Sports is something I have always enjoyed to watch and play when I was younger. It is interesting to dig deeper into the psychology behind sports, and how it affects players as well as teams as a whole. The distraction theory is something that I believe can be displayed by players almost every game no matter the sport. Players put an immense amount of pressure on themselves to perform a certain way that it affects their overall skills as a result. This can be seen at every level of sports
When I first read about this theory in the textbook, I could immediately come up with so many different examples and scenarios of when this has happened. I remember going to so many high school basketball games where an amazing player would not perform to the best of their ability. According to the distraction theory, this is because they distracted themselves by focusing on the pressure of the game. I remember seeing this occur in games where more people were in attendance watching. Their confidence would begin to decrease because they are putting so much pressure on themselves.
When I would see this occur in my high school basketball games, I didn’t think about the psychology behind it. It makes sense that in high pressure situations, athletes who have performed something so many times crack under the pressure. Their mind starts to think about so many things, and one of those things is mainly the outcome of the game and how that comes back on them. The textbook explains, “They found that most participants perceived choking to be caused by anxiety about the outcome of the game, about meeting others’ expectations (such as teammates, coaches, or spectators), and about their performance” (Gruman and Schneider, 2016). Because so many different things are going through their mind, something that usually comes so easy to them turns into one of the hardest tasks.
I think it is important for athletes, of all ages, to be aware of this theory and how it affects them. It is important to remind athletes to not put so much pressure on themselves because they are essentially sinking themselves out. They are not able to focus on the task they are supposed to be completing which makes them unable to perform. It is important for coaches to implement this theory into their athletes minds because it may help take the pressure off. If more athletes are aware of how this theory affects them they will be able to remind themselves that even when they aren’t playing their best, it is not their fault.
References
Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (Eds.). (2016). Applied social psychology: Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. SAGE Publications, Incorporated.