Can You Control Your Emotions Like Arod?

Inner game is not about succeeding every time.

In order to be as good a baseball player as Alex Rodriguez, I think we would all agree he must have rock solid inner game.

Alex Rodriguez does not get a hit every time he goes up to the plate. In fact, there are times the bases are loaded, the game is on the line… and he strikes out. He does this in front of 50,000 people live, and millions of people watching on television. He does this knowing that journalists around the country are going to talk about it, and fans are going to discuss it, and the manager, teammates, and owners are going to share their opinion on it.

Can you imagine any more possible pressure?

My point is you’re not good or bad based on one experience. Or even a collection of experiences. Alex Rodriguez is as good as he is because he is able to learn to master his emotions. If every time he went up to the plate he reminded himself how much pressure was on him… how would ever possibly hit the ball?

If every time he struck out or grounded into a double play he dwelled in the emotion of frustration or disappointment… how would he ever gather the courage to walk back up to the plate.

He is as good as he is because he is able to acknowledge the emotion of disappointment or frustration. He then looks for the lesson that was offered from the situation. Maybe he is swinging for fences instead of just trying to make contact, maybe he took his eye off the ball for a split second too long, or maybe the pitcher was just having a damn good day.

Once he realizes what action causes the frustration he can move on. He can move on because he knows that in the past he’s overcome slumps. So there is no reason he can’t overcome them in the future. Once he knows that he is certain of his ability to overcome it again, he goes and works with the hitting coach to fix the flaw in his artillery.

Chances are you don’t face anywhere near the kind of pressure Arod does. No one is paying attention to whether you’re striking out every night, or scoring home runs.

This mean you can play the game and have as much fun with it as possible.

You don’t face the wrath of millions of fans, an angry manager, disspointed teamates, and pessmistic critics.

The only wrath you face are your emotions. If you learn to control them… you’re on your way to inner game.