Anger must be controlled not to be destructive

Sports anger can be expressed in ire, wrath, rage and fury.

Young and veteran athletes either learn to use it productively or, eventually, find it becomes destructive. There is a fine line between directing emotions into more efficient athletic performance and destroying potential talent.

Uncontrolled rage on the field or court shatters memories of accomplishments. Anger directed at the coach or a teammate is ruinous.

Short-lived anger directed at an opponent appears to be accepted strategy by some coaches. When a coach builds up anger in a team in belief it will improve performance, the results are usually disappointing. When allowed to continue, an important element of sports called “team attitude” suffers.

Good coaches discover the ways to push the “on” buttons are about as numerous as there are players. Still, it’s pushing the “off” button that takes coaching skill beyond counting to 10. Calm, controlled intensity is best directed at self.

Way back in the 50s the Monroe Bearcats basketball team, coached by John Stahl, never played angry. The reasons for winning are seldom attributed to hostility.

In sports it has become a tradition to use anger to provoke, irritate, madden or enrage an opponent. Coaches know when performance is inconsistent and undependable, mental equilibrium is upset and exasperation sets in.

Doing what we know how to do better requires knowing where and when to activate the anger-off button. Good athletes learn to control and direct anger effectively.

At the youth level, coaches or fans do not always model anger control.

Thoughtless attempts to aggravate an opponent have included an act that coaches hate. Stealing a mascot, defacing a stadium and hanging in effigy a star athlete are unappreciated shows of support. Such acts backfire by motivating the wrong team.

“He’s too nice to really be great,” said a coach of his star halfback. Is it a part of youth sports that young people (and old) are coached to being angry?

The productive value of hostility seems to be limited to physical contact sports. The directly angry athlete makes obvious animosity directed toward something. Umpires. Fans. School mascots. Anything.

Why then, do a few coaches fire up spleen in their athletes? Do angry players play better? Even nice people get angry and when they do good coaches teach restraint now, reasoning later.

While an athlete is self-destructing is not the time to try to point out that anger is self-destructive. Nearly all research says efficient reasoning is lost during periods of fury.

Players or coaches who are more concerned with expressing personal retaliation should understand they endanger success on the field. Other than big fines for emptying the dugout to join a team loyalty rumble at the pitcher’s mound, most athletes prefer to not get involved personally or physically. Especially young players who play for fun.

It pays to notice that nearly all enraged athletes like to meet on the ground of the intimidator. Usually that’s just before being ejected from a game. Enraged baseball players meet on the mound and football players in pileups on the ground. But volleyball players are taught to sit down when they lose their cool.

With athletes, sitting is a good prescription for anger.

Fighting back is usually retaliating for some form of abuse, past or present. After a season of brush-back pitches and being hit, fighting back can be encouraged by genuine fear. The usual form of self-defense is to attack, defend or be frightened. Even Edgar loses it once in awhile. But once in seven years seems reasonable

A seemingly tireless, totally dedicated athlete who works hard and continually does poorly can simply be over anxious. They may show an intense desire to do well, fear mistakes, try too hard, punish themselves for mistakes and find success adds fear for the future.

Athletic-anger comes not from failure to accomplish, but rather from unrealistic expectations. One of a middle school coach’s greatest challenges is dealing with an athlete’s retaliatory behavior when anger has been a model in his past. The usual form of self-defense is to attack.

Whether for coach, Mom, Dad or school, here’s some “anger control” things good coaches say work:

Reward and recognize signs of staying “cool”:

Avoid adding fuel to a fire. Do not directly confront the anger.

Make clear acting-out-behavior rules and why anger is counterproductive to the team.

Avoid getting involved personally. Remove yourself from the anger interaction.

Do not incite the anger. Some athletes may not see their behavior as contradictory.

Provide some alternative ways to deal with anger.

Restrain now, reason later.

What makes me angry are those coaches who believe their kids have to be angry at their opponents to build up enough confidence so they can beat that opponent. Then the opponent is angry because they ran up the score. Then the kids have to inherit that anger for next year or the next game. That really makes me … 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 …

OK, so losing, failure, conflict and frustration are part of the education sports world. Accept it and enjoy it? At least accept it.