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From: Gunars
Date: 08 Oct 2006
Time: 11:02:20 -0500
Remote Name: 67.183.183.115
Ken, Am I not correct that some athletes, especially those on top of their games (the world champions), perform better under stress if and only if they can maintain their focus and get into a psychological state of mind called "FLOW" by Csikszentmihlyz ("Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement With Everyday Life")? For example, when Bannister set out to break the four minute mile he had not done so as yet in practice. When I was Second Team All-American in soccer in 1958, I would throw-up before most of the games (as do many basketball stars of past and present