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The whole world witnessed the flared tempers of our world’s best footballers during the recently concluded World Cup in Germany. Who can forget Zinedine Zidane’s rampaging (pun intended) headbutt on Marco Materazzi in the World Cup final after he was provoked?
Even if you are the best footballer in the world, you will get sent off if you lose your cool and retaliate. And once you are red carded, you will be barred from returning to the pitch even to collect your medal, gold or otherwise.
So what’s the lesson learnt from Zidane’s disgraceful dismiss? Keep your cool on the pitch! No one likes being insulted by other players or getting fouled by bad challenges or having refereeing decisions going against them.
The key to keeping your cool on the pitch is to, first and foremost, recognise that such insults and bad challenges are all part and parcel of the game.
After all, football is a contact sport and when it is played with heartfelt passion, some people tend to lose it and resort to underhanded tactics to get you down, or better yet, sent off.
Such unsporting behaviour is a reflection of mere desperation, and any respectable footballer will at least attempt to play the game with integrity.
If unfortunately, you are at the receiving end of misbehaviour, what can you do? This is where Sport Psychology can help you to stay calm and walk away from the on-field bullying.
Step 1: Use Positive Self-Talk
Do not react to the provocation. Realise that reacting to them will not help you in winning the game.
To have no reaction means to be able to successfully ignore the bad challenge or provocation, even if it comes to you repeatedly.
At times, this can prove difficult especially when you believe the act was uncalled for and take personal offence to it. Remind yourself that it is all part and parcel of the game and take it within your stride.
Some players use underhanded methods just to get their way because they lack the talent to do it the legal way!
You are a sporting footballer and you play the game with integrity. Once you can see the silver lining and think positive in the midst of misfortune, you are taking full reign of your emotions.
This will help you to stay level-headed and focus on the things you should be concentrating on – how you are playing your game.
Step 2: Refocus by Centering
When athletes start to get distracted by their own selves or others, one great method that athletes around the world use to help them to re-focus is centering.
Centering is a simple deep breathing technique that is easy to do. Firstly, take a deep breath in with your diaphragm and hold it there.
As you hold your breath, wipe out all negative thoughts and emotions and think only about what you need to think about, such as your game plan.
Then, exhale out all the negativity and feel all your muscles relax as your expel out the negative energy. Tell yourself that you are IN CONTROL.
So to keep your cool on the pitch, two simple steps are all it takes and it can save you from getting yourself into the referee’s books, missing games, or worse still, facing disciplinary action.
All skills, physical or mental, require practice. The more you practise these steps to keep your cool, the better you will get at it.
These two steps can be practised easily both on and off the football field, as it applies to all situations in life when you feel like you are going to lose your cool. To recap, here are the two steps:
(1) See the positive! Use positive self-talk to remind yourself that it is all part of the game and you can take it in your stride because you are a good footballer who plays with sportsmanship.
(2) Refocus by centering. Use this simple technique to get rid of all negativity and bring your thoughts back to the important things – playing your game well.
Hope this helps ABFC a little ! 
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24-Feb 2007 Saturday
1:46 PM (6273 days ago)
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