September 2016 – Fast:Forward Farther

I’m watching the Ryder Cup while I write this blog. (Great thing about switching to Uverse recently is one of our receivers is wireless, so I can move that TV anywhere in our house, including next to the keyboard in my office. Works great on football weekends when I put it next to our main set and watch two games at once.)

As the matches got underway, I heard a rabid U.S.A. fan shout, ‘Miss it!’ as soon as the player for team Europe hit his putt. While I understand the emotion that arises during these matches every other year, rooting so hard against the opponent goes against the spirit of the game.

Of course, that was nothing compared to what Kathy and I experienced two weeks ago at the end of the Texas-Cal football game. We were in the stands at Berkeley when a call went against the Longhorns during the last two minutes. When the game ended and Texas lost, at least 15 disgruntled fans tossed water bottles onto the field. It was one of the worst displays of sportsmanship I’ve witnessed.

Walking (a long way) amidst thousands of people to meet our Uber driver, we happen to come alongside UT-Austin president Greg Fenves. I told him how much we appreciate the way he sat in the stands during the game, instead of in a luxury suite – and suggested the next monthly newsletter he sends to alumni should address the proper way to act at games.

Then again, given the raucous crowds that attend one of our presidential candidate’s appearances, maybe I’m setting my expectations too high.

Golf is my favorite sport to play – ever since I was nine years old hitting rock-hard Top Flites with my dad’s old red-grip clubs around a four-hole course that had plastic greens. As a teenager my friends and I toured the munis in the DFW area. Green fees: $10. I even have the scorecard from the first time I broke 100.

Sometime around age 20, my friends named a shot after me. The ‘Handler Shot’ – which they still use all these 36 years later – comes out whenever someone hits a fat flub into the water. That was a regular occurrence of my youth… and a sarcastic tribute that lives on.

I became a pretty good player in my late 20’s, then gave up the game – save for the occasional scramble – when our kids were young. I started playing again a few years ago, and have my handicap back in single digits.

That said, I still struggle with the game playing inside my head. While I’m typically a ‘glass half full’ guy, on the golf course negative thoughts dance around my mind… especially whenever a foursome behind us catches up on a crowded tee box, or we play through another group. Something about eyes watching causes my muscles to tense up.

So, at age 56, I’m reading ‘Golf Is Not a Game of Perfect,’ by noted sports psychologist Bob Rotella. He makes a lot of interesting points that resonate with me:

‘A little doubt or a little indecision is sufficient to impair performance.’

‘People by and large become what they think about themselves.’

‘We are endowed with the most marvelous computer system imaginable, and it is wired to maximize physical performance and grace if a person simply looks at a target and reacts to it.’

Come to think of it, those are good reminders for business, too. Glad I discovered this book. Of course, it was written in 1995.

Month: September 2016

Overzealous Acts

Head Games