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I'd imagine that it takes a lot of anger to hit yourself so hard that you draw blood (see the video below)!

Note too, the change when the other player comes over. Youzhny perhaps sees the silliness in the situation, and the players share a bit of a laugh. That looks like a 'Reversal' from the serious to the playful state that, anger being a product of the serious and rebellious states...

What's also interesting is that Youzhny went on to win the match. Perhaps 'acting out' his anger helped him to reverse out of the states that contributed to it, to become more playful and focused on the here and now. Although this is speculative, a possible set of steps could have been..

He saw that he was close to losing the match (true)... ....invoking the serious state (and probably at that point conformint) ... and the likely emotion experienced would be anxiety

His frustration built as he lost his advantage and went back to deuce This might either of caused a reversal to anger, or he realised that he needed to do something drastic, and he deliberately brought out his anger. This is something that McEnroe was said to do - his anger has been described as a strategy and not an uncontrolled state.

He then sat down and the other player ame over and laughed. He realised the silliness of it all and reversed into the playful state, which would mean that his anger would subside but he would also no longer feel anxious.

Anyway, that's pretty speculative, but hopefully shows how reversals can work, and how they contribute to extreme changes in emotional state in a short period of time.

Click for a brief overview of Reversal Theory and its motivational states.

Rob RobsonSport and Business Psychologist, Warwickshire