Quote(s) of the Week

"I got frustrated and I apologize for that. It was a situation where he kept bugging me and getting in my face."

-Terrell Owens on Saturday after the Cowboys game with the Falcons, apparently admitting and apologizing for spitting in DeAngelo Hall's face.

"When it happened, we were jawing in each other's face, so it wasn't anything intentional...I didn't intentionally spit in his face."

-Terrell Owens on Monday denying spitting in Hall's face during the game. It was revealed on Monday that no video replay can prove that Owens did spit.

From ESPN.com.

Kicker's confidence?

What is the effect of confidence on at athlete's performance? We all know how important it is to believe that we will succeed during competition. Many of us have even felt the power of knowing we will be victorious. Of course, many of us have been down the opposite road as well - feeling like we just can't do it.
Just ask Cowboys kicker Mike Vanderjagt who has struggled all season. Or new star Tony Romo who entered his first game trailing at halftime to a standing O and left with three picks.
How does confidence impact your game? SPINw's mental game training packages can bolster your confidence and performance!

Read the rest of the Cowboys article from the
Dallas Star-Telegram.

Sport Warfare Part 2: Psychological

Anyone who thought psychological warfare tactics were limited to the CIA and KGB needs to think again. Check out this story from the December 10 issue of the New York Times Magazine:

In Cal’s last basketball game of the season, in March, a win vs. USC was necessary for a tourney bid. To neutralize USC star Gabe Pruitt, Cal rally committee members created a fictional Cal co-ed, “Victoria”, and began IMing Pruitt a week before the game. After a period of online flirting, Pruitt agreed to meet “Victoria”, who never really existed, after the game. Upon Pruitt’s first trip to the free-throw line in the game, Cal fans chanted “Victoria” over and over. Pruitt missed the free throws and went on to have his worst game of the season. Clearly, the Cal tactic worked. By getting Pruitt’s head out of the game, he was completely neutralized and Cal won by 11.

From NYT Magazine, 12/10/2006. N.C.A.A. Psyop by Joel Lovell, p. 62.

Sports Warfare Part 1: Physical

As we move deeper into the holiday season, the sports world is certainly not filled with cheer and good will towards men. One need only look to T.O.’s spitting in DeAngelo Hall’s face on Sunday and Saturday night’s Knicks-Nuggets brawl for confirmation. Both stories swirl with controversy – Did Isaiah Thomas warn Carmelo Anthony to not go in the lane? Was George Karl simply protecting a lead, or running up the score on the Knicks in retribution for the Larry Brown situation? Regarding T.O., did he intentionally spit, or was it accidental while jawing with Hall?

In basketball, the League has spoken, most notably with 15 game suspensions for Carmelo and 10 games for Nate Robinson and J.R. Smith. What will be the psychological affect on the two teams? Surely, the Nuggets are hit harder with the loss of league scoring leader ‘Melo. Or, will it be a source of motivation for the team? Time will tell.

In football, response has been mixed to the spitting incident. Should Hall have retaliated? Should T.O. have been punished beyond his $35,000 fine? What is the impact of being spit upon on a players mindset? Here is Michael Irvin’s take, as heard on the Dan Patrick Show on Monday: “[Spitting] is as low as it gets…There’s no excuse for it, there’s no reason for it, there’s no talking around it…I let another man spit in my face you take away my integrity as a man. I’m no good to you as a player because I’m no good as a man.” According to Irvin, physical retaliation is necessary to preserve the confidence and self-worth necessary for competition. However, if the retaliation leads to an ejection, how can the player be any good to his team on the sidelines?

Keep checking with SPINw for more news as these stories develop.

Here the Michael Irvin interview on ESPN radio here.

Quote of the Week

It took me seventeen years to get 3,000 hits in baseball. I did it in one afternoon on the golf course.

- Hank Aaron

From BrainyQuote.com

The Mind-Body Connection

What is the source of physical pain during athletic competition? Injury or muscle stress is always a reliable answer. However, research has been demonstrating more and more that pain experienced in athletics may be a physical representation of mental stress. For example, take the story of a young English golfer who experienced intense lower back pain immediately before making contact with the ball in his swing. A series of sessions with a sport psychologist using kinesthetic imagery (the athlete’s visualization of their own body during performance) revealed three probable causes, none of which were physical – preoccupation with perfect technique which ruined the flow of the swing, fear about the quality of the outcome, and frustration with his caddie’s negative comments before tee shots. As a result of his sessions with the sport psychologist, the golfer is seeing a new caddie, playing great, and using advanced imagery techniques to swing freely and without interruption.

Read the whole fascinating story here.

The Pressure to be Thin

As we are bombarded daily with advertisements and programs promoting weight loss and skinniness, it’s not hard to realize why many feel an unhealthy pressure to be super-thin. Now, imagine combining day-to-day cultural pressures to be thin with the drive of athletic competition and enter the world of the anorexic athlete. Sports whose athletes are significantly at risk include skating, gymnastics, running, swimming, and rowing. Females athletes are at a higher risk than males for eating disorders – in fact, a USA Today study reported that 1/3 of its female participants experienced disordered eating. The unrealistic pressures both to be thin and perform at a high level can take a disastrous toll on athletes at all levels in the forms of anorexia, bulimia, low self-esteem and poor self-image. To learn more about eating disorders in athletics visit Anred.com or click here to read about an athlete's personal experiences.

Quote of the week:

Show me a guy whos afraid to look bad, and I'll show you a guy you can beat every time.

