An article (“How Insults Spur Success”)  from The New York Times’ Jobs Section,  page 9,  October 16, 2011, as told by  Peggy Payne and written by  Patricia R. Olsen, shared a story that is relevant to all of us, and more specifically, athletes.

A quote from the article is a good place to begin.

“At 62, I’m still stewing over not being chosen to attend the Governor’s School of North Carolina when I was 16. It is true that many good things have happened in my life: a happy marriage, a few books published, fulfilling years in journalism and freelance editing. But the fact remains that at age 16, I was not among those selected to spend six weeks in 1965 at the Governor’s School, a renowned summer camp for brainy teenagers. And silly as it may seem, this rejection has helped my career. That’s because there’s nothing like a little ’I'll show ’em’  to incite ambition. Many people cherish their motivational insults…The one’s that got away, never quite go away, and that’s not such a bad thing.”

I remember a story about Michael Jordon. He got cut from his high school basketball team. And the world knows what happened to his career as a basketball player. Roy Campanella, a catcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers, wanted to play a different position. But, a team early in his career, said they needed a catcher and he took the position. He took this negative experience and became a Hall of Famer. There are many stories like that in sports. What the old saying, Whatever doesn’t kill you will make you stronger. Boxers may lose a round or a match, but they need to look at the next one and let the disappointment spur them on to get off the stool and try again. They do this by saying things to themselves that are motivating – just like Ms. Payne did.

So, I decided to watch Monday night football yesterday. After trying Channel 7, I remembered Monday night football was on ESPN. I spent about three hours watching the Miami Dolphins and the New York Jets butt helmets. It was not a pretty game except for a cornerback, Revis, a few throws by Sanchez and a couple of catches by the visiting teams ends. When the final whistle blew, the Jets had won 24-6.  I made a mental note not to watch a coach’s post game interview,   if  it followed a game played by a couple of teams who had no ability to play well – especially of neither team was my team. It might be dangerous to my mental health.

For some reason, certainly not logical, I stayed in my chair and watched Rex Ryan come before the media to give his reaction to the game. What he decribed was mind bending. He noted that his team played well – yes they had started slow – but took off and was very pleased with their performance. Let me repeat, the Jets, who Mr. Ryan had crowned as Super Bowl winners, had just beaten a very poor team who had lost their starting quarterback. Now, either Rex needs a better optical perscription, he is using some kind of substance that creates hallucinations, he is struggling with a mental disorder or he is a liar. By the way, more than one causation can be true at the same time.   It’s only fair to give Rex Ryan a break – his team had lost the last three games. Maybe just winning one game made him drunk and delirious.

As he was talking, I wondered if I had to much to drink when I was watching the game. I checked my mug – herbal tea. I drank a pot of peppermint herbal tea. Wow, that stuff is sure powerful. We know that politicians are the great spin doctors. Rex should run for President. If he lost, he would still move his stuff into the White House. By the way, I know this article is focusing on one coach. But, I’ve seen so many make me feel nuts.

How is distorting the view of a football game by a team’s coach helpful to his players and to the audience that is watching and listening? Maybe it helps the coaches with their concussion symtoms. The previous day, I had watched a tape of two coaches getting into a fight with each other after the game was over. Maybe the coaches need to be side lined and examined. I know players are checked for drugs. What about the coaches? I suggest random testing of coaches for drugs, alcohol, psychological testing. If they don’t pass, please stop them from giving post game interviews.

A fan’s loyalty to a sport franchise builds like any loyalty to specific product. You wonder why a team that abandoned a City still maintains loyalty from its fans. Yes, many are angry at being left. Many other fans are in shock. But for many other fans, they are remain emotionally tied to the sports team that left them in the lurch and resides in a place very far away. What explanations can we offer for this emotional tie to a team that jilted them?

