winners of all time , a tour-level Angler of the Year and Bassmaster Classic winner , Reese has enjoyed a 25-year career full of highlights … but learning from the lowlights ( and the mental acrobatics of recovering from a disappointing string of tournaments ) have been some of the defining moments of his career .
“ Everything we do on the water is controlled by our mindset and our process – it ’ s trial and error , it ’ s failing and learning from your failure , it ’ s learning how to win after you ’ ve lost ,” Reese says . “ It ’ s hard . If you ’ re a competitor , you don ’ t take losing lightly . It ’ s pretty easy to keep asking yourself ‘ What did I do wrong ? Why did I not catch them ?’ and get into a slump . Slumps in this game are real . They can last a couple of days , a couple of months , heck , a couple of years .”
Reese is a keen student of the mental side of bass fishing , and competition psychology and mental health in general . He speaks enthusiastically about the benefits of a sports psychologist and therapy , and the importance of actively managing the lowlights of a tournament season ( or life , for that matter ).
“ Picking yourself up from being down is hard for people when they just suffer through it and grind it out on their own ,” Reese says . “ The most important thing I ’ ve ever done to help my mental game is to get the help of a sports psychologist or therapist in getting my head straight . It was a huge changing point in my life – not just my career – when I started to understand that one bad tournament doesn ’ t define me .
“ I still get mad when I have a bad tournament , but if I could give somebody some advice about bad tournaments , I ’ d tell them ‘ After you back up and decompress , it ’ s easier to realize that bad events are learning experiences and a few bad days of fishing doesn ’ t define you .’”
“ it ’ s trial and error , it ’ s failing and learning from your failure , it ’ s learning how to win after you ’ ve lost .”
— SKEET REESE
APRIL-MAY 2022 | MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM 43