Thanks for coming back! I appreciate your viewing.
Anytime you get away from writing regularly you are going to miss major stories. A lot of happened since my last post. Many interesting stories that involve positive uses of psychology, troublesome off field issues for athletes, and general situations that at the time can always benefit from some added analysis. While I would like to put more time into writing my schedule currently doesn’t allow for it. What does interest me and the reason why I am writing again is the issue of morals in athletes. I hope to have a few posts on different aspects of this.
Morality in sports is very difficult situation. The easy answer is that the player is off the field is not related to the person who’s on the field. While there is some truth to that when it comes to performance, the line is a lot more blurry in reference to being a fan of someone or believing they are a role model. Most obvious example was last week’s Masters tournament where the more “family and wholesome” Phil Mickelson beat out the now “vilified” Tiger Woods. From the surface the situation seemed like a perfect outcome for what many believe to be good triumphing over evil. Clearly though, it is not that simple and is incorrect to make these assumptions. While we know a good amount about the Mickelson and his family life, including the struggles that he’s dealing with his involving his wife and mother, we just don’t know really who he is and what he thinks about or does. That’s not necessarily a bad thing but it’s important to understand that just because an athlete does multiple interviews and makes themselves accessible to the public it doesn’t mean we know who they are. Not too long ago everybody thought they knew who Tiger Woods was but clearly people’s perceptions were wrong.
Photograph: Jeff Gross/Getty Images
I would encourage fans to look into why they cheer for individual athletes. Is it about with athlete performs or is it more about who that athlete is? I think in some sports and in some individual cases it might be either/or for different fans. As youth athletes we often encourage the life skills that we can learn sports but then as we get a little bit older it becomes much more about performance. This dynamic going from focusing on learning to competition but the definitive change in perspective of how we view sports and what they do for individuals.
I don’t think there is a right answer when considering whether to cheer for in athletes performance or for who they are as a person. I just think it is important to reflect and look critically at why, as a fan, we are rooting for individual players or teams.
Genetic engineering in sports is becoming a more popular issues in the fitness/performance world. One area that is not being discussed with this issue is the psychological concerns for the athlete and even the fan. Knowing that individuals may be genetic enhanced would put a different perspective on cheating. How would we now define cheating? Would cheating have to be some more than physical enhancement? Steroid use is considered cheating by many, so the assumption would be that genetic engineering would be too.
But as a fan would you want to know who was genetically enhanced? Would a list come out every few years? There are so many questions that cannot be answered easily but I have one that may be worth discussing.
What would genetic engineering do to an athlete’s psyche?
Being prepared to play/compete at a higher level is not necessarily due to being physically bigger or stronger. Its about understanding and being able to do the work and be successful. Being stronger doesn’t guarantee that your game performance improves, often there is an adjustment period to managing the “new” strength and abilities. Also when an individual is working towards reaching professional levels confidence is a big component.
So let’s consider this scenario, there is an elite college school football prospect. Everyone projects that with his talent if he gets stronger and faster he will not only be a high draft pick but also a top player. So he goes through some genetic therapy and gains a ton of muscle and strength. Now, as this “perfect” athlete enters the NFL he is not so great anymore. Smarter players keep out performing him. Where does his confidence go? Now what does he do?
Or how about this scenario. A fringe player uses genetic therapy to increase his strength and size. Due to this he makes himself more competitive for a spot on a team despite his actual ability not increasing. What message does it send to his teammates about being on the fringe?
The ripple effect is sometimes truly unknown until the situation arises but one thing is for sure, when this does happen it will change how sports are played and watched. (note: as you can read, I said when not if. I do believe this is in our sport future.)
Two sites giving both sides of this issue from a bio/medical viewpoint:
On August 14th David Ortiz decided he had enough. Before the game against Texas David Ortiz sat down with the team psychologist and got some things off his mind. After this meeting he unloaded on the media about his fustrations on how quickly they turned on him. All of this, along with the reports that he has be down due to Manny Ramirez being traded, has clearly being weighing on him.