Having been a very young child in New York City in the 50″s, I was exposed to the Brooklyn Dodgers, the New York Giants and the New York Yankees. There were many things going on in my 7 year old life. My uncle took me to the Polo Grounds, my father took me to Yankee Stadium and my Aunt took me to Ebbets field. I was struck by formal pinstripes of the Yankees, the majesty of their Stadium, and the names of the ballplayers who played for them. The Giants had Willie Mays – end of story – he just was the most magnificent centerfielder – player – I ever have seen. My father had a baseball signed by Mel Ott. But, it was the Dodgers that captured my heart and soul. The signing of the name “Dodgers across the jerseys, the red numbers of the players directly underneath the name stood out, the intimacy of Ebbets Field left me feeling like I was on the field with the players, and JACKIE, CAMPY, THE DUKE, PEE WEE AND NEWK had nicknames just the kids from my neighborhood. Even though they were consistently coming in second behind The Yanks, watching Them Bums, argueing with other about which team was better was exciting and filled with irrational fervor. In 1959, the Dodgers had moved to Los Angeles and the Giants had moved to San Francisco. They had abandoned me after years of my complete loyalty. I was distraught. I went to the Polo Grounds to watch the newly formed Mets play the Dodgers. You would think that I would have cheered for the Mets – the new National League New York team. The Dodgers had the same uniform as they had the year before – except for the stupid hat with the “LA” on their cap. I found myself wanting the Dodgers to beat the Mets. Remember I was 8 years old. I had the following thought – “one day I’m going to move to Los Angeles and rejoin my beloved Dodgers.” Two decades later I did it. I had not let the Dodgers end our relationship. I was at home in Dodger Stadium. 

Loyalty to a sports team is part of our DNA. It is made up of sounds, sights, smells and all the stuff that makes us chemically connected to a sports team. This DNA structure invades our being at a time in life when we are open to all the new wonderful things in life. It is very hard to change our DNA.

It is one of the reasons why there is such loyalty to the New York Football Giants who don’t even play in New York or the New York Jets who also play outside of New York. The owners who moved those two teams kept the same name and uniform. The colors are the same. The names are the same. Fans remain committed to these teams that abandoned them.

Sports teams hook onto our DNA when we are most vulnerable they have us. We remain loyal to our team. Like the title of the Bob Dylan song says “Remain Forever Young.”

By Paul Schienberg, PhD

Monday, June 7, 2010- This editor writes, “It was unbelievable watching Ray Allen hit so many 3 pointers in a row. He was in a zone!!! You know that altered state of consciousness where he was not from or on this planet. Did you see Kobe’s face during the post-game interview? Talk about a guy in a real bad mood. He is such a tremendous competitor. When he couldn’t be better than Allen or Rondo, he got real nasty. He was almost biting his lower lip off. Losing takes a great toll on that kind of athlete. I expect that I might have felt the same way. He reacted to every question from the press as if a nail was being dragged across a chalk board. I did take some relish from all those Hollywood stars with their front row seats going home unhappy.

June 7, 2010 – LR  wrote, “Yes, I think I heard ‘****’ Jack Nicholson out of my mouth for the very first time! Rondo threw Kobe off his game as no else can! No one else! When Rondo is doing what he is supposed to – which has NOT been every game. He was up near 100% last night. It was ALL psychological. It like it when the CELTICS don’t get too far ahead – they lose that killer instinct. They have to fight for EVERY point! That’s what it takes to beat the Lakers. You know Kobe’s gonna hit – almost nothing you can do about it. You gotta make him foul.

June 7, 2010 – This editor writes, “Excellent sports analysis. Maybe you would like to create a sport psychology blog. Getting too far ahead of the Lakers pisses Kobe off. So, he comes back with a fury. The Lakers went on a 25 point run towards the end of the first half and a few minutes into the second half. Just remember the Celtics did not fold. Most teams would have collapsed under the deluge of Laker scoring. This is a positive sign for the Celtics as well as winning the second game after being easily beaten in the first game.

June 7, 2010 – LR writes back: HAHA – I hope you’ll indicate on your blog that I have no expertise whatsoever (any of my readers believe that?) except I love to watch them big gorgeous guys play basketball! Doesn’t Rondo look like an Adonis? Isn’t Big Baby just the cutest things? Doesn’t Ray Allen look like a young Daryl Strawberry? Aren’t Doc Rivers and Pierce handsome? Hmmm maybe not to you…You can look at the cheerleaders, oh wait, there are none. Poor you.

June 7, 2010 – Editor write: There are two assumptions operating here. The first assumption seems to be that I am straight and the second is that you are a straight woman. By the way, the cheerleaders come out during the commercials.

This article is with reference to your article ‘SIBLING RISK TAKING ON THE BASE PATH’ I have worked with quite a good number of siblings who have played the same sport. Here is a very interesting and a very similar situation that you have shown in the article but with a slightly different explanation to it.

