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MENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

LOOKING BACK

Last Thursday morning, when I turned on my computer to check my email I
saw this on yahoo. "World Series: Dodgers left wondering... what if Clayton
Kershaw had started Game 7?"

This is interesting because, we as fans, love to look back and think about
the what if. What if the team did this or what if the team did that, what
would the outcome have been.

There is no certainty that the Dodgers would have won game seven last
week if Kershaw started instead of Yu Darvish. There is, however, speculation that the
Dodgers would have won if Kershaw started because of the way he pitched in the four
innings he was in the game.

The performance he gave was spectacular! He kept the red hot Astros scoreless and
provided his team a chance to come back and make up the 5 runs that Darvish gave up
in the first two innings.

I watched the World Series for two reasons. First, as a Texan I wanted to see the Astros
play. Second, I had the privilege to work with one of the Minor League pitchers in the
Dodgers organization. So I was interested in seeing the Dodgers pitching because my

client was an All-Star in the league last season. Both teams will look back at this World
Series and answer some questions.

When we look back at an event, we ask four questions. In this case I will use the World
Series as an example. In order to move forward you must first look back and answer a
few questions.

Both teams had the same goal, win the World Series. They both had game plans on how
to approach their opponent as well as contingencies when a certain situation would
come up. The interesting part, from a fan perspective, is how each team will do with
their game plan.

The first question to ask is simple one, "Did we reach our goal?"

This may sound like a simple and obvious question but this is a question that the team
will ask both as a team and as individuals. Some players may have had goals within the
goal. The goal may have been to win, but each player and coach may have individual goals
as well. This question is important because the players on the Astros team may have
won the World Series but fell short of their personal goals.

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