How can people who claim not to believe in UFOs suddenly think there’s a massive clown attack going around the country?
I haven’t spotted any except at a circus once or twice, and maybe at a birthday party. I am an avid Stephen King fan and read “IT” with Pennywise the clown, but sightings around the park … no. Since this is sports, I have to say there are also rodeo clowns who do a great job of preventing thrown riders from being gorged but that’s pretty self-sacrificing on their part don’t you think? Still, I hear people are afraid of these clowns.
Fear is definitely involved with sports, not just clowns, although I’ve called an NFL coach a clown once or twice. Fear of failure can be a constant source of anxiety which can sabotage a team’s performance.
Many times the mental state of the team can affect the results of the game. If athletes are worried about not winning or they have to “get this win” then thinking gets in the way of performance. Sports psychology practitioners have found more than one area than just the fear of losing. This includes the fear of negative social evaluation, embarrassment, letting others down, putting forth the effort and not getting the results, not performing to expectations real or otherwise, fear of rejection, losing respect and making mistakes.
Being a perfectionist is also going to cause stress and anxiety. Everyone makes mistakes, since we live in the moment the best response is to make it a learning experience and move on, enough said. I tend to be my own worst critic. Now I figured out I’ll leave it up to others and try not to worry about it.
Another method taught by the pros is to set small goals and work toward them. Also use your mind to see it succeeding even before you actually do it, which is called visualization. Our muscles have memories of their own and trusting the system to work rather than micromanaging from the brain can be a good way to see improvements.
Experts also agree don’t expect to play perfectly, just try to perform efficiently, like the old story of the tortoise and the hare. The hare was quick, talented and fast, but the tortoise was just plain solid and consistent, which of course won him the race.
Mistakes are a natural part of life. So is fear. The truth is we control our own lives through deciding how we react to our surroundings instead of claiming the surroundings are causing us to react a certain way instead.
It’s basically all in our heads.