Published by The Roanoke Star-Sentinel
April 3, 2009 Edition
March Madness and the Usage of Sports Psychology
With the NCAA College Basketball Tournament well underway and the “March Madness” that goes along with it, we sometimes watch even the star players struggle with performance pressure and tension. Such challenges can be caused by several factors including inflated expectations, fear of failure, unhealthy attitude toward their competition, and not wanting to let their coach, team, and fans down. In so doing, we as fans tend to focus more on the physical part of the game and skill sets rather than to also consider the psychological well-being of the athletes.
Just in recent years have sport psychologists been as recognized and utilized in assisting athletes and their coaches in improving performance during competitive situations. Sports Psychologists can be invaluable to athletes who are trying to improve their performance, injured athletes looking to get back into the game with confidence, and individuals needing assistance to overcome the pressure of the competition. While recognition is important, a significant amount of recognition within a short period of time can result in star athletes feeling added pressure to continue performing at a certain level and to begin not playing as well because of inability to focus and concentrate.
An effective Sports Psychologist can make the difference in the results of a high-profile tournament game. One such example occurred last year when the Duke Blue Devils were handed their worst loss by Dr. Joel Fish, Sports Psychologist and the Clemson Tigers. Fish gave the Clemson squad a pre-game speech about believing they were an elite team, and they immediately went out and played like one. Duke had previously won 22 straight games over Clemson, but it was not to happen again that night for the Blue Devils. Clemson was relentless with its full court pressure and Duke was forced into 30.8 shooting from the floor and committed 16 turnovers. The 30.8 shooting was a season-low for Duke. No. 10 Clemson beat No. 3 Duke 74-47. Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski stated, “It was 40 minutes of them dominating. They just kicked our butts”. This was the worst loss for the Blue Devils since the 1990 NCAA title game when they lost to UNLV, 103-73.
Another sports psychologist, Dr. Jerry Lynch, over the years has worked with professional, collegiate, and high school teams in ALL SPORTS. Over the years, he has been intimately connected with teams including Duke, Maryland, Washington, and Stanford as well as teams internationally. He has been a close part of 40 Final Four teams with 25 teams going on to win the National Championship. Basically, Dr. Lynch focuses on three issues, which are expectation, fear of failure, and competition. Interestingly, as to competition, he teaches his clients that champions view competitors as help partners who bring out their best. He points out that the Latin root for the word competition means “to seek together” and to not feel pressure and stress because of an opponent. Rather, he advises to view them as tools to help create the best in you because they push you to discover things about yourself that you never knew existed.
By Susan Ayers