I was working with a group of Table Tennis players for quite a lot of time. I had group sessions and individual sessions with the players. We could see positive results in the performance of almost every player I had worked with except for Neha, though she had tremendous potential she was always an underperformer. I had couple of rounds of discussion with Neha on what was going wrong and what needs to be done but still it was not working. And somewhere deep inside I had this feeling that the main issue is something very different from what we are looking at. But somehow was very difficult to reach to that issue with Neha. So I decided to involve her Coach and her parents to get in to the root cause of the issue. After talking to her parents and coach I got the idea that earlier she was not like this she was very tough player but over the past two three years she has changed a lot on the table and off the table as well. She has become very reserved, she does not meet people, likes to be with herself, extreme mood swings, etc apart from the under and inconsistent performance in the game. Now my focus was to find out what changed two three years back that had such a profound impact on her. 

I asked Neha to meet me after an important tournament which was scheduled in that week. She came after the tournament, “How was your match, Neha?” I asked. “Not very good, Uma this time also won the title.” She said. Uma is her younger sister who also plays Table Tennis but in a level below Neha’s age group. “Great! I got the news yesterday.” I said. “Did you read the article on her in today’s newspaper?”  She asked. “Oh, yes. She has been the unbeatable player for the past two years now……(something clicked in my mind). We are so proud of her.” I said to which she just nodded her head in agreement. “How do you feel about her performance Neha? I asked and very patiently waited for her response. She took a small pause thought something and then said, “Good, I am also proud of her, (now she looking down somewhere) she joined the sport a year after me and now she is performing even better than me. She has the potential, she is better than me…..”. At this point of time I thought that she was not talking to me but she was saying this to herself. That was her ‘Self-talk’. I felt I had strike the cord so without missing the thread and without disturbing her, I asked her in a very soft voice “Does that hurt you?” Suddenly tears started flowing from her eyes. As if she has been holding them for the past two years.  I sat next to her, holding her hand, “Does Uma say anything to you, or your parents compare your performance with hers, or has anybody else  commented on  your performance comparing it with Uma’s?” “I have a very good relation with Uma, we discuss a lot on what needs to be done by both of us to improve our game, my parents have been very supportive, and for the rest of the people they don’t remember that even I play Table Tennis. People read about Uma in the newspaper and congratulate her but nobody even asks me my performance.”

In a typical Indian context it’s an unspoken expectation (though people’s perception has been changing now) that the eldest sibling needs to be more stable, responsible, emotionally mature and should perform better than the younger sibling as the younger one would look up to the elder one as his role model and would strive to reach that level. And if the elder one does not perform better than the younger then that it’s very disgraceful.  Neha was carrying the burden of this expectation which was imposed by nobody else but by herself, and was shaped by this typical way of thinking. She had the fear that if she does not perform better than her younger sister then she is not to be respected, or she is not worthy.  This made her very conscious, restricted her from taking risks in the game and forced her to play safe games. Safe games rarely give you a victory. Thus this affected her game and life and her overall confidence and self worth. On the other hand Uma had no such burden of expectations and therefore she was very free, took calculated risks while playing, never attached her winning or losing with her self-worth and continued improving her game.  

I would not call this as a sibling rivalry at this stage; it was more of an expectation burden. The a few reason that there was no rivalry between the two at that time was that they had the age difference that was not quiet close, they were competing in different age groups and were not directly competing with each other,   parents were supportive and never compared both of them with each other, but yes if proper care is not taken then this type of situation can further turn into a sibling rivalry between the two.

Well with Neha, we had a couple of sessions on how she can look at her performance and at her younger sister’s performance differently and not mix the two. Within a few days we saw a drastic positive change in Neha’s performance and it has continued till date.

This week the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers are playing each other for the Championship of the National Basketball Association. These two teams have played against each other more often than any other combination of professional basketball teams in the final series to become the champions. The Rivalry is intense – not only for the players – but also for the fans. When the Lakers play the Celtics, regardless of what is going on in the world, fans stop and watch every move that players and coaches make in every game until the series is over. For those few hours that a game is played everything feels right with the world. The “right” teams are playing in the contest. Throughout the championship season, fans and players do not just want to defeat the opponent. They want to destroy the opponent. There is an electricity in the two cities that could keep a subway running for the days these two teams are in combat. The impact of winning or losing any one of the games ripples through people’s lives. One winning team for that game will cure the darkest depression and the losing team will sink into despair. Marriages may get healed or become endangered – at least until the next game is played. When the series has been decided and the championship crown is given to one of the teams for the next 12 months, a short lived experience can turn chronic.  A significant trial on anti-depressants or sedatives might be in order. Years ago this idea might have seemed only directed at males. But, the times have changed and now females can be seen close to level of insanity. I wondered what makes for a great sports team rivalry. Here are some of thoughts.

