Laughter and Sports Performance
In the run-up to the League Cup final between Manchester United and Aston Villa this week, I was intrigued to read that the last time Villa won the cup (in 1994, also against Man United) Ron Atkinson (the manager) employed comedian Stand Boardman before the game to help the players relax.Of course we can never really prove what made the difference that day, but it appears to have been a smart move.
As (then Villa captain) Kevin Richardson stated: "Nervous energy can be a bad thing because it can drain you," he told BBC Sport. "But we had Stan cracking his jokes beforehand so the lads were just chilling rather than thinking too much about the match."
This could simply be a case of 'disassociation' - taking the players minds of the big game - but Reversal Theory suggests that there's more to that.
First of all, assuming Stand Boardman was actually funny, his jokes would have helped the players get into the 'playful' motivational state, in which one seeks enjoyment and experiences things 'in the moment'. This would allow the players to experience the high arousal of the big occasion as exciting, rather than nerve-wracking. This may have been more helpful than just 'relaxing', as they would have needed to get off to a good start and play a high-energy game against the stronger team.
One key aspect of Reversal Theory is that motivational states come in opposing pairs. This means that if you are in the playful state at a particular point in time you cannot be in the oppositional state, which is the serious state. This is important because it means that if you are having fun in the playful state you cannot experience anxiety which, as we know, can impair sports performance.
All of this would have been helped by Villa's underdog status. Being the favourite brings expectations. Being free of expectations could have helped in more than one way. First of all, being motivated to meet expectations is characteristic of the 'conforming' state, which is another condition for experiencing anxiety.
If the team had been favourites that day, they might have responded differently to the comedy routine. They may have been more inclined to prepare for the match in a conventional way, following the 'rules' if you like, about preparing for competition and may not have allowed themselves to enjoy the comedy.
Another way of looking at that might be that the unconventional nature of comedy as competition preparation might have helped the players to get into a 'rebellious' or mischievous state of mind, motivated to upset the odds. This would also help to avoid anxiety - because as well as the serious state, anxiety is experienced in the conforming state (the oppositional state to rebelliousness).
We can only speculate as to what the players went through that day, but it does seem that Ron Atkinson, using his experience and judgement, chose the right 'psychological intervention' for the occasion. That's a reminder that as sport psychologists we can augment good judgement to identify a solution, but we shouldn't be bound by thinking that we have to be the ones that deliver it.
--
Rob Robson
Co-founder, iStadia.com
Browse books on sport psychology and sport psychology DVDs on iStadia's Marketplace
Can a host country really 'Own the Podium'?
Much has been made of the Canadian Olympic Committee's 'Own the Podium' program, which has had the aim of putting Canada at the top of theVancouver 2010 Winter Olympic medals table, and has cost $110m.
Let's be honest, Olympic sport is a business. A big one. We in the UK can't criticize the Canadians for investing in medals, or at least in the athletes, structures, systems and technologies that may or may not win.
But I've been distressed by reports that athletes have been given limited access to training facilities in order to improve the chances of Canadian success, particular in sports that can be very dangerous. In my mind that's like a child that won't share their toys, or that takes their ball back when things don't go their way.
When it comes to London 2012 Team GB will have lofty ambitions. Ambitions that have had led to considerable financial investment. But I sincerely hope that these don't mean that athletes from other countries have their access to facilities limited. The fact that Canada doesn't appear to be on track to own the podium reminds us that outcomes can never be controlled, as our own Amy Williams showed (by winning the Skeleton bob). Perhaps what we've also learned before in sport through doping, is that trying to control the uncontrollable will inevitably lead to questionable practices?
--
Rob Robson
Co-founder, iStadia.com
Blog for Charity - Join our 'Sports Blogfest' for Sport Relief on 19-21 March
The Super Bowl is big.. ..but how big?
It's Super Bowl sunday. The Indianapolis Colts take on the New Orleans Saints. It's going to be huge. It is big business, but is it the biggest annual sports event in the world?
Before we answer that, let's look at some of the stats associated with Super Bowl XLIV (from the Sunday Times).
A 30 second ad for tonight's game costs $2.8m - almost 70 times the cost in 1967 ($42, 500).
4 million Americans have bought a new TV for the game.
An incredible 350 pizza slices per second, 11 million lbs of potato chips and 4, 000 tons of popcorn will be consumed!
The average American will spend $50 on Super Bowl-related merchandise and food.
And over 100 million people will watch the game.
So, we're agreed, right? It's huge.
Indeed, in purely commercial terms it may be the biggest game of them all. But the BBC this week reported that in 2009, for the first time, it was not the most-watched annual sports event. That accolade went to the Champions League final (yes, soccer). 109 million people from around the globe watch the final between Barcelona and Manchester United (versus 106 million for the Super Bowl).
It's an interesting contrast because the tiny difference masks a huge difference in profile. The Champions League makes its numbers from global aaudiences, while the Super Bowl is much more limited to North America.
For marketers, the ability to reach around 100 million people watching in one country on one channel must account for the huge advertising premiums, whereas reaching a globally dispersed and diverse population must present real challenges - but also opportunities for global brands.
--
Rob Robson
Co-founder, iStadia.com
Tags:
advertising,
audiences,
brand,
business,
champions league,
marketing,
sports,
super bowl xliv,
tv
