FEAR LIVES IN THE FUTURE
Of all the hazards, fear is the worst.
—SAM SNEAD
The absolute worst thing a receiver can do is worry about not catching the ball or about getting hit.
—JERRY RICE
The Phoenix Fire Department is as selective in employment as a professional sports team. Those who want to become firefighters must have the right stuff. Trainees are required to perform many demanding tasks, including climbing the tall ladder, in full gear, used in rescues.
For the past twenty years I have been training booters—firefighting recruits—on the mental aspects of performance. I often give a classroom demonstration. It is a test you can take yourself. If I asked you to stand on the seat of a chair, or on a table top, would you have a problem doing that? Probably not. But what if that chair or table were twenty stories in the air, and I asked you to perform the same task. What thoughts would you have? How would you feel? Could you do it?
The task is the same. So what is the difference? For many, it’s a four-letter word. Fear.
Fear is a mental response to a perceived danger or threat. As former golfing great Sam Snead said, fear is the worst hazard because it creates tension, doubts, or even panic. While on an African safari, Snead once shot a charging, wild elephant that was thirty yards in front of him. “It didn’t hit the ground until it was right at my feet,” Snead recalled. “I wasn’t a bit scared. But a four-foot putt scares me to death.” Fear releases chemical hormones that can inhibit performance and shut you down. When you are afraid in sports you play small. Because you’re focusing on the negative, you worry about making mistakes.
I recently played my college roommate in golf. Chris was captain of our college basketball team while I captained the tennis team. We have been competing against each other for almost thirty years, with bragging rights on the line. I’m a much better golfer than Chris. I should beat him. But when he comes to Arizona and we play on my home course, where I should hold a big advantage, I don’t perform well. Instead of playing my game, I play it safe. I play not to lose; I play small; I play scared. Fearful of running the ball past the hole and three-putting and losing a stroke to my opponent’s handicap, I choke up and leave the first putt short and three-putt anyway. What I’ve had to learn—what I’m still working at—is not to let fear control me. Stop worrying about making a mistake.
Fear is something we learn as kids. A big coach might yell “You screwed up again!” or “How can you be so stupid?” Youngsters internalize those critical messages. From an early age they would then develop a fear of failure—a fear of doing the wrong thing.
I have great admiration for the Special Olympics program. Its motto is “Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.” Coaches and volunteers provide what every athlete needs—encouragement and support. Most Special Olympians, children and adults who are mentally challenged, have no fear of failure when they run a fifty-meter race, do the long jump, or throw a shot put. Fear lives in the future. These athletes live in the present—the here and now. Their participation is fun and rewarding.
Fear reminds me of the Wizard in the magical Land of Oz. It is an unseen presence, a booming voice behind a curtain. Fear is as big and powerful as we imagine it to be. Some athletes resist fear, or some try to deny fear. Others attempt to conquer it. I suggest one shouldn’t do any of those things. Fear is a natural part of performance. Former Olympian Bruce Jenner said, “Fear is part of the process. If you weren’t scared, you’d be in trouble.”
When you resist fear you’re only keeping it alive. It’s like trying to hold a beach ball under water. The more you fight it, the more pressure you’re building up.
Athletes should accept fear and recognize it as the body’s way of telling them to become energized. Don’t let fear hunt you. Instead, hunt your own fears. Pull the curtain away. Unmask your fears and face them down. Examine them. “Many times when fear starts to hit me, my best chance of overcoming it lies in facing it squarely and examining it rationally,” Jack Nicklaus said. “Here is what I say to myself. ‘Okay, what are you frightened of? You’ve obviously played well overall. You’re always telling yourself you get your biggest kicks out of the challenges of golf. Well, go ahead and enjoy yourself. Play each shot one at a time and meet the challenge.’”
I once lived alongside the Orange Tree golf course in Scottsdale, Arizona. My house was about 240 yards from the tee box of the 17th hole. It amazed me how often I would find two golf balls in my back yard, one within a foot of the other, both bearing the same company logo. Apparently, one weekend golfer feared slicing his drive out of bounds. His negative thinking helped create the result he feared most. When he teed up the second ball, he worried about making the same mistake and usually did. Al Henderson, a former coach of the U.S. Olympic archery team, said, “Fretting about the shot you just made will get you another just like it.”
Jerry Rice, the All-Pro wide receiver, learned how worrying can undermine performance. “I’ve matured,” he said. “When I drop passes, I don’t get down on myself the way I did when I was a rookie. On the short drops I used to tense up. I tried to do too much. I started to think too much. Instead of just doing what I had done in practice a thousand times (catch the ball), I worried about dropping the ball.”
How does fear limit your life? Your performance? What thoughts accompany your fears? What physical sensations do you experience? Many great athletes who use anger as motivation also turn fear into an ally. Listen again to Bruce Jenner: “I was scared to death, but I made fear score points for me. Fear is right behind me, fear is six inches off my back, that’s where fear is. I can feel its presence. But it’s not going to catch me … I’m going to take fear and use it to my advantage.”
Remember, fear doesn’t keep you safe. Your training does.
Don’t let fear scare you. Feel the fear and do it anyway. Fear is often false evidence appearing real.