Geography: One of the most obvious factors that can create a sports teams rivalry is how close their home turfs come to each other. This sounds pretty close to close to gang rivalry (“Westside Story) or wars (North v South Korea).  Back in the 1940′s and 1950′s, major league baseball was dominated by the rivalry between the Brooklyn Dodges and New York Yankees. They played against each other during most of the world series played in those two decades. Georgraphically, their home stadiums were so close, the World Series was called the subways series.Now, this factor does not fit with the Celtics/Lakers rivalty. Okay you are saying, there goes the geography factor. But, hold on for a second. There are similarities. They both sit on oceans. Is Cape Cod as beautiful or more so than the Santa Monica beaches? Even though they are 3000 miles apart, the citizenry of Los Angeles and Boston have a geographical debate that is powerful and seemingly insolvable

Fan Demographics: Often the characteristics of a team’s fan is very different from their rivals fans. When you think of the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox you think of very different finances, The New York Yankees fans are thought to be wealthier and more fashionable than the New York Mets fans. Los Angeles Dodgers are known to have lay back, spacey, unemotional fans who refuse to be uncomfortable. While the Dodgers rivals – San Francisco Giants – are thought of as kind weird, intelectual, and edgy. 

An Incident: Sometimes there is a single incident that sets off the rivalry between teams. It could be a fight in a hockey game. It could be a pitcher hitting a batter in base ball followed by a bench clearing brawl. The leg of a team’s quarterback gets broken by a star linebacker of the other team. The rivalry brews for a while due to other factors and then the spark. Jackie Robinson stole home plate in the World Series against the Yankees.

Opportunities to Have Combat: In order for a serious rivalry between teams to develop, the two teams must compete against each other on a regular basis. Since the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox very rarely played against each other – each team was located in a different league than the other. So the only time they could play each other would have been the World Series and that never occured. In the hope of creating a rivalry among teams, baseball initiated inter-league play.

Competition Between Individual Players: There was Phil Rizzuto v Pee Wee Reese and Yogi Berra v Roy Camponella on the New York Yankees and Brooklyn Dodgers; Magic Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers and Larry Byrd of the Boston Celtics; Brad Park v Bobby Orr of the New York Rangers and the Boston Bruins; there was Bill Russell of the Boston Celtics and Wilt Chamberlain of Los Angeles Lakers and Philadelphia Warriors. Often these competitors played the same position. This way the fans could debate who was better.  

History: In order for two teams to becme true rivals, there must be some significant history of their combat. A hotly contested game does not becme a rivalry. It must go on for years, decades or generations. One factor that has changed the nature of rivalry is that there a great deal of trades and free-agency activity in sports. For example, Roger Clemens played for the Boston Red Sex – the arch enemy of the New York Yankees. Then one day, Roger Clemens was picked up by the rival New York Yankees. At first, the fans didn’t adjust and the rivalry was watered down. But, after a few months, the fans accepted the massive change in personnel, and the rivalry heated up as if the Clemens incident never happened. The most famous swap in personnel between the Yankees and Red Sox occured when Babe Ruth was traded. 

Style of Play: Rivals often have very different styles of play. The Montreal Canadiens were fast skater and quick scorers while the Toronto Maple Leafs were a ruff and tough defensive team. Also, in hockey the Philadelphia Flyers are brawlers and New York Islanders were finessers and intellectuals. The Green Bay Packers of football had a blue collar hard working style while the New York Football Giants were talented pretty guys. In basketball, The New York Knicks of the 1970′s were intellectuals and the Boston Celtics were uneducated.

A Mythological Representation: There was David and Goliath represented by the New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Dodgers.

In order for a rivalry to exist and be on going a number of these factors must exist simulaneously. If you have any more factors and examples of team rivalries, the author would love to get it from you readers.

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By Paul Schienberg, PhD

Frank Sulloway and Richard Zweigenhaft studied the evidence of younger brothers willing to take greater risks by stealing bases. They dug through the data base of baseball statistics. In general, it has been postulated that younger siblings take more risks than their older brothers because of the need to fight for food and parental attention. The researchers examined whether this phenomenon might carry over to the point that baseball siblings would try to steal bases at significant different levels.

