Sport Psychology Skeptics...

JJsqueeze · Sep 5, 2013

nanotech14 said:
I find that if a person cries, it can help cleanse the body, mind and soul.

I do agree with you on this. Crying can be cathartic. The tagline is really aimed at keeping an even keel about the fact that softball is a game and getting upset over it is counter productive. I teach my girls that they cannot cry in the dugout over a mistake/strike out etc. that they are to accept that this game is 66% failure when at bat and that everyone makes mistakes, but getting upset over mistakes takes away focus and drains energy better used for the next play. That is where the "Don't cry" comes from, it is not meant as a blanket condenation of crying....like when you get hurt etc. One of the things I find wrong with Mainstream America ( I could not resist) is that they think that every emotion is valid. This is not the case, sometimes it is just your head running amok, you have to exercise some control over your emotions sometimes. My daughters like to get upset and wound up about things that have not actually happened sometimes....what if we leave a cat outside and a coyote gets her?>>>>tears....I have to remind them that if you have an emotional response to all the possible things that can happen in the future then you will spend a lot of tears on things that never happen. Learning to recognize and control this type of useless/negative emotion is VERY important to personal well being in my opinion.

nanotech14 · Sep 5, 2013

JJsqueeze said:
I do agree with you on this. Crying can be cathartic. The tagline is really aimed at keeping an even keel about the fact that softball is a game and getting upset over it is counter productive. I teach my girls that they cannot cry in the dugout over a mistake/strike out etc. that they are to accept that this game is 66% failure when at bat and that everyone makes mistakes, but getting upset over mistakes takes away focus and drains energy better used for the next play. That is where the "Don't cry" comes from, it is not meant as a blanket condenation of crying....like when you get hurt etc. One of the things I find wrong with Mainstream America ( I could not resist) is that they think that every emotion is valid. This is not the case, sometimes it is just your head running amok, you have to exercise some control over your emotions sometimes. My daughters like to get upset and wound up about things that have not actually happened sometimes....what if we leave a cat outside and a coyote gets her?>>>>tears....I have to remind them that if you have an emotional response to all the possible things that can happen in the future then you will spend a lot of tears on things that never happen. Learning to recognize and control this type of useless/negative emotion is VERY important to personal well being in my opinion.

Okay, that's a good post. I have a dd on the far end of the scale when it comes to crying. I wish she would cry once in awhile. That's what makes her a good pitcher mentally. Doesn't mean she is a great pitcher physically, but she could and has hit one of her best friends playing against her and showed no emotion at all. She says it is just part of the game.

JJsqueeze · Sep 5, 2013

nanotech14 said:
Okay, that's a good post. I have a dd on the far end of the scale when it comes to crying. I wish she would cry once in awhile. That's what makes her a good pitcher mentally. Doesn't mean she is a great pitcher physically, but she could and has hit one of her best friends playing against her and showed no emotion at all. She says it is just part of the game.

I like her already...wish my DD had a little bit of that....she audibly says "whoops" on the mound with wild pitches. When she hits a batter she actually cringes and looks like someone stole her lollipop afterward. I showed her Rocky 4 and told her to act like Drago on the mound...but no dice.....emotion meet sleeve...

softball_mom#7 · Sep 5, 2013

Man this thread is totally derailed, lol. Went from sports psychology to over medicating our kids. Think of psychologists as the bartender with out the liquor; they just listen, give feedback but no drugs. Psychiatrists are the bartenders with the liquor.

I think sports psychology is valuable in any sport. The brain is very powerful. Professional athletes, organizations frequently use the help of sports psychologists, why shouldn't we as parents if we feel it is warranted? We played on a team with a phenomenal pitcher. However, if she hit 1 batter she was done. She didn't cry or show much emotion, she just couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. A sports psychologist could have helped her. We value big bats, speed/accurate pitching, fast/savy base running...what good is any of that if she is a head case when a mistake happens? Some girls are better at letting things roll off and others need coaching to learn that.

