Getting Focused Staying Focused by Alan Jaeger

146 Pages·2016·6.79 MB·English

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.