing each other a race to 11 of ten ball.

I haven't seen too many chicks do this - nice surprise!

Goals Aren't Just for Yourself

I love learning!

And when I stumbled across this, I was like, Heck yea that's a great idea!

And of course I wanted to share with you all :)

Even though I saw this in October, it was more relevant for the beginning of the year.  So, I've kept it in my hip pocket for a few months, waiting for this very day in early January.  Why?  Yep, because it's about GOALS!

I saw this on professional golfer Justin Thomas' Instagram account and really, truly loved what he said.  SO glad he share this with everyone!

If you can't enlarge the photo below, here is what he said:

"Every year/season my team and I come up with goals for the year... it’s something I’ve always found important. A few goals that are very attainable, some that are going to require some hard work, then some that are extremely difficult. I ask every person in my on course team (caddie, dad, putting coach), to make a their own list. This keeps us all accountable the entire year that everybody is doing what they should be doing on and off the course to make sure we are as ready as possible every time I tee it up. Time to get started on next years list! (And no I will not share it until the season is over 😜😜) I challenge you guys to make your own list of goals and see how many you can achieve!"

Now, I would think at some point in my pool journey that at least one of my teams would have had a goal of some sort.  For as many teams as I have been on, there had to have been some goal as a team like, "finish better than last year" or maybe "up or stats" or something.  I just honestly can't remember.

But what I like MORE about what he shared was this part:  "I ask every person in my on course team (caddie, dad, putting coach), to make a their own list. This keeps us all accountable the entire year that everybody is doing what they should be doing on and off the course to make sure we are as ready as possible every time I tee it up."

Seriously, how fantastic is that?!  I just love the whole concept.  It's not just individual goals or even team goals, it's goals for each person FOR THE TEAM.

BTW, here are his results of the goals for 2017-2018:  I admire this because he didn't have to be this open with everyone, but I am glad because we are all learning from him:

(click to enlarge)

Maybe this is obvious in parts of our lives already, or maybe it's just the way he stated about accountability for everyone to be ready as part of the team that I loved.  But whatever it is about this just made me smile; and I love it!    

And, I waited until now to share it in case you wish to employ this for your pool team, work group, goals for the who family, etc, starting out the new year.

BTW, Justin Thomas' Instagram account is really cool - not all about golf, and some funny things.  Plus, he shares why he might not have won some events and should have.  I highly recommend it.  

Enjoy!

Time and Place for Social Media

I have written before how being on social media during a tournament can be detrimental to your game.

You need to focus.  Not read crappy comments, or even future-type comments like "Get that Title!"

Athletes do their VERY best by staying IN THE MOMENT.  So, reading even positive comments can be pressure-ladened.

While you may think, 'here she goes again with her weak mental attitude talk,' LOL, let me share I'm not the only one.

When I spoke to Tina Malm about her thoughts about streaming, I mentioned I was surprised she got on Facebook during tournaments.  She quickly pointed out, "I post about the stream, then get off.  I don't read comments or even look through Facebook during tournaments."

And here is my friend Tam Trinh:

I love how she handles this.  She will post info (brackets, stream, event, etc) and then add, "No questions please or messages about the event.  I need to stay focused."

She will update the post with scores and results, but she gets on and then gets off.

She, just as Tina and myself, is very aware to stay focused on the tournament at hand and not spend her time on social media and be distracted.

We want to still share with our friends where we are playing a tournament, but we don't engage very much online during the weekend because we are dedicated, focused, and concentrating on the tournament at hand.  Afterwards, we are all about responding to comments and looking around social media lol.

Point is:  Time and place.  And tournaments are the time to concentrate and focus!

Social Media Use During Tournaments

I wrote yesterday about the effects that the social media climate has on athletes and how they have to be mentally stronger than before social media came into our lives in order for them to compete at their best.

Those thoughts are the same reasons why I never posted online during my tournaments to give updates.  I didn't want to read comments from people.  I didn't want people to give me congrats before I won, or advice on how to win.  I didn't want to feel the pressure of people saying, "you can do this!"   I stayed OFF of social media and I just tried to mentally prepare myself for the game at hand (which was already pretty tough to do lol). 

The opposite is true, also, though.  I've seen players declare on Facebook, "oh I'm not feeling well yet I'm about to play for fourth place."  Or maybe, "I hurt my hand so not sure how I'm going to finish the tourney well."  These players are already letting their fans and friends know that they probably are not going do well in the event.  Kinda giving their excuse ahead of time to the world.

Whereas they could have just not have said anything at all and then maybe explain afterwards why they won or lost (or even obviously not explained at all if they don't wish).

Having a Blog allows me to explain why I faltered or maybe what I learned during a tournament.

In my opinion, social media is kind of a deterrent to us focusing on the game at hand, so that's why I kept away from an online presence during a tournament.

On the other hand, some people announce, "hey I'm about to be on the stream table at 2 o'clock!"  You have to admit that shows that they are very confident and they probably like to know that people are supporting them and watching them.

However, if I was up next on a stream table I wouldn't tell a soul lol.  I was not mentally strong enough to handle the thoughts in my head of the people watching.  Further, if I was playing bad I would start to get embarrassed and then it would kind of go downhill realizing all these people were watching me play badly on the stream lol.

I admire those that can use social media to their advantage.  Because for me it was a distraction.  However, because I know my mental toughness weaknesses, I need to do what is best for me during tournaments.

Mental Toughness is Tougher in Our Current Climate

I think that the media having more access to athletes and also the explosion of social media has actually brought a realm of mental interference into playing sports.

How many times have you seen the new young leader after Day 2 in a golf Major being interviewed over and over again after the cut, to not even see him anywhere near the leader board on the final day - sometimes not even on the leader board anymore at the end of Day 3.

If you think about it, back in the day before there was social media no one was online giving their opinion or talking crap about athletes or making memes.  Football players, tennis players, basketball players, golfers, even Olympic athletes didn't have to read or hear all these things before they played in events.

Even before games start, the media is interviewing players before they go on the field and before they go on the court to bring us, the public, a personal and up-close view of the thoughts and opinions from the athlete himself.  I think that is a distraction to the player.  That's a lot of mental interference.  That's a lot of expectations he is now having to think of because of the reporters questions.

Sports and competing is already so mental, and to think about how you answered a question, or why you were asked a question, or being "forced" to delve into certain topics before you even play can be such a hindrance to your performance.  I actually think athletes in today's world have to be even more mentally tough than in the past when the public would read in a newspaper the next day who won a sports match.

Nowadays, the public has such an easy access to athletes through social media, too.  Hashtag their name, mention them in a post, create a meme that goes viral, give your opinion on Facebook Live.  Again, that's a lot for an athlete to handle and have to deal with mentally before they even step foot onto the mound, or on the court, or on the field.

I commend and applaud how they handle these situations and are still able to perform at their best surrounded by these new distractions.  MENTAL TOUGHNESS, baby!

Twitter Fever for Pool

One of my friends on the OB Cues Ladies Tour, Emma, was so cool the other day when she told me, "pool needs more promotion!"

She said she appreciated my blog and she wanted to contribute to the pool world also, so she got her a twitter account!

We immediately started to follow each other that night on Twitter.

I think it's pretty awesome when players make moves to help promote the game we love.

Her twitter account is:  https://twitter.com/emtastic05

Mine is:  https://twitter.com/akaTrigger

This is the beautiful Emma:

Unless you are on twitter, you don't realize how much this Social Media platform has increased and used by soooo many.

A HUGE Thank You to Emma for promoting pool.  Love ya, Babes!