Psychology of Sport

• How would you handle this situation? by Don Nathanson, 11/29/98
  
  

My sympathies to all Philadelphians currently suffering from a lack of borrowed pride courtesy of their NFL team.

There has been a great deal of work done in the psychology of sports in the past twenty years or so. For example, I believe Temple University has either a department of sports psychology or a concentration in sports psychology in the psych dept.

I am familiar primarily with the work of James Loehr, Ph.D. whose book "Mental Toughness Training for Sports" I studied about 12 years ago as I was working to improve my tennis game. He did extensive research on what psychological factors contributed to an athlete's finest performances. And I'm sure that is the only thing wrong with your Eagles (at that level of play it's not a question of ability or skill, or presumably, conditioning).

Loehr interviewed athletes immediately following their peak performances and got responses like these:

"I felt physically very relaxed, but really energized and pumped up. I experienced virtually no anxiety or fear, and the whole experience was totally enjoyable. I experienced a very real sense of calmness and quiet inside, and everything just seemed to flow automatically. I really didn't have to think about what I was supposed to do; it just seemed to happen naturally."

"Even though I was really hustling, it was all very effortless. I always seemed to have enough time and energy and rarely felt rushed -- almost at times as if I were performing in slow motion. I felt like I could do almost anything, as if I were in complete control. I really felt confident and positive. "

"It also seemed very easy to concentrate. I was totally tuned into what I was doing. I was also super-aware -- aware of everything but distracted by nothing. It almost seemed like I knew what was going to happen before it actually did."

Loehr named this the Ideal Performance State (IPS) and found ways for athletes to intentionally put themselves in that state. To autosimulate, as Tomkins would say. I think it's safe to assume that Loehr does not know affect theory. If he did I'm sure he would describe the IPS as one of pure I-E and E-J. All scripts that the athlete empolyed would be magnified by these two positive affects. There's no place for fear, anger, and especially not for shame (which is the antithesis of the IPS).

I think this IPS is related to what Don has called the plasticity of the affect system - that is, in a healthy personality, affects don't hang around when they're not useful - they leave the central assembly clear for what's really important.

Surely the Eagles have a sports psychologist on staff. What is she saying and who is listening? (or not listening?)

• Flag on the field! by Don Nathanson, 11/29/98