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Kirk Gibson’s 1988 World Series home run, which has been named as one of the biggest moments in sports history, is one of the classic examples of how a positive mental attitude is crucial. Lindsey Vonn provides a more modern example, with her recent record-tying performance at the World Cup, where she scored win number 36. Friends and observers credit her recent victories following her potentially career ending knee injury to her mental attitude which Vonn sums up on her Twitter profile: “If you fall, pick yourself back up.”
Of course there is a dark side to the mental game. The loss of emotional control and its consequences were on full display with the actions of Pacman Jones and Vontaze Burfict in the Steelers Bengals Wild Card game.
Negative thinking, at least according to a number of researchers (Psychology Today, 2010), is in many ways more powerful than positive thinking, as the effects can be far more detrimental than the corresponding positive energy.
In the world of poker, being consumed by negative feelings is called “going on tilt.” Tilt usually occurs when a “can’t lose” hand does lose. Most poker players understand that having a hand that is going to win 90% of the time means that it will lose 10% of the time; the problem is that for some players, that knowledge is of little solace when they are on the receiving end of a “bad beat” when they are on tilt. Players on tilt make bad decisions, lose focus, and generally play badly. Players on tilt also become targets for other players at the table who actively look for ways to capitalize on their mistakes.
Tilt is a manifestation of the power of negative thinking and serious players understand that avoiding tilt is a big part of poker strategy. It’s not a matter of not ever losing, which is simply not possible, but of not letting the losing mentality get to you. Even if we don’t always call it that, the tilting phenomenon also occurs in the sports and entertainment world fairly frequently.
Steve Blass
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Steve Blass’ career with the Pirates had all the earmarks of a Hall of Fame pitcher. He routinely racked up 18 and 19 win seasons, was a regular on the All-Star roster, and even helped his team win a World Series in 1971. In 1973, Blass basically forgot how to pitch. He walked almost a player per inning, had a sky high ERA and had only a handful of strikeouts. A stint in the minors was no help and Blass left the game for good.
Steve Sax
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Dodgers second baseman Steve Sax is probably one of the better-known examples of the effect of tilt in sports. Sax was one of the most dependable second basemen in the game, until he lost the ability to make one of the most routine plays for second baseman; throwing the ball to first base. Batters reached base on previously routine outs as Sax’s error count piled up. Sax finally sought the aid of a sports psychologist and eventually was “cured.” He returned to his previous form and gave the field of sports psychology a major boost at the same time.
Anna Kournikova
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Anna Kournikova seemed to have everything going her way. Her skill on the tennis court along with her good looks made her a favorite of tennis fans and the media, until she forgot how to serve. Double faults became the norm, with Kournikova racking up close to 200 in ten matches. She failed to get back on track, which was no doubt part of her reasons for retiring.
Meatloaf
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Tilt doesn’t only hamper sports stars; rock stars can be victims as well. Meatloaf has frequently discussed the importance of his stage presence and the pressure he puts on himself to perform. This preoccupation has led many to believe that the singer suffers from severe stage fright. Meatloaf discounts this theory with the exception of his lackluster performance on American Idol with Katherine McPhee. Many industry insiders state that the long break the singer took after being unable to even get the first word out during a concert in Wembley stadium was not only the result of a cyst, but also due to the fact that he had forgotten how to sing.
The biggest problem with tilt is that it has little to do with reason and everything to do with insecurity. The resulting actions, from booking a win in a round of poker to making a simple throw to first, are way out of proportion to the incident that sparks it. Tilt, along with its more constructive counterpart, is a perfect example of what Yogi Berra meant when he said, “90 percent of the game is half mental.”
Most of us can no doubt think of examples of when we have felt the effects of tilt, although hopefully not with the huge career implications that the phenomenon has had on poker players and sports figures. Hopefully we’ll experience more Lindsey Vonn results than Steve Sax ones.
