What if I turned a slight jab into constructive criticism today?
That depends. What made you want to jab?
He would snap and say mean things to me when I'm not doing so well in the game.
Constructive criticism is better than just being a jerk and bashing someone. You should aim to get more constructive criticism in the future than jabs.
Yeah, I would have done very differently before today.
Well it is good to change your methods. And at least with the constructive criticism he will learn do do better.