Reds - Cardinals: Learn to Manage Emotions

These past couple of days, the Reds and Cardinals have been in the forefront of MLB. Not because of baseball skill per say, but rather because of a 'good ole' brawl and 'them fightin' words of Brandon Phillips. Always great events for media. But the real issue is learning how to manage emotions. Athletes are continually trying to control their emotions in a way that helps performance, not hinder it. Because there is so many emotions involved in sport - whether it be the intensity of excitement or the pressure to perform when it really counts - athletes must learn to manage emotions. Baseball is and has always been ridiculous in how they permit bench clearings. Obviously all due to emotional control issues. And then Brandon Phillips - although I love his passion - did not control his emotions and gave the Cardinals good locker room motivation. He lost control of his emotions - Cardinals used this and gained control of theirs - and soundly beat the Reds. Thus, athletes need to learn to control their emotions - both on and off the field - their paychecks will be affected if they don't!

If you want to learn how to manage your emotions in sports, pick up a copy of Sport Psychology for Dummies and read Chapter 11: Handling Pressure: Playing in the Fire Without Getting Burned and Chapter 12: Staying Strong: The Importance of Managing Energy Levels.