In fact the results indicated that the younger sibling did try to steal more bases. Over 90% of sibing pairs who played in the major leagues, including Joe and Dom DiMaggio and Cal and Billy Ripken, the more youthful brother (disregarding talent) tried to steal more than the older brother. Another pair of sibings, B.J. and his younger brother Justin a slugger for the Diamondbacks, are actually among the 1 in 10 exceptions B.J. is three years older than Justin and has been more of a speedy leadoff hitter. This position in the batting order is ofen associated with base stealing. B.J. said, “He was always the one who would push things to the limit.” “When Mama told him, ‘Don’t ride your bike their’ he would ride it.” ” When Moma said, ‘Don’t stand on the the bleachers,’ he’d stand up on the bleachers and fall and bust his head open.” This reminds me of my younger brother who would alwayopenly challenge my father’s authority to the point of danger, way beyond my challenges which were much more covert. This is still true today – not challenging my father anymore – but in taking chances in business.

Dr. Sulloway did not exect the findings in his study would have any practical application for baseball managers and general managers in choosing personnel for the team or arranging the order ot the lineup for a particular game. Those baseball decisions would probably continue to be based on players’ skills, not bloodlines. The study does contribute to the understanding of sibling psychology because “it offers evidence of how differences developed in childhood could continue well past puberty.”

 The study looked at 700 players and 300,000 athletic acts. The authors examined how many times each player tried to steal a base per time on base which was measured by singles, doubles, triples, walks and times hit by pitch.

One plausible explanation of the results of the study is that younger brothers got an opportunity to watch their older brothers and learned a lot of baseball strategy in that way.

I would like to hear from the readers of this article, experiences they have had with siblings who played the same sport. The idea for this article came from a New York Times article.

What does it take to turn a team of talented hard workers into unstoppable world beaters?

Pride, patriotism, and above all the aura. You definitely feel the presence or the aura. Opposition teams feel it too. It was Australia’s aura that influenced Savrav Ganguly to bowl first when he won the toss on the morning of the world cup final 2003. His decision was judged harshly and was considered to be one of the reasons for India’s defeat in the final . But, it is inside the team that this aura works its greatest wonders. New comers whatever their skills or status are absorbed. They quickly feed the confidence and solidarity of their team-mates, soon they are performing feats on the field that their mere flesh and bones would suggest are impossible.

Australia won their third world cup final in four. Almost everything that could go wrong for Australia did go wrong:  In January “03 Shane Watson was ruled out with a back injury and was replaced by Symonds; On the morning of Australia’s opening match the Shane Warne drugs scandal broke, he was replaced by Hogg; Two weeks later, Jason Gillespie, who had been nearing his demonic best, limped home, Bichel replaced him; Ponting had already replaced one of the best captains in the world Steve Waugh, when the names of the players for world cup were declared. Steve Waugh had no place in the team.

Still they won brilliantly, stylishly, uncompromisingly. Australia’s played with energy and never say die intensity. This aura cannot be brought, borrowed or copied. It is tied with an intense pride in their cap that no other country possesses. It comes from players’ simple heartfelt patriotism. Their will to win for the people back home who aren’t blessed enough to play for Australia.. It lies in the inspiration they draw from historical figures and events. Other countries can simulate Australia’s academy, fielding drills, and administrative structure. But the things that truly make this team what it is cannot be replicated. They come from the heart.

They have a second type of intellect, even we have it, but we don’t make use of it. The German poet Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe referred to this using the German word “Herzensbilding” which literally means the “education of heart”. Today we call this emotional intelligence. Intellect and emotions are two sides of the same coin, without feelings, there would be no perception, no memory and no thought. And without a direct wire to the human emotions, not even the most powerful electronic brain will be in a position to think intelligently.

Thus Emotions + Positive Thoughts = Emotional Intelligence.

Sports often present us with stressful situations or quarrels in which we find ourselves doing things that we immediately wish we had never done. Strong feelings such as shame, jealousy, and fear can affect our perceptions; often causing us to act before the brain can interfere and make us behave in a more controlled manner.

