Archives for category: Sports

Audience screams, cheers, and reacts to athletes’ performance; and athletes make mistakes when they think about it.

Athletes' performance, making mistake on sporting events, psychological new study said squeezing a ball or clenching left hand can improve athletes' performance, trick and techniques to work under pressure, soccer ball in hand, small soccer ball for kids

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Several athletes in the Olympics perfect their moves over years but they make mistakes on the day of show. It happens to the most of us. We prepare for a long time but on the exact time we should perform, we gag and choke. We make mistakes we have never committed when we are practicing. This is a familiar feeling to athletes because eyes are on them in every sporting event.

The source of the blunder is when athletes started thinking of their own movements instead of relying on their body’s motor capabilities. Overthinking can intervene with concentration and performance of motor tasks.

For the athletes who aren’t used to the pressure of an audience yet, squeezing a ball or clenching a hand may help. According to the new research published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, doing so before the competition will activate certain parts of the brain.

But it has to be the left hand. In the study, right handed athletes who squeezed a ball using the left hand have lower chances of choking than right handed athletes who squeezed a ball using the right hand. This may be due to the system of our brain’s supervision, where the right brain controls the left part of our body – the side of the brain that directs automated and instinctive behaviors.

The idea is to distract athletes from thinking. “Athletes usually perform better when they trust their bodies rather than thinking too much about their own actions or what their coaches told them during practice”, said Juergen Beckmann, PhD, chair of sport psychology at the Technical University of Munich in Germany.

This technique may also be applied outside athletics, especially in pressing situations.

Do you think this will work for you?

Sources:
Squeezing a ball before competition may improve performance, study finds; American Psychological Association
Do You Choke Under Pressure? A Routine That May Help; PsychCentral
Sporting skill improved by just a simple squeeze; drbriffa
 

Don’t you get curious to try the Olympic sports you don’t know?

Riding a horse, Olympics sport Beijing 2008, badass cool guy riding a brown chocolate horse, humping the hurdle, red uniform

Photo from markow76’s flickr

The London Olympics 2012 opening ceremony was relatable. We’ve seen our favorite writers and characters in literature and their colossal contribution as well as the authentic music that resonates classic. They enacted the story of how Britain became Great that it is today. Not only was it visually appearing, but the extravagance was in the familiarity of their ceremony.

Sports can bring the world closer. In the biggest sporting event, the world was tuned in for the sports we love, for the athletes that represent us and for the parade of countries with fancy names. People from different background and budget have the same four years of preparation for this competition. It was a thrill to see how they would amount against each other.

Not all the sports in the Olympics are known to us but we still watch it. After watching these sports and seeing the schedule of the rest of the 2012 Olympics, there is a certain spirit in me that was enflamed too. Suddenly, these sports looked incentive and I’d want to learn the skills in playing it.

Equestrian. The art of horse riding. I’ve tried horse riding before and it was easy; but maybe it was an overestimation because the horse just walked around, I never get to make him run no matter how hard I imitate a horse’s sound in effort to talk to him. And yeah, I want a photo of myself in costume while riding a horse too.

Sailing. I thought sailing was just for relaxation and getaway off the city. I don’t live near the coast and I would like to check this out as I expand my skills to the sea – surfing and diving as well.

Beach Volleyball. Whenever I go to the beach, I do nothing. Those are great moments but I can nest some excitement in it too. It’ll be fun to hit and smash something.

What Olympic sports you’d like to try out? (List of Summer 2012 Olympic Sports)

Ironing is not boring at all, just make it extreme.

New sport, extreme ironing, ironing no more boring, cool people iron clothes, ironing in wedding, extreme sports, skydive ironing

Burnishing an electronically heated flat pan of iron to make your garments unwrinkled – boring! You don’t just stand there. Hey hit-or-miss idea, why not iron your clothes in a zoo, or between pushups, or while hula hooping, or free falling at 53 m/s like this guy.

Extreme Ironing Skydive, extreme sports, awkward absurd things to do in air, cool dive iron clothes while free falling

Photo from slices-of-life.com

Or underwater. Right after you wash it, all the while defying the science of electricity. Just don’t let it dry up.

Extreme Ironing Underwater, underwater trip, awesome ironing of clothes, young man tries to iron wet clothes under water

Photo from flatrock.org.nz

Or even bring your friends, yeah! Ironing sessions, that’s very masculine.

Extreme Ironing Underwater with Friends, group manly ironing sessions, masculine works, ironing water diving

Photo from teara.govt.nz

Or at your wedding? It’s a long day, don’t judge.

Extreme Ironing at Wedding, ridiculous funny wedding couple photo, wacky wedding, ironing wedding dress, smile couple

Photo from unst.org

Or make James Franco in 127 Hours look lame.

Extreme Ironing between Rocks, cool awesome dude ironing, topless man ironing, adventurers iron clothes, white iron

Photo from strangeandweirdhobbies.com

Or while leading a skiing squad.

Extreme Ironing Skii, ironing at cold snow, awesome and wicked extreme sports, snow dancing while ironing, speeding in the snow while ironing

Photo from awesomeoff.com

Or on the edge of the world. A peaceful place to iron, everybody needs that.

Extreme Ironing on Mountaintop, cool place to do iron clothes, man ironing white clothes, mountain view, windy ironing clothes

Photo from oddculture.com

If it hasn’t dawned on you, Extreme Ironing is a sport. Yeah it’s a real thing, google it!

How extreme can you iron your clothes?

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