Landon Donovan's Exclamation Point

As the minutes and seconds ticked away on the Unites States chances of advancing in the World Cup, it would have been easy for the Yanks to throw in the towel and accept the agonizing thought of coming so close to blowing the game wide open but never capitalizing on their chances. But like they did against Slovenia last week, the Americans continued to pound the opposing keeper and attacking the midfield with the same ferocity and swagger as they did early in the game. When Tim Howard started a breakaway in the 91st minute, Landon Donovan and three other Americans attacked as if they were in the first minute of their first game, not in the 91st minute of their third game in which two potential game-winning goals had been disallowed and countless other chances had been sent away. The result was Donovan putting a rebound in the back of the net, sending the Americans on to the knockout round as winners of their group for the first time since 1930 and announcing to the world that American soccer (not football) is a power to be reckoned with.
The Americans finish against Algeria illustrated the power of positive thinking in sports, in which athletic performance is greatly improved when a player is playing to win instead of trying not to lose. As we saw last week in game 7 of the NBA Finals, the team feeling the least amount of pressure was able to play without the creeping doubt that comes from thinking about the consequences of the result instead of the process of getting there. Even casual fans could see that the Celtics were playing not to lose instead of going after the win in the 4th quarter and the doubt started to enter their heads as the lead shrunk. After all, it is a normal human reaction to be much more terrified of the criticism that comes from underperforming than from seeking the praise that results from achievement. To say that people have a fear of failing is to say that they are human. Harsh criticism has much greater effect on the cognitive processes than being praised for doing something great.
As far as the Americans go in the World Cup, they proved that playing to win is much easier than playing not to lose. After they fell behind 2-0 in the first half against Slovenia, the pressure was off and the Americans played like they should have been playing the entire time: attacking without the incoming thought of negative consequences. To further illustrate this point, ESPN looked at every shootout from the World Cup, UEFA Champions League and European Championship and found that when a player has the opportunity to clinch the game, their success rate is 92%.When they take a shot that will cost them the game, their success rate falls to 62%, a staggering difference so great that it simply can’t be credited to chance or any other type of selection bias.
Recent research has shown that negative experiences activate the right prefrontal cortex of the brain, which is most often associated with fear and sadness. Once a person has failed in previous attempts, the thought of it happening again allows doubt and fear to creep into their cognitive process which often causes physiological as well as mental lapses. When those areas of the brain are not activated, the brain is able to concentrate on what it has trained the body to do, which for professional athletes, results in performing at a world-class level.
After the excitement and agony of the group stage, the Yanks have nothing to lose and are simply playing to win. A scary thought for the rest of the world.

Why Doc Rivers Outcoached Phil Jackson

After the Celtics wrapped up their 17th title last week, many people were left wondering what happened to the Lakers. Specifically, how did Phil Jackson get outcoached so badly by Doc Rivers? After nine titles with the Bulls and the Lakers, most basketball experts believed Phil Jackson would walk all over Doc Rivers, leaving little chance for the Celtics to overcome the coaching difference. During all six games, Rivers significantly outcoached Jackson for 48 minutes, from motivating his players to exploiting favorable matchups. Has Phil Jackson’s time passed as a great coach and motivator or was something more at work during the NBA Finals?
Despite their obvious struggles throughout the series, Phil Jackson continued to ride Vladimir Radmanovic and Sasha Vujacic despite terrible shooting and nonexistent defense throughout the series. When Ray Allen continued to make corner threes with no sign of Vujacic within ten feet, the viewer began to wonder why Phil Jackson sat there as if he had a dinner date that was more important than the matchups on the floor. Meanwhile, Doc Rivers continued to exploit favorable matchups throughout every game, which inevitably won the title for Boston. Not only that, Rivers kept Boston playing at a level much higher than the Lakers, keeping them motivated throughout the entire series. However, most NBA experts would agree that Phil Jackson is a better coach then Doc Rivers, making it seem as though Phil Jackson simply folded under the pressure of the most watched NBA Finals since Jordan broke Utah’s heart.
When faced with pressure situations, the human body focuses most of its energies on specific things, which can be both a blessing and a curse. Pressure can make people hyperfocused on one event but the stress makes them lose consciousness with other aspects of their life. This is why people in high stress jobs often lose touch with their significant other; the pressure of one aspect of their life drains all of their motivation for other aspects. With the pressure and speed of sports, it is very easy to succumb to the pressure and not make the correct decisions. Although the basketball world could see Phil Jackson making poor decisions, it is much more difficult for the person involved when so much pressure is going on around them.
As pressure continues to grow within a person’s mind, their cognitive abilities often tend to shut down through a process known as cognitive overload. When conflicting stimuli are presented within the mind, the brain subconsciously must choose which stimuli to focus on. With so many different stimuli being presented in something as large as the NBA Finals, from the media commitments to the travel situations to the enormous pressure of each game, coaches must create a balance between everything to be at the top of their game. Even the best coaches in the world tend to make mistakes under enormous pressure. Bill Belichick admitted to several mistakes during the Super Bowl that may have cost his hugely-favored Patriots to lose to the Giants.
Although Phil Jackson could arguably be the best coach in NBA history, he didn’t balance his emotions and was outcoached in every game. Although it could have been his own cockiness and stubbornness that lead to being outcoached, it is likely that Jackson succumbed to the pressure of facing a team that wanted it more than his team. It is well-known that Phil Jackson is set in his ways but that doesn’t mean that he is unaffected by pressure that everyone feels. In this year’s NBA Finals, Doc Rivers looked much more like the coach who had won nine titles, not Phil Jackson.

