Helping Athletes to Perform Better under Pressure

With it being known that pressure on an athlete to not let their team down increases anxiety, Otten and Barrett (2013) decided to look at which aspect of baseball (pitching or batting) would be most prone to choking. They looked over archives from the Baseball Reference website which includes statistics from the last 109 years. Hitting, pitching, and team-level statistics were all operationally defined and then examined. They found that pitching statistics were significantly correlated from regular season to post season while batting averages showed the smallest bivariate correlation. This could be due to the fact that batting is a more complex skill so the athlete is more critical of it during the high-pressure that exists in the post season. With a preperformance routine before the individual task of hitting, the athlete could decrease overanalyzing of the skill and prevent choking due to pressure. With past research exhibiting that pre-performance routines can improve perform ance and reduce choking during high-pressure situations such as post season games, Balk, Adriaanse, de Ridder and Evers (2013) sought out how emotion regulation could be a major factor in the reason why. They looked at the effectiveness of emotion regulation strategies in helping with choking. Experienced golfers self-reported arousal and anxiety during pressurized situations. Two aspects of emotion regulation, reappraisal and distraction, were examined. Reappraisal and distraction wereShow MoreRelatedPsychological Reasoning And Physical Reasoning1478 Words   |  6 Pageswould be over. But what is it about these athletes that makes them so clutch, meaning graceful under pressure or always seeming to make those amazing plays when they are needed the most. Is it just pure luck or is there some type of psychological reasoning behind what these athletes have that others do not? And for those athletes that do not seem to have that grace under pressure, can they be taught it? Many psychologists believe that grace under pressure and the ability to be clutch has everythingRead MoreMy Coaching Philosophy : Becoming A Coach1691 Words   |  7 PagesAs a former high school athlete, I pictured becoming a coach would be an easy task to accomplish. However, becoming a coach requires to have a coaching philosophy representing how and why you coach. Thinking about what my coaching philosophy is became incredibly difficult. Creating my coaching philosophy required a lot of reflection on myself. Determining who I am, my coaching objectives, and coaching styles are all important parts of a coaching philosophy. Some of my personal reasons for coachingRead MoreShould Sports Be Banned?1647 Words   |  7 PagesModern society places too much importance on winning in sports that we blatantly ignore the well being of our young athletes. This has lead many coaches to lose their perspective of what really matters in youth sport, having fun. Coaches have become engulfed in the idea of producing champions that they push kids too far beyond their physical and mental capabilities, eventually burning them out. If coaches are looking for results from their players, they should take the time to understand whatRead MoreTaking a Look at Sports Psychology1561 Words   |  6 Pagesthat athlete might end up doing the unthinkable. With three seconds left in the game, a basketball player might take the three-point shot and win the game, even though they have never been able to make that shot before. These types of scenario tend to happen all the time. Psychology, or the mental game in sports, is so important it can completely change the outcome of the game. Sports Psychology has become more and more influential in understanding how to play the game. Serious athletes are nowRead MorePhysical And Outside Influence On Athlete Success1662 Words   |  7 Pagesaspects that should be taken into account when determining what makes an athlete successful. One could argue that natural ability is one of the determining factors which leads to success. For example, if an athlete has dreams of playing in the NBA then height makes a difference. There aren’t many successful players in the league under six feet tall. One could argue that level of competition plays a role in the development of an athlete. This could include the skill level of the opponent or outside factorsRead MoreSport Psychology : Sports Psychology1599 Words   |  7 Pagesstarted out in 1925 as a preparation tactic for athletes before an important event to increase chances of success (Joyce, 2008). In the world today sports psychology is increasingly being used in sports but also manipulated into research to use in organizational groups. Athletes are always looking for the next way to win, even if it is by the smallest of margins, however, competition may be fierce and very competitive this is the drive that athletes need to compete at the highest level. This metaphorRead MorePerformance Enhancing Drugs For Sports1227 Words   |  5 Pagesmore players were to use performance enhancing drugs they would be able to compete to the performance of past players. A performance   enhance drug is any drug used by athletes to heighten their abilities in the performance of their sport. But could P.E.D actually help that person get better in their sport? Quite a few famous athletes have used performance enhancing drugs to improve there game.   Kenneth Jost states â€Å" Homerun hitter Mark ‘McGwire ended his career in 2001 with 583 home runs, a recordRead MorePhysical Therapy And Mental Therapy1603 Words   |  7 Pagesmobility. Physical therapists â€Å"determines the patient’s goals; evaluates patients and implements treatment programs; teaches patients to use prosthetic devices; and provides instruction to patients to continue the recovery when they are no longer under the direct care of the physical therapist† (Blaser). Physical therapists are there as a guide to getting patients healthy again and back to doing activities they were doing before surgery or their injury. Physical therapist set goals that can be achievedRead MoreFair Play Means Using Sport to Make a Better World1612 Words   |  7 Pagesto make a better world. To be successful in sport, you need to have the right attitude. Honesty, dignity, fair play, respect, teamwork, commitment and courage are essential to lead a memorable sporting performance. All of these indispensible values can be summed up in the term ‘fair play’. Through various sporting events, the values of fair play can be put into practice in order to help make the world a better place. Hence, sport can be powerful by allowing young aspiring athletes to emulateRead MoreEssay on Friday Night Lights by Buzz Bissinger907 Words   |  4 Pagesmatters. Football players are put under a tremendous amount of pressure, almost enough to be considered unfair. Even though football is a â€Å"team sport†, pressure on individual players is unnecessary. Some players have the burden of the team, the city, their family, and their future, resting on their shoulders. These players are put under pressure that is physically and emotionally damaging, not to mention future ruining. Boobie Miles experiences many types of pressure in this novel. Boobie, the player