Since this change he has hit 13-38 (.342) with 4 doubles and 7 homeruns. This is a phenomonal example of how much psychological issues can affect physical performance. Maybe more people will start to look at psychology a little more seriously in the sport’s world, unlike this example.
The BBC posted a story on a study on how much exercise younger children were getting. The problem was that many of the kids who participated actually tricked the researchers. They fooled them by attaching their pedometers to their pet dogs, which greatly inflated their scores. This was found out when obese children were not losing any weight despite the high numbers of steps recorded on their pedometers.
This is a great example of why it can be so difficult to do research. Performance related research, outside of a laboratory setting, involves careful checks and balances. In this case, the researcher’s attempted to account for the use of dogs but despite this it still changes the outcome of the data.
As a reader of various research studies, this situation exemplifies the importance of not only analyzing the results of a study but also the methodology. Understanding how the research was done provides many insights to what the results are saying before you read the discussion. Take care with what you are reading and if you are doing research be extra careful with how you are doing it.
This interview with Tiger Woods, on ESPN, provides an excellent look into the issues that professional athletes deal with. While he is in a class by himself he discusses issues that can affect athletes, professional and amateur alike, and even people who have jobs that require a lot of time. So often we view athletes as people who only have to deal performance concerns but as you know life is much more complicated than that.
Key points to watch for:
He discusses that his practice schedule has changed due to having a child. While he cannot practice as much, it has forced him to be more deliberate and focused during his practice. It’s a good reminder that practice is not simply about how much time you take but more about how you practice. Being creative in your practice can be very beneficial.
He addresses the social responsibility of athletes. His words focus on how being political is not the only way to be socially proactive. He understands he is potentially in a position of “power ” so instead he focuses on areas he can control.
He also discusses what he struggled with at the US Open. His ability to self-analyze is a skill that athletes and others need to always work on. Self-analysis is not about being critical. It is about being able to recognize a problem and then be able to work on the issue in a productive way.
Enjoy the video!
For more information about mental performance, as well as overall athletic performance enhancement, check out our websites. The links are on the right of the homepage.
I recently attended and spoke at the Conference for Counseling Athletes and while there were some interesting topics I realized professional conferences provide an important service to professionals in the field besides education and information. Professional conferences allow you to gauge where you are in your career and validate (or possibly reject) the work you are doing. In many professions even if you work with a group or larger department you become secluded. You become secluded in your thinking, your process, and your expectations. Without having contact with other professionals it is hard to expand your thinking or even be truly creative in your field. Working in groups and with other talents helps progress the work you’re doing. (See Malcolm Gladwell’s article on Group Think).
From my own experience I know how easy it is to get into a rhythm and not change the approach to the work your doing. After learning how to do something and having it work (read: not go wrong) make a change is difficult because it becomes a risk and often we do not even recognize that a change is needed. (This is something I addressed during my talk at the conference. I’ve learned even though no one is complain it does not mean everything is working.) Again, by attending a professional conference there are opportunities to see where you can make changes and get ideas on how to improve the work you are doing.
Also when you have the opportunity to present or lecture at a conference I think most people should. It provided a unique experience for me. While I have talked at other conference this was the first where the attendees were peers within my field. Talking to this audience provided some excellent challenges for me. First, I had to make sure I was clear with what I was talking about because if I wasn’t or made errors the attendees would know. I want to sound professional. For example, if I am talking about sport psychology skills to a group of tennis coaches the chances that any of them notice if I make a mistake is small. Often it is from someone who has done some work in sport psychology or heard similar talks before. But when I make a mistake in front of a room full of other professionals just about all of them may notice this and challenge me on it. Second, from a creative/innovative standpoint I wanted to make sure that my presentation was interesting and worthwhile. I know when I go to a conference I want to learn about new/different approaches, theories, and practices not just repackaged stuff I learned while in school. Lastly, to get feedback in this type of setting is great because it is coming from people who know your profession.
While sometimes they are tedious or boring, by choosing the right professional conference and attending with proper expectations a lot can be gained. So I encourage you to find a conference that fits and try to expand your professional horizons.