@JJ my daughter never feels bad for hitting a batter. I struggle with that but I never say anything to her about it.

sluggers · Sep 5, 2013

Why should we give a lick about what the screwed-up Europeans do or don’t do?!?!

a) The vast majority of Americans are of European descent. Many customs and laws come from Europe.
b) The gross domestic product of the European Union is greater than that of the United States.
c) The US has about three times more invested in the EU than in Asia.
d) The trade between the US and the EU is in the trillions of dollars.
e) Our primary allies are UK, France and Germany.
f) The UK and France put "boots on the ground" in Afghanistan and Iraq.

cmustangsfp · Sep 6, 2013

JJsqueeze said:
Last point of ignorance- Grouping pill poppers with people who want to talk to a professional about their issues. This is the same mentality that keeps real psychological issues like PTSD in our combat troops from being properly addressed.

Now-I have never needed to see a psychologist, or better stated, I may have the need but have never seen one, but I do not scoff at those who do and the friends I have in the field do good work and help people.

.

Why is it when we don't know how to work on our cars and we take it to a specialist (a mechanic) society doesn't bat an eye or consider you crazy, in fact they may even praise you. BUT if you don't know how to work on an issue going on inside your head, and you go to a specialist, you get labeled as crazy or weak, etc.

That is what is preventing the people who did Sandy Hook, Aurora CO, Virginia Tech, Columbine, etc from seeking out treatment or help. And just like there are plenty of bad auto mechanics out there, there are also bad psychologists and psychiatrists.

If the "main stream" thought process would ever open up and accept that sometimes some people are better at helping other people fix their problems, then we would become better as a society.

CoogansBluff · Sep 6, 2013

nanotech14 said:
I have a dd on the far end of the scale when it comes to crying. I wish she would cry once in awhile. That's what makes her a good pitcher mentally. Doesn't mean she is a great pitcher physically, but she could and has hit one of her best friends playing against her and showed no emotion at all. She says it is just part of the game.

What you describe is sports psychology. It's how thinking and feeling can affect performance.

RubberBiscuit · Sep 6, 2013

sluggers said:
a) The vast majority of Americans are of European descent. Many customs and laws come from Europe.

Yes we can find lineage of ourselves through to them - What bearing does that have on why we should or should not model ourselves in their image..?

sluggers said:
b) The gross domestic product of the European Union is greater than that of the United States.

What bearing does that have on why we should or should not model ourselves in their image..? I could say that Europe is more bankrupt than we here in America - should that make us want to model them? Remove Germany from the EC and the rest drop like flies.

sluggers said:
c) The US has about three times more invested in the EU than in Asia.

What take away here? That we love to give money we don't own to non-working open hands...?

sluggers said:
d) The trade between the US and the EU is in the trillions of dollars.

See "c"

sluggers said:
e) Our primary allies are UK, France and Germany.

The UK is more "non-western" now than any time before. Do you know what the most common birth name is in the UK?
France can't fight their way out of a wet paper bag and is a socialist mess.
Germany is about as distant from America as it can be without putting up a wall. (and I don't blame them)

sluggers said:
f) The UK and France put "boots on the ground" in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Bravo - the UK & France align with the useless and counter-productive UN as much as unfortunately we do.

Still looking for anything attractive with modeling ourselves towards "Europe" - I will admit the nationalism that Germany maintains is the ONLY thing this country could learn from (other than their better train systems

)

RubberBiscuit · Sep 6, 2013

I promise - I will stop the non SB content right here - I promise

BoardMember · Sep 6, 2013

Dr. Patrick Cohn of Peak Performance Sports is a world renowned sports psyc..........He is on the payroll of TONS of high level professional athletes........For VERY GOOD reason..........

Sports psyc's are "Mental Coaches".......And deal with the mind of the athlete and surrounding influences in sports..........

It is a HUGE part of high level performance........

Sport Psychology Skeptics...

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