Fred’s drive on the next hole went into the woods on the right. His tee was in soft sand and he wasted three strokes just trying to get back on the fairway. He threw his club in the air as he emerged. When he met The Pro in the center of the fairway The Pro kidded him:

“You spent a lot of energy on all that. Emotions channel energy. Positive emotions use energy in ways that promote optimal performance. Negative emotions, like anger and fear, are like gas guzzling cars that draw down on energy resources at a very rapid rate - but with no return in performance. There is no better example of this, according to Loehr, than what happened to John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors. When younger, both players were easily provoked to frustration and anger. But as they grew older, McEnroe got worse and Jimmy overcame it and approached tennis with joy and playfulness. Both were very talented, but it was Connors who sustained his performance level until he was 40, while McEnroe retired at 34. Looking back McEnroe wishes he had learned to channel energy with positive emotions. He blames his biggest and most disappointing loss to Ivan Lendl in the French Open in 1984 on his anger. Positive emotions fuel high levels of performance.