Sports Psychology

Since I decided to skip the presidential debate last night, I was flipping between the NFL game and Game 7 of the National League Series.  The collapse of the Cardinals, who squandered their 3-1 lead against the Giants and watched their World Series hopes trickle through their fingers, was a stark lesson in the importance of psychology in sports.

Looking at the players on both sides last night, I imagined the Giants had a sort of strut in their step.  They smiled and joked with each other in the dugout.  They confidently strode to the plate as if they knew they could hit that Cardinals pitcher.

On the other side, the Cardinal players seemed grim.  Their faces belied the pressure they were feeling to deliver something positive for the team.  I almost felt the tension in their bodies as they dug in at the plate, and thought I could hear them saying to themselves, "Don't screw up!".

It's called pressing. Losing confidence. Doubting yourself.  A star player can follow an amazing performance with a horrible performance in the space of consecutive games.  The positive and negative psychology that leads to victory and defeat was on display with both teams through the series.

The confident Cardinal team seemed arrogant as they strutted to their 3-1 series lead.  But the Giants suddenly had a few breaks go their way to stave off elimination and close the gap to 3-2.  That might have been when the Cards began to doubt themselves just as the Giants began to believe.  Suddenly the loose Giants, who realized they had nothing to lose, suddenly dominated and ran away with Game 6 and forced the decisive Game 7.

Maybe the series was effectively over before Game 7 ever began.  The Cards were doubting themselves, perhaps dwelling on how badly they'd blown a lead in the series they thought guaranteed them a ticket to Detroit.  Their mentality going into Game 7 was to try to save the series.  But they had no confidence that they would be able to save themselves from themselves.

Conversely, the Giants' mentality was, hey, we came back and forced a 7th game and get to play it in our home ballpark.  We've got this!

So last night the contest was between a confident team feeling the momentum against a reeling team just trying to plug the dam.  The Cardinals' only hope was in getting a break early in Game 7.  A San Francisco error, a seeing-eye single just at the right time, or their own version of the Giant's broken bat RBI that broke the game open.  Professionals can turn their mentality around quickly if they can catch a break.  The Giants made sure there would be no breaks last night that would let the Cards off the mat.

The best teams often have a leader that helps bring out the best in every team member.  It was often said of Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Peyton Manning, and other top-level athletes were not just good themselves, but made their teammates better. Average basketball players looked like stars when they played next to Bird or Johnson.  Marginal wide receivers and tight ends looked like pro bowlers (and became pro bowlers) when they caught passes from Manning.  Players at the level of Bird, Johnson, and Manning never lost that spark of confidence, but always believed they could overcome the worst circumstances and find a way to win.

If a coach could someday find the secret to keeping an optimal mental state for every one of his players, he would never lose.  Professional athletes already have the physical skills to be great; they just need the mental component to be truly great. 

The Cardinals couldn't find a catalyst to turn around their lost confidence.  Not a coach, not a player, not a favorable bounce of the ball.  So they never rediscovered that confidence, and were defeated.