Competition can bring out the best or the worst in athletes. It is often the competitor with the stronger emotional intelligence who can control his or her mind before and during events, who wins. Positive emotions can help sustain motivation and enable us to approach events with enthusiasm and energy. Negative emotions by contrast are linked to avoidance behavior and withdrawal. Different athletes react differently to the same situation. The one who takes the responsibility to make things happen, emerges to be the winner. The individual must find self-knowledge – the ability to consciously and continuously recognize his or her own thinking process and feelings. You are what you feel and think you are. If you are confused and worried the outcome is most likely to be confused and unsatisfactory. If your thinking is clear and to the point, your brain will give you clear and concise action toward the outcome you desire. Maintaining mental health and emotional composure is not simply the matter of perceiving our own emotions, but also involves the realization that feelings can be controlled.

Intelligence to a certain degree is something we are born with,  skill can be acquired to a certain level, but emotional intelligence or as the meaning suggest education of heart can be learned and improved. Five simple steps of emotional intelligence or the hierarchy of emotional intelligence.

1. Love your game and the team you play for. With love, the most beautiful of all feelings, a relaxed mood prevails. When you are in love with your game, you sometimes attain that rare condition of bliss, in which the brain shuts off all unpleasant feelings and provides the highest energy. When this happens – you feel so strong that you believe you can attain any goal. This love for the game prevents you from getting burnt out; hence you enjoy the game more and more. when you love your team – you believe in each other and support each other, you stand united in any challenge or circumstances. It’s a different feeling and a different game. You float into the so-called seventh heaven, with a relaxed body and mind.

2. Self-confidence: Positive attitude towards self and towards the outcome of the game. It’s important to remain positive in every situation. This can be difficult, given that much of sport dictates that there be a winner as well as loser. However, if you dwell on the negatives and on that looser will occur, are you going to improve any aspect of your game? Probably no. So, choose to be positive, and to see positives and to see positives in your performance. Even the most deflating butt-kicking contains elements of future success. The consequences are that you will be more relaxed, in a better mood, and will most likely learn valuable lessons. Focus on those natural abilities or gifts that are unique to you as an athlete or individual, you will notice that you will feel much more excited about the up-coming competition. Thinking in this manner will put you in a state of mind where you can easily feel confident and can expect to win.

3. Emotional Self Control: Control the controllable. Can you control any of the following things – the playing conditions, the umpire decision, weather, field conditions play of your opponent, a bad bounce, your coach’s reaction, winning the game.  No. But, you try to control it. Hence your start getting nervous, which will leave your muscles too tight to play well. Second your confidence will begin to spiral down. Third, how well you do you think you will play if you are uptight and have no confidence? You guessed it! Not very! Emotional intelligence is the shift in your focus from these uncontrollable factors to the factors that you can control. You cannot control the event, but you can control your reaction to that event. that is what makes the difference. Our performance is a function of not our condition but our response to that condition. Respond positively to any situation and expect positive outcomes.

4. Empathy: Respect and appreciation of others. Emotional intelligence also means being in command of your own feelings, your interest in others and your ability to engage in exchange and co-operation with others. It is to respect and acknowledge other people’s contribution in your success. Give credit to others where it is due. Respect you opponents, competitors for their skills their interest in the game and for their effort to make the game challenging. Similarly respect your social responsibility. Pay back to the society in some way or the other. It’s again a diffent feeling.

5. You versus You: Pushing back the limits. When you reach to this step of emotional intelligence you are not interested in the result of the competition. What you are interested in now is to discover your potentials. Now your competition is not with your opponent, it is with ourself. YOu make records and you break your own records.  You find out new methods, skills and strategies to make the game more and more challenging for yourself. You are not even bothered of where you stand in the ranking because you are much above the competition.  You become world beaters and unstoppable, when you keep on beating your old records and are making the new once. Once you start climbing the hierarchy of emotinal intelligence no negative emotion will be aroused by any situation. Even in a very horrible situation you would still remain positive, confident and successful come out of any condition.

Finally, I end up my paper with a case that explains how Emotinal intelligence can become a competitive advantage and make you a better person. Formula 1 season the then 5 times world champion Michael Schumacher in his scarlet red Ferrari would have never been under such a tremendous pressure any time before. Reason: badly lost 3 opening races of the season; had to switch over to previous year’s car, 4th race on Ferrari’s home turf – Monza; his mother was critically ill and she passed away a couple of hours before the race.

