the paradox of athletics
The Baseball Observer - Aug/ Sept 2018
Learning to relax to improve sports performance
Coaches constantly encourage athletes to relax (often by yelling, which seems contradictory), but rarely does a coach explain or demonstrate relaxation or a process to relax. Encouraging players to relax becomes a throw away; something that everyone says, and everyone assumes the other person understands, but which has virtually no practical meaning.
Despite the lack of meaning, it is true that elite athletes have a superior ability to relax, both physically and emotionally. In Body and Mature Behavior, Moshe Feldenkrais connected muscular and postural habits with emotional disorders. Chade-Meng Tan added in Search Inside Yourself that emotional experiences are not just psychological; they are physiological experiences. The physical affects the emotions, and the emotions affect the physical, and change requires a plan to affect both. This connection appears in successful performance and disorders.
Several years ago, I gave a presentation to high-school athletes. I spoke about confidence and positive feelings improving performance, and one athlete raised his hand and asked why some athletes play better when angry.
I asked the athletes to clench their fists as tight as possible and try to get their muscles bulging. Then, I asked them to throw a punch without hitting anyone. They managed. Next, I had them relax and shake out their arms. I asked them to throw another punch. On the second punch, I told them to wait until the last possible instant to make a fist. Finally, I asked what they felt.
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