Anger Mgt: Roddick at AO

[backhand]

In Roddick's win over Gonzalez, he is quoted as being very angry at himself at key moments in the match, e.g.,:

"Stupid idiot," he yelled early in the fourth set, when he was in trouble.
"I'm not going anywhere," he said, sitting by himself after letting four set points slip away in the fourth set.

Of course, we have no way of knowing if this self-deprecation really helped or hindered him, but, as a coach, wouldn't you tell a player to knock off that kind of negative self-talk? Thanks.

[johnyandell]

I'd say yes, in the ideal. The thing with a little anger is it only really hurts you if it carries over into the next point. If you can just blow off steam it might be at times actually be helpful. Of course most people can't do that, and once they get angry their confidence and focus are undermined.