How To Control Emotions - Allen Fox Tennis Coach
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How To
Control Emotions -
Allen Fox Tennis Coach
This is Dr. Allen Fox and he just wrote his fourth book, "Tennis:
Winning The
Mental Match." Dr. Fox is a former
NCAA champion, a
Wimbledon quarter finalist and three time member of the
U.S. Davis Cup Team. He has coached the Pepperdime tennis team to two
NCAA finals.
He consults with tennis players on mental issues and lectures worldwide on sports psychology and how emotional control is one of the big keys. There's an unconscious urge to escape this stress.
Well the way the mind is designed is slightly different than most people think. Most people think they recognize they have an intelligent logic system. Then behind it they have an emotional system. And they think the logic and intelligent system runs the ship.
But actually that's not correct. The emotional system runs the ship and the logic system is made to back up the emotional system to meet the needs of the emotional system.
For instance, two examples. One we are emotionally programmed to love our children and so that is in there. That's emotion. Then the logical mind says well don't let them get near the stove when it's hot.
Don't let them run out onto the street. Make sure they get a good education.
These are all logical thoughts concepts, but driven by the fact we are programmed to love our children. We're a social species and so all social species are emotionally programmed to be concerned with the hierarchy. Whose ahead of who. And so all of us then are driven to get good educations to have a nice car because these are all indications of status. How we rank relative to others.
We're all concerned with what other people think of us. And so then we get a good education. We work hard at our jobs. We buy nice homes. We do those things that will make other people rank us high. And so, but it is all driven by these emotional urges.
So now we get to the tennis court where the emotional programming was not designed for tennis matches. So players get out there and they want to win very much. They very much don't enjoy losing, but yet they are under this pressure because they don't know whether they are going to win or lose.
They play somebody as good as they are and they may be under this stress for hours. And so there's an unconscious urge to escape the stress and that emotional urge will often drive the smart mind to do things that aren't good for it. It makes people quit.
The emotional system is interested in reducing the stress. It wants what it wants. The intelligent brain has to override it. So the great players they may have an urge. Or they would have an urge if they let themselves go to quit when they get behind, but they're not going to let that happen.
Their intelligent brain is going to drive the ship, so that's why I say the emotional control. The smart part of the brain has to control the emotional system, rather than the other way around, which is the normal way. And because it's not normal, it's rare. That's why the great athletes the great players are unusual.
To take control of their system and we do have the power to do that -- is that what you're saying?
Yes... we can do it, but it takes an effort. If you just let nature take its course and you go out and play a tennis match and you let nature take its course, you miss and you're going to get angry.
Okay? You get behind. You're going to get discouraged. You let a little something bother you, you going to make excuses. These are all natural and if you yield to that, you're just going to lose.
So the rare ones, the abnormal people, these champions, they recognize that and they will use effort of will to override the emotional system. And not only do they override it, but they actually use their intelligent mind to create emotions that help them.
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