I have been a follower of Dr. Bhrett McCabe for close to four years now. He is a sports psychologist by profession and works with the University of Alabama as well PGA tour players on the mental side of sports. His YouTube show called Mental Game Live where he touches on the mental side of sport is eye opening and his absolutely free. This weeks show focused on anger, fear, and self doubt in athletes and how to manage it.
Last night watching the Sens game I watched Brady Tkachuk lose it after a penalty shot. He felt he was tripped and he was right. As Doc McCabe mentions in his YouTube episode he does not mind if an athlete gets angry, it is part of our DNA. With some athletes it is buried deeper than others. In Brady’s case his primary response was OK, he felt he was tripped and was pissed off. What got him in trouble was his secondary response. He got angry about something he could not control the referee’s call. Then he expanded his search to the Carolina bench and began calling them out . With a 4-1 score he gets tossed out weakens his team and made an ass of himself. His secondary response dictated an action ,which was very negative. Instead he had two options to follow according to the good Doctor. He could have pivoted and used the anger for something good or just let it pass. When he turned that anger inward and lost flexibility and resourcefulness. He was actually playing on behalf of the of the Canes and he also hurt his team by getting kicked out. There was four and a half minutes to go in the game, which is enough time to get the game to overtime. Just a bad leadership move on his part even thought he though he was helping his team. He just did not have the awareness needed in that moment.
It has become very obvious that the Sens are a very weak team mentally, because they lack discipline, they do not know how manage themselves when things go South, which results in poor play and I am seeing a lot of self doubt. Watch the post game interviews and in particular Josh Norris. Those comments were full of self doubt. They were personal about himself and his teammates and by extension the Coaching staff. The big question is how are they going to deal with it and whether they have the tools in the toolbox. With new ownership and an impatient fan base they need to get these players help and hope they get it.
My go to sport is golf. In my early years of competitive golf I was a hot head ! I left no doubt. I was competitive and wanted to win badly because I thought I had to be perfect. Unfortunately, my competitiveness quest for perfection did not match my skill level. People like Doc McCabe did not exist in the golf world at that time and the mental game was something that you saw in One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest. It took me a few years and some hard lessons on and off the golf course to strengthen my mental game. Eventually, some small successes followed. Now, my passion for the mental side of sport is at an all time high thanks to people like Doc McCabe, Doc Rotella, Pia Nilsson, and Lynne Marriott of Vision 54. It keeps me connected to athletics, which I am really thankful for. The only down side for me is that it showed up about 30 years too late. However, I have pivoted and turned it into a positive by focusing on becoming the best person and player I can be at this point in my life and maybe at some helping out a player or with advice.
I watch games from a totally different lens these days and see the difference between bad,average,good, and great teams.
Sometimes you have to look beyond and inward. No telling what you can learn and find.
Until next time!
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