In past years talked to many athletes who were feeling very down. One particular case a racquetballer lost it and went off on the ref and basically had a mental meltdown.
I was pretty much like “Hey, it happens!”. Then I began to realize something else was at play here. In this day and age of facebook, nobody wants to be disliked. It is almost like a big high school out there. Back in the good old days our videos were not disseminated world-wide!
Now I am not condoning poor and boorish behavior on the racquetball court but I think we should allow athletes the latitude of being human.
Case in point: One of players I work with had an avoidable at match point. Game and match over but people in the crowd were saying my athlete should have replayed the point. It looked to the average fan like a cheap match point.
My question-“Why?” . There is nothing cheap about an avoidable hinder call(I know I know rally hinder or whatever-I’m old school) If it is in the rule book, and the rule is violated, it should be enforced.
Now, if the situation had been reversed, would the opponent have replayed the point? I know the answer to that one and so did my athlete! Be careful out there with judgement thinking. Sometimes there is more to the story than what you see. In this particular case there was a history of major double bounces and other chicanery!
Competition is not always pretty. (You youngsters in your 50’s bear with me.)I remember everyone having a hissy fit over Conners and Johnny Mac in tennis but when they retired the tournaments got boring. The passion for winning and dislike of an opponent made the matches intense! Outbursts, emotional melt-downs, and downright passion is sensed by fans and in some cases even loved as it makes the matches entertaining!
Back to the player with the poor behavior. Said player realized they had been over-training, under-performing, and therefore emotionally spent. The Rx? Rest one week, no racquetball, and get back after it with more rest periods built in! Their execution improved as they relaxed mentally as well as physically.
And facebook behavior critics were silenced for awhile!