Polo Tip #32: The “Master” Factor

Most of you are probably familiar with names considered to be the masters of sport. Michael Jordan, Bret Favre, and Tiger Woods would certainly be topping the list, (and I am certain there are many others, representing both women and men). I don’t think it would come as any surprise that these “Masters” all have put in the time to fully develop their athletic skill. What I would like to focus on is the factor that puts them a notch above their equally talented peers who have put in the same amount of hours. I want to present what I will coin as the “Master Factor”.

The “Master Factor” is nothing less than the proper attitude. They have the ability to channel all their athletic skill through a very positive and determined attitude, most, if not all of the time. They seldom seem flustered by occurrences in a game that would emotionally ignite most of the remainder of the populations of the planet, fueling post game shows for weeks to follow. However those same incidents that send us into debate mode, seem to slide from their focus before we even get to the instant replay. How do they do that?

Take our wonderful sport of polo. What if we, like they, would be able to accept the simple fact that every (note that I did underline every) polo game comes packaged with elements that are completely outside of our control, regardless of how much we have prepared, how much we have paid, or how good our horses may be. Each polo game will have a “package” of the ball bouncing one way versus another off a divot, a few missed penalties, some badly called or missed fouls, maybe even a goal counted or not counted incorrectly.

Those situations can and do make many a player’s blood come to boil (like me, for one example). I sometimes found myself looking backwards on what had happened. The Masters do not look backwards, they look forward. They are able to place their entire focus on the remaining minutes of the game. They do not waste a single ounce of emotional energy on what has already passed. It simply does not matter if a foul was called correctly or not, or if a mistake is made by a teammate, or if an opponent is allowed to get away with something not noticed by the officials. That “stuff” is all a very real part of the “package”. The Masters know that in addition to outplaying their opponents, they must also be able to beat the “package”. Sometimes they call them insurance goals. You can often stroll up to the defeated team following a match and hear discussions about their losing a game because of a few bad or missed calls. It’s funny that you seldom hear Michael, Bret, or Tiger making those statements in post-game interviews following a loss. More often they talked about the weaknesses of their play, or that the other team just simply played better. I need those of you that find yourselves often complaining about bad calls either in or after the game (like I did), to re-read the previous two paragraphs starting with “Take our wonderful sport….., maybe a couple of times. Even better, clip it out and tape it to the underside of the brim of your helmet.

Ok………..lets pause for a moment so that everyone re-reading the previous paragraphs have the opportunity to catch up……………………….wait a minute………why aren’t you re-reading the paragraphs?

The Masters of sport get it, when it comes right down to it, so do the masters of life…..get it. They accept life’s curve balls by adapting their swing. They don’t complain about the curve ball, they adapt to the new situation. They take the experiences of the past and formulate more effective strategies for the future.

Now they may lose a game now and then, but it is not because they lost their focus.

They understand and are in command of the “Master Factor”. If there were a single element that I would encourage younger players/people to focus on, it would be developing the Master Factor, right along with their riding and playing skills. Don’t think that I haven’t realized that the initials for “Master Factor” could also be applied to another all too common phrase, (oddly enough, same number of letters as well), but then you would be kind of missing the whole point of the pitch here………..wouldn’t you?

Now if the material in this article seems like a no-brainer, you are either already a Master or perhaps a Master of Denial. This article is wasted on both of those categories. This article is to help people, like me, that would like to learn to do it better. Not just polo, pretty much all of life, better. Unfortunately, I started working on this kind of late, about 5 years ago. I’m hoping you give it a try a tad sooner. That’s why I wrote this, hoping that you get it, sooner.