The Psychology Behind Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant

With the NBA Finals under way, Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett have illustrated throughout the NBA playoffs why they are so great. Both players are the undeniable leaders of the two best teams in the NBA this year. However, there is one very noticeable difference between the two players. Although both contain the fire within to will their team to victory, Garnett is much more boisterous on the court. Although you often see Bryant getting after his teammates and referees, he is not afraid to joke with opponents on the court. Garnett on the other hand continues to grimace throughout the entire game, as if the outcome of the game depends on how much his yells and punches himself in the face.

Why are these two players so different in their mannerisms? It simply comes down to the way they handle the pressure of the situation in their own way. When people get nervous, they tend to have quirks that help them through their nervousness. Before a big presentation, people often tend to yawn way more often than they normally would. Despite having three cups of coffee and a Red Bull, the pressure of the situation forces the brain to require more oxygen than normal; this creates a need to yawn. This is the neural response to pressure and stress that many people feel.

With that in mind, every person deals with stress in their own way. For Garnett, his way of dealing with the stress of an NBA game is to let out all of his emotions through talking trash to opponents and yelling towards the crowd. There are three ways a person can react to stress. The first of which actually helps the person deal with the demands they are facing. This phenomenon is known as eustress where people learn to adapt to the pressure of the situation and use different means such as adrenaline to help them cope with the situation. The other two ways people deal with stress is to either escape the situation or to deal with the situation in an adverse manner.

To get to a state of eustress, Garnett uses outward emotion to fend off the fear that he deals with during the course of the game. This helps him deal with pressure in a distinct way. First, when a person feels a perceived stressor in their environment, hormones are released from the pituitary gland and into the bloodstream to counteract the stressor. This is usually felt through adrenaline and must be released in order for a person’s mental state to get back to normal. This is why Garnett lets his emotions go during the course of the game. It is his body’s neural response to the pressure of the situation.
If that is the case, then why does Kobe Bryant appear so cool during the course of a game? Although he lets his emotions out, it isn’t nearly as outward as that of Garnett. It is simply another way of dealing with the pressure. Instead of releasing his stress hormones through adrenaline like that of Garnett, Bryant uses his mind to deal with the stressors that are in the environment. The innate health model of stress shows that people attempt to get into a state of mind that releases the hormones caused by stress through the means of a quiet mind. Instead of releasing everything outwardly, Bryant channels his fears through a thought process that determines his response to pressure.
Despite the differences, both players have had great success with each type of reaction to their stressful environment. As a person deals with acute stress more throughout their life, they learn techniques that allow them to adapt to the situation. By finding the key to relaxing your stress agent, people can become more productive and healthier. The key is to not be afraid to try new strategies when you feel a stressful agent presenting itself. This could lead to the breakthrough of overcoming pressure for you like the NBA greats mentioned above.