Exploring the Dark side

A superb article written by Rowan Belchers, a consultant to organisations on a number of topics around optimizing performance, and a fellow sports nut. I think there is some great insight here, so enjoy the read!

Gary Kirsten couldn’t play the short ball until he admitted to himself that he was scared of it. As soon as he acknowledged his own fear he was able to develop a technique that helped him get on top if it. Or under it, more appropriately…

That’s not the kind of admission you hear from professional sportsmen a lot, is it? Broadly generalizing a bit here, but the dialogue around pro sports is more likely to offer up self-praise, bravado, and threats. And quite possibly rightly so – the heat of the battle has rarely rewarded the humble or faint of heart, so this self-confidence is both understandable and necessary on some level.

But what else might there be to this? In the “system” of sports performance and the dynamics that take place in the human mind, is there anything else that might be worth exploring around other outlooks or attitudes? For starters, might there be something to learn from Gary in taking a look at fallibility and weakness?

A question of that nature would probably make the Blue Bulls coaches from the mid-80’s spin in their graves. Watching the old Currie Cup games from the early 90’s on ESPN Classic (the greatest sports channel in the history of mankind, I might add …) I was amazed to see these guys sitting on the sidelines, short collared shirt, club tie, one cigarette after another being sucked in – it struck me how things had changed so completely in a pretty short space of time and how things have come along from a professional standpoint so fast. But, getting back to my original question: would the coaches of today have found it any easier to acknowledge (let along work with) the concept of fear than the chain-smoking amateur coaches of 15 years ago? I think not.

Rather than judge, let’s explore. There is a term that is used in psychology called the ‘shadow’. In clinical terms it means what we ‘hide, repress or deny’. In real terms, shadow refers to the parts of ourselves that we’d rather not look at or face up to. It’s easier not to because looking at our shadow might mean acknowledging something about ourselves that we’d rather not. The good parts of ourselves sit more easily with our ego than the bad parts – so affirmation comes a lot easier than criticism.

But what might be the impact of not looking at our shadow? In diagrammatic terms, think of the shadow as a force that is out of view and thus beyond our control. We are then affected by it, rather than being able to control it. So, the theory is to bring shadow out in front of you where it can be controlled, rather than have it behind you where it controls you.

Getting away from the theory for a moment, let’s consider an example. It took 6 visits from Jos Vantsiphout to Ernie Els (and quite a bit of confrontation and upset too, apparently) before Ernie admitted that there were things he was doing that weren’t helping him. I don’t know this for sure, but the story is that Ernie’s shadow is around enjoying a few too many cold beers and glasses of red wine, and too little dedication to physical fitness. As soon as he started working with Jos (and I’m completing my own picture here, so forgive the armchair psychology) he admitted this, dedicated himself to a different approach and promptly won two majors. Retief Gooden apparently had a similar experience before winning his two majors.

There are other examples to consider who might have benfitted from working with their shadow: Jean Alesi, one of the most talented drivers of all time but with an inability to make sensible driving decisions in favour of out-and-out speed; Marat Safin, a preposterously talented tennis player but unable to control his moods swings; John Daly, in mental terms, a little boy who’s never been challenged about his lack of maturity and inability to hold himself accountable.

In local terms – and I’m possibly sticking my neck out too far here as I have close friends on the coaching staff who I don’t want to offend – but I’ve wondered if there aren’t some shadowy dynamics around UCT rugby and their inability to win at Stellenbosch? Just a thought and no judgment here, but it’s an area I’d love to explore.

Anyway, hope that makes sense. Summary thought: from a psychology point of view, if people (myself included) were more able to work with their weakness, fears and destructive tendencies, they might unlock latent potential in the form of better performance and better results.