General Question

rebbel's avatar

Sport psychology: 105 instead of 100 meters sprint?

Asked by rebbel (35553points) May 31st, 2011

While watching tennis today I remembered I had this question.
One player was 5–1 down in games and she came back to 5–5.
The commentator said that it was one thing to fight back while you are behind but something alltogether different to keep up that fighting spirit to try and take the lead.
Isn’t it possible then to ‘fool’s yourself and pretend that you are still behind, even while you know you are actually 5–5?
And can an athlete who runs 100 meters not ‘pretend’ that the track isn’t. 100 but 105 meters, so he will not stop giving 100% when he comes to 90 meters, but stop giving 100% when he passes the finish line?
I hope this what I wrote is clear.

Observing members: 0 Composing members: 0

11 Answers

dabbler's avatar

Imagery is very powerful, but pretending is not necessary. From what I can tell the most successful practitioners would imagine a strong winning scenario. E.g. going from 1–5 to 10–5 to catch from behind then trounce the opponent. Or imagining being at full power – and ahead – when crossing the 100 meter mark.
No need to make some cognitive dissonance with pretending.

josie's avatar

You always shoot to the back of the hoop. You always putt to the back of the cup. When you cook for a group, you always make more food than you think they will eat. When you start a business, you always borrow more capital than you think you will use. When you go into a fight, you always take more ammo than you think you will need. Same old story. Over and over.

_zen_'s avatar

To a certain extent. The examples given above are true, and in boxing one learns to not hit the opponent, but rather to put your fist through his body and to the other side – far past him. This is done by training to use the whole body behind the punch – and extending past the opponent. Gruesome, sorry, but true.

However, there is a difference between an actual scenario, with its psychological elements, and an imagined one. I am sure that a trained professional athlete, such as a tennis pro, tries to always imagine being the under-dog – if that tavtic helps him to win.

But I think the 5–1 real element comes into play much stronger. It’s do or die, simply put. Not imagined, but real. You lose one more game – you’re out. That’s real.

lifeflame's avatar

Interesting. What if you actually physically trained with a 105 meter track? Would your body pace itself differently – in a good way?
( or even a 101 meter track. I think at that distance, a meter is huge. )

ucme's avatar

It’s true of a lot of sports stars, including racehorses, they have trouble with leading. They hit the front too soon & succumb to the pressure all too easily. While others perform better when they are behind, the heat isn’t on them. At the top level of world class sport it’s all in the head, most professionals hire sports psychologists to help fulfill their potential. Look at Novak Djokovic, since he helped Serbia win the Davis Cup his career has took off. Another example of a mental blockage supressing an individuals progress. Personally I think there’s a lot to be said for psychology in sport. In a field were the margins between victory & defeat are so small, what goes on in the head can & does make all the difference.
On a related topic, I was pleased to see Andy Murray come through yesterday. A classic case of mind over matter considering his injury & coming back from 2 sets down as he did.

rooeytoo's avatar

I have played a lot of tennis and I have tried to do as you say but it sure isn’t as easy to do as it is to say! It just seems to be a natural tendency for me anyhow, to play tighter and more conservatively when in front. I guess it is a case of a “more to lose” mentality. But when I am trying to catch up, I go for broke.

These days all professional athletes seem to have full time sports psychologists on their teams, that should make it easier.

@ucme – if the ball kid hadn’t come onto the court and messed up that point, I wonder if Murray could have pulled it off??? That was freaky and so disappointing for Tro (the other guy, I don’t know how to spell his name, another Serb though, they must have an excellent junior tennis program there!)

ucme's avatar

@rooeytoo Well Troicki did win that game, so it didn’t affect the outcome. I did feel sorry for that kid though, he looked so young.

rebbel's avatar

Interesting observations, Jellies, thanks for that!
Indeed, Andy Murray seems to have his head together, although we will be totally sure when he has won the/a final once.

Response moderated (Spam)
Response moderated (Spam)
rebbel's avatar

@mirichards Well, thank you. And welcome to Fluther!

Answer this question

Login

or

Join

to answer.

This question is in the General Section. Responses must be helpful and on-topic.

Your answer will be saved while you login or join.

Have a question? Ask Fluther!

What do you know more about?
or
Knowledge Networking @ Fluther