by Mark Miano
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If you have a problem with racquet rage, chances are good that you already know it. Here are a few tips from the experts for dealing with anger in more constructive ways.
1. Delay the Outburst:
You’ve just hit an easy winner into the tin. The first thing you want to do is chuck your racquet to the heavens and scream bloody murder. Professor Brad Bushman says a better way to handle the emotion isn’t to vent it, but to delay it. Count to 10. Think of something else, something far from the event, such as that funny looking guy in the gallery. By halting the outburst, you can now work on regaining composure.
2. Reduce Muscle Tension:
In the moments after you feel that flash of anger, take immediate steps to reduce muscle tension. Dr. Steven Edwards recommends taking several deep breaths and then slowly exhaling. You can also try making a fist or lifting your shoulders to your ears and holding it, since these are places where we tend to store tension in the body. Not only is this is a simple thing to do between points, it can help you quickly regain your coordination and sense of touch.
3. Centering:
Dr. Edwards also teaches athletes to “center” their attention. He tells athletes to imagine a spot in the lower abdomen, somewhere below the belly button and in the middle of the pelvis, where our center of gravity lies. Take a moment to close your eyes and focus on that spot, where it is and how it feels, to help clear the mind of angry thoughts. “You see that spot, you feel that spot, and then you change your attention again, back to the sport, like it should be.”
4. Focus on the Positive:
Since we only have a few seconds between serves and just a minute and a half of down-time between games, try not to dwell on the negative. Instead of fuming over that missed shot or blown call, remind yourself of what it felt like when you hit a winner or did something positive on the court. “We have athletes imagine a motion picture screen,” says Dr. Edwards, “and they see images of themselves performing not only the right techniques, but they’re performing it in the right way.”
5. The Challenge Response:
We’ve heard about the two responses to competitive jitters: fight or flight. Dr. James Loehr trains his athletes to learn a third response, which he calls the challenge response. It’s that pumped-up, ultra-confident attitude which you sometimes see in athletes before a big competition, such as a football player awaiting kick-off before the Super Bowl. Dr. Loehr says the key is to find a new energy source that doesn’t come from fear or anger, but from enjoyment of the game, excitement for the competition, and a sense joy for life. “People can tell when you’re there, when you’re fired up and relaxed, you just feel this sense of empowerment, confidence. The time often slows down, you feel like you can really see things clearly, a heightening of awareness, a heightening of senses.”
6. Develop Rituals:
Work at developing your own rituals for dealing with adversity. Find the methods that work best for you and then practice them and do them the same way every time—so when the chips really are down, you’ll have a strategy in place to deal with the adversity. Dr. Loehr says that John McEnroe’s rage on the tennis court overshadowed the fact that he was a master of ritualization. “He had very elaborate rituals for serving and returning and those rituals served him very well. Most people speed up when they’re angry, he did exactly the opposite. He was pretty successful in being able to use the fuel of anger and he was able to harness that better than almost any player that I’ve known in the whole modern era of tennis.”
7. Get Professional Help:
If you find yourself continually exploding with rage, whether on the squash court or while driving on the freeway, you may want to consider getting professional help. A psychologist or other licensed mental health professional can work with you on developing personal strategies for dealing with rage. Remember, the goal isn’t to eliminate anger. In spite of your best intentions, things will still happen in life that make you angry. However, you can learn better ways to respond to anger and prevent your reaction to it from making you even more unhappy.
(Pictured above: Power Surge! Jonathon Power erupts in frustration in tournament play. Photo by Steve Line)
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