Anger and the Athlete

 In Sports


Frustrated AthleteAthletes are often very focused, disciplined, and intensely passionate about their sport. Athletes have been known to lose control, and allow anger to become a prime emotion. Anger cannot be a prime emotion; it is only a secondary emotion. This means when anger surfaces, it is masking another prime emotion. The anger is real because it feels real. In veracity, anger is covering an underlying emotion like fear, bitterness, apprehension, or frustration. The adrenaline rush, the excitement, and the powerful emotional boost can become very addictive. This can lead to some serious anger management issues for athletes.

Once the athlete or coach recognizes the problem, it may become apparent that a plan of action needs to be in place. (Athletes and coaches, alike, can fall victim to the pitfalls of anger. However, for the purpose of this article, we will focus on the athlete.) The athlete needs to understand what his or her triggers may be, and why such a strong reaction. The athlete’s performance can suffer significantly by reducing their ability to focus on their performance or partake in actions that may be irreversible.

Mental resilience is the key to maintaining your composure during the game or event. Sport psychologists often refer to this as “mental toughnessâ€, and expressing anger does not make you tough. Mental resilience is the ability to quickly bounce back from an emotional reaction without little or no repercussion. Athletes that can maintain their composure can mentally release the problem or situation and continue focusing on the game at hand. Many athletes may practice deep breathing, counting to ten, or having their head down in deep concentration on the sidelines. Whatever their secret resilience technique is, they are not exploding on the court.

Keep an Anger Journal. By journaling about each experience of anger on the court, the athlete will be able to identify what the triggers were, the situation, and response from self and others. Structured journaling can be a great source of relief for the athlete. Once journaling is a normal practice, this is another way for the athlete to observe their performance, and seek methods to improve. One suggestion is to compose alternative to reacting with anger in each situation. The athlete can be challenged to develop better responses to tough situations which will strengthen their mental resilience. The athlete needs to visualize themselves in the situation, and prepare and practice mentally for a more appropriate and calculated reaction. Control and anger are very closely related. Ultimately, anger is the response when there is a loss of control. The athlete needs to accept that there is a loss of control, and develop a personal awareness of all emotions that may be a result of the power loss. This personal awareness and accepting responsibility for their actions can be painful, and freeing at the same time.

“I try to do the right thing at the right time. They may just be little things, but usually they make the difference between winning and losing.†– Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

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