Getting Focused Staying Focused A Far Eastern Approach to Sports and Life By Alan Jaeger Copyright ©Alan Jaeger All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America Jaeger, Alan Getting Focused, Staying Focused jaegersports.com No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without the written permission of the author, with the exception of critical articles and reviews, and brief passages, which may be quoted if the passage is attributed to the author. Editor: Rosalee J. Jaeger Copy Editor: William Yanes Cover Design and Graphics: Greg Barnett | rocknmotion.com Cover Photography: Alan Jaeger Backcover Photography: Janet Barnett | rocknmotion.com ————————————————————————————— Grateful Acknowledgement is made to the legacy of LaoTzu and Alan Watts, whose insight and wisdom served as the inspiration behind the writing of this book. It is also noteworthy that excerpts of the Tao Te Ching are taken from Stephen Mitchells adaptation (HarperCollins). Silence is perhaps the greatest teacher of all. v Alan Jaeger | Getting Focused, Staying Focused D E D I C A T I O N To my Mother, and editor, Rosalee, whose talent, support and direction made this book possible. To Janice Metz, for turning concepts into beautiful art. To Jim Vatcher, for, among other things, keeping his eyes open and remaining still in the bright Las Vegas sun! I would also like to thank the following people, who have all, in their own unique way, given me the support and inspiration to make this book possible: Joe Adamiak, Tad & Debbie Akin, Jill Androni, Dana Arnold, Travis Arsenault, Fariborz Azhakh, Tom Ball, Roxanne Bastran, Diana Beardsley, Mike Bell, Louis Birdt, Bambi Blitz, Ja- son Bott, Chris Brown, California Lutheran University (1992, 1993), Billy Carlson, Craig Carl- ton, Jeremy Carr, The Chatham As (1992,1993), The Chatham Athletic Association, Gabe Chavez, The Chavez Family, Jason Cohen, Diane Cooper, Bryan Corey, Steve Dempsey, Nate Dishington, Bob Duca, Eric Duncan, Todd Elliot, The Farbers, Tammy Flaherty, Laia Gasch, Marc Glennie, Griffin Printing, Keith Grunwald, Mike Guastella, Jack Hammond, Li- onel Hastings, Mike Haugh, The Heberts, Erik Hiljus, Rich Hill, Jan Holt, Jake Jacobsen, Martin Jaeger, Stuart & Karen Jaeger, Susan Jaeger, “Larry” Jaeger, Stig & Tracy Jantz, Angela Johnson, Mike & Mary Keens, John Klitsner, Mariann Kourfas, David Lamb, Danny Larson, The Las Vegas Stars Baseball Club, Doug Latta, Arlene Lebeitsamer, Anne LeClaire, Jim Lewis,The Lieberthals, Bob Lofrano, The Longs, Roy Lozano, Jay Lucas, Ruth Maier, The Mandell Family, Derrick Manning, Barbara Marron, Erik Martinez, Wally Maynard, The Mearns. The McAdam Family, Dave Mendoza, Tajah Merril, Tom Merril, Rob “Ben” Miles, Herman & Daisy Miller, Dennis Moeller, Shaun Murphy, Bud Murray, John Najar, Mike Neal, Tim Nedin, “T” Nickerson, Lynn Orkin, Martin Oroszco, Adam Perlman, Bill Picketts, Tom Price, David & Dana Pump, Leo Ramirez, Dr. Ken Ravizza, Emily Reaves, Steve & Teri Reed, The Roots, Pierre “Pooooch” Rudnunsky, David Samryeh, Kyle Sarosi, Steve Sav- age, Renee Scheer, John Schiffher (CCG), Dr. Mark Schoen, A1 Schoenberger, Marc “Sirn” Schwartz, Bill Shaw, Mackie Shilstone, Dan Smith, John Snyder, Hal Stanton, Lisa Stein- hart, The Stellos, Louis Suarez, Bob Tampkin, Dave Taylor, Jim Telgheder, Arn Tellem, Rick Thurman, The Troys, Doug Turner, Ron Twersky, University of San Francisco (1993), Dale Upshaw, Anthony Vallone, Jennifer Vides, Brian Vranesh, Rob Walley, Steve Wapnick, Paul Weisman, West Coast Baseball School, Matt Whisen- ant, Craig “Whit” Whitacre, Lance Whitaker, The Wilcox Family, Tim Worrel, Mieke Wouters, William Yanes, The Center for Yoga (Los Angeles) and Mike Zam- bri. C O N T E N T S Dedication v A Word from the Author xi Section I THE CAST OF CHARACTERS Chapter 1 — Identifying the Problem 1 Chapter 2 — Locating our Resources 11 Section II LOOKING INWARD Chapter 3 — Mastering Yourself 19 Section III GETTING FOCUSED Chapter 4 — Meditation 29 Chapter 5 — Discipline 45 Chapter 6 — Mental Training 57 Section IV STAYING FOCUSED Chapter 7 — Game Management 83 Chapter 8 — Life Management 97 Epilogue 111 Appendix I. A Coaches Manual 113 II. For Players Only 123 III. The Two Hemispheres of the Brain 127 It’s not about conquering the game but allowing the game to play us So stop trying to force effort and climb aboard your raft For the river flows spontaneously along its uninhibited path — Alan Jaeger Alan Jaeger | Getting Focused, Staying Focused A Word From The Author A Word From The Author xi Practice makes perfect, or so it is said, but are todays Western athletes practicing the right thing? At the 1976 summer Olympics, the Soviet Union won more gold medals than any other country, including two of three judo events that were typically dominated by the Japanese. East Germany fin- ished second overall, winning an unprecedented eleven of thirteen medals in women’s swimming events. Never before had any region of the world displayed such a dramatic rise in overall performance in such a short span of time. So aston- ished was the rest of the world that people began to suspect that the Soviet bloc countries were “doctoring” their athletes. The truth of the matter is that the Soviets and their East German counterparts did not need to look to synthetic drugs or artificial stim- ulants for their sudden success. Ironically, in this era of scientific advancement, they looked to the traditional past. By studying the highly developed minds of the Yogis, Martial Artists, and Zen Masters of China, Japan, and India, the Soviets devised and instituted mental training techniques that enabled their athletes to perform under the most pressure-filled conditions with a clear, calm and controlled mind. Although today’s Western athletes and their coaches are aware of the importance of being mentally prepared, they have failed to act upon it. This in spite of the fact that most players and coaches agree that winning and losing starts from “the shoulders up,” that once competition begins, the game is purely mental. Yet most Western athletes still spend the majority of their time perfecting their physical skills, when it is the mental side of the game that ultimately deter- mines who will succeed and who will fail.