-Lou Brock

From Sports Quotes

Tampa Bay Bucs: In the Zone?

As athletes, we’re all familiar with the feeling of being in “the Zone” – totally unstoppable, everything’s going right and flowing perfectly. Time even slows for us – our target imagery freezes in our vision and the opponents are a half-step behind.
Is it possible for an entire team to collectively enter the zone? Bucs QB Bruce Gradkowski asserts that “It’s just little things in a drive that get you going. It might not even be me that starts the drive. I might hand off a couple times, we get a couple nice runs, then the next ball I throw I’m feeling it. We get that completion and we feel the momentum as a group. In that second quarter against the Saints, we started moving very well and we just felt like we were in the zone, as a group. I know I did.”
Keep checking with SPINw as ongoing research on the Zone emerges from sport psychologists in the field.

Read the whole article from the Bucs game programs here.

Click here to read more about the leading researcher of flow and the Zone.

Quote of the Week

"There's only one way to become a hitter. Go up to the plate and get mad. Get mad at yourself and mad at the pitcher."


"Baseball is the only field of endeavor where a man can succeed three times out of ten and be considered a good performer."


- Ted Williams


From Baseball Almanac

Rutgers football: The Psychology of an Underdog

Who missed Rutgers’ 28-25 upset special win over Louisville last week? If you did, apologies from all of us at SPINw. Anyone who thought that Rutgers' rise this season was accomplished without the help of mental game training should check out this article from the Rutgers Daily Record. Scarlet Knights coach Greg Schiano had used motivational clips from the movie Cinderella Man to inspire his team during practice throughout the week. He refreshed his team with the messages of perseverance and hard play from the movie during halftime with the Scarlet Knights trailing by 11; Rutgers responded with 14 unanswered points for the victory. Will Schiano’s motivational techniques power the Scarlet Knights to a major bowl game? Keep an eye on Rutgers December 2 face-off with West Virginia to find out.

Read more

Sport Psychology - What are the benefits?

We all know that practicing the mental game can be just as important as regular on-court or –field practice. However, have you ever wondered about some of the theory behind sport psychology? Why does sport psychology help? What can it really do for you? What are the benefits of it? Read on here for more in-depth information on the values of sport psychology and mental game training.

Quote of the Week

"I never looked at the consequences of missing a big shot... when you think about the consequences you always think of a negative result.

- Michael Jordan"

From BrainyQuote.com

Cricket Psychology

Sport psychology is helping not only western athletes – the benefits of sport psychology on athletes are being seen worldwide, as demonstrated in an article from India’s news network NDTV. Rudi Webster, a sport psychologist who has worked with Greg Norman, is now coaching India’s cricket team on positive thinking, concentration, and visualization. Perhaps most important of his ideas is the philosophy that “a slump is the result of a wandering mind and not technical flaws and to get over it, you just need to start thinking positively.”

Read More

Quote of the week

"Never let the fear of striking out get in your way."

-Babe Ruth

More athlete quotes

Mental Health of Athletes

Injuries can be damaging to any career in athletics, no matter the level. Typically, the extent of the damage of the injury depends on the mental strength of the athlete, the strength of their support circle, and the nature of the injury itself, to name a few. Typically, athletes who are completely absorbed in their “athletic self”, with little or no sense of self outside sports, are harmed the worst. Check out the link below to read more about the impact of an injury on a Los Angeles high school quarterback.

Read More

Visualization key in cross country

Visualization, the process of seeing with the minds eye an event before it occurs, has always been important in the field of sport psychology. Recent coaching tactics educating athletes in visualization techniques from Santa Clara University’s cross country team have proven effective in improving performance. SCU coaches, through guided meditation, guide their runners through the course the day before a race. “The visualizations work because they make me more comfortable with the course. When I get to the starting line the day of the race, I will feel like I've run the course several times because I've already been there in my head," said Shannon Bell, a first-team all-WCC runner.

Read the whole article

Who knew? Performance psychology in auto racing

Sometimes, it is said that there is little to NASCAR besides a group of fast cars turning left for a few hours. However, this is not true at all, as proved in a recent motorsport.com interview with Jeff Gordon regarding performance psychology in car racing. Gordon revealed that elements common to other mainstream sports such as teamwork, pressure of competition, and practice are just as essential to an auto racing team as a football one. In regards to the benefits of a performance psychologist to a NASCAR team, Gordon said “It is hard to take 60 or 80 guys with different personalities and blend them together. That is a real challenge…I don't think it is a bad idea, to analyze it and understand it better and to have each individual understand it.” Gordon also touched on pressure to perform from fans and sponsors and the psychological effect it may have on a racer.

See the whole article

Discussion of Dick Pound's Speech at the Association for Applied Sport Psychology Conference

Dick Pound, chairman of the World Anti-Doping Agency, addressed the Association for Applied Sports Psychology earlier this month, touching on subjects ranging from conventional doping to the possibilities of genetic manipulation among athletes. Pound claimed that the rash of recent high-profile doping scandals is proof that the problem is getting worse throughout athletics. Some recent examples include Barry Bonds, Tim Montgomery, Justin Gatlin, and multiple Tour de France 2006 riders. Pound is not without controversy, however – called a zealot by some, his resignation has been called for by Lance Armstrong and the chairman of the International Cycling Union, among others.

Read the whole article

Visit SPINW.com

Welcome to SPINw's E-News blog! Visit this site for exciting news updates from sports around the northwest and advances in the practice and research of sports psychology! Also check for updates on upcoming events including seminars, presentations, and teaching clinics.