No one expected him to win. A situation of pressure, emotions, sentiments, commitment, devotation, courage and performance put to test. It was a race to win by defating his younger brother on a day when both brothers were in almost the same mental frame. She will be raced with the aggression he never delivered before, never raced with suchvigorto take the chequered flag for first win of 2003 and latter winning the world championship for 6th time now he is 7 times world champion. Still you can see the same passion and love for the game. He has face tough situations many times: his brother’s severe accident in front of his eyes during a race; hiw own car catching fire while re-fueling. But, he overcame all such situations and even won those races. Thus by controlling the uncontrollable you can make miracles happen. He has made many records, earned a lot of money, a lot of respect and affection from his teammates and fans and shares  the same with others. Never ever his post race conference ends without thanking all his mechanics and even the person who cleans up his car and helmet and people who work on shop floor in the factory to build his machine. After achieving so much in the game his answer to the question “what next?” is “I’ll carry on racing for as long as I get that buzz when I am behind the wheels. Pushing back the limits is what makes this game challenging.

With season 2004 completely dominated by him, he races and competes with himself for his love for driving. And still the champion is humble and modest who would always be there to help others. Be it financially $10 million for tsunami victims or working for Dalai Lama for a day in the tea garden.

Emotional Intelligence helps ordinary people in doing extraordinary things.

Credit to Madhuli Kulkarni

Sports Psychologist

www.madhuli.blogspot.com

by Donna Davidge

Last week a student who regularly attends my hatha yoga class came in saying he was particularly sore. It turns ut he had just played tennis for the first time in a long while and was feeling the effects. He said he really needed the yoga class.

Most athletes have heard of the benefits of pre and post stretching exercises though there is some debate as to the benefits of it. In this day and age many people are practicing yoga as their only exercise or as an adjunct to other exercises. Kareem Abdul Jabar was ahead of his time, doing yoga over twenty five years ago and attesting to the fact that it warded off injury, which many of his other colleagues sustained. Both tennis and basketball have the shorter more rapid exertions of muscular energy combined with some longer running. Though it is not actually distant running, the build-up of lactic acid in the muscles definitely happens with this kind of activity. Yoga stretching can counter that effect and also allow you to be more agile on the court.

Let’s look at some yoga postures that might benefit your tennis game. Tennis is known for the condition called “tennis elbow” so any stretches that benefit the shoulders are a good place to start. When shoulders are more flexible then the lesser joints, the wrist and elbow, are less likely to be injured. At the same time you would want to strengthen the shoulder and supporing muscles, which is where the arm balances, which begin in yoga with the basic down dog position, also help. The great thing about yoga is that it is about balance, which means both strength and flexibility. Also the ability to move with your feet firmly grounded can benefit from standing poses such as the warrior, which also stretches the shoulders. Actual balancing poses, such as tree, can keep you from tripping up on the court. Twists are another aspect of yoga that could greatly improve the movements required in tennis. Twists can be practiced from a seated position as well as a standing or kneeling one. They should be rotated from the waist, not the lower back, and standing� or kneeling one. They should be rotated from the waist, and lower lower back, and create a nice stretching of the ribcage that allows the intercostal muscles to stretch. It is always good to have intial instruction from a qualified instructor to make sure you are doing the poses correctly.

The ribcage is also an important thing to look at in terms of breath. Many athletes breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth, working primarily the lungs. Yoga breathing, which takes time and practice, can allow for deeper breathing, expanded lung capacity and oxygenation of the blood. Yoga breathing is not a chest breath but rather a breath that starts in the bottom of the torso, breathing in deeply through the nose, and expands the breath upwards towards the thoracic region, creating an empowered beath in the belly and chest. This deep breath can put more power behind your punch in hitting the ball.

Yoga is defined as the union of mind, body and breath so the meditative aspect of yoga cannot be overlooked in improving any athletic’s focus. Off the court simple one pointed meditations, focusing on an object as simple as a candle flame, or focusing on the breath or even a sound (silently or outloud) are all techniques used in yoga to improve our focus and train the mind to do less wandering.

I asked the student if he had been playing singles, as he sounded like it was pretty intense, and he said no, it was doubles that they were all over the court. So no matter what your level or type of tennis, a good yoga class can likely improve your game. Depending on the type of yoga you practice, and thee are many approaches these days, you might even pay more placement of your feet and joints on the court, another way to fine tune your game.

Donna Amerita Davidge owns Sewall House Yoga Retreat in Maine (www.sewallhouse.com) and has been teaching since 1985 in