See Jeff Deitz’s 11/21/09 New York Times article, “Athletes Struggle to Channel Aggressive Nature” for an interesting discussion of the challenges an athlete may face in controlling his or her anger. Below is an excerpt, which suggests helpful techniques.
Champions must learn to control aggression under game conditions. Visualizing what lies ahead is crucial because being caught off guard by unexpectedly tenacious opponents drives the instinctual brain into fear mode, increasing unhelpful aggression. Sports psychologists offer many tried-and-true techniques, including attention-focusing exercises, progressive muscle relaxation, guided imagery, meditation, deep breathing and yoga.
Biofeedback studies confirm that physiological arousal is lowered by mental exercise. Finding it, as opposed to losing it, means taking the thinking brain’s strength and agility out of the mental workout room and onto the playing field. Read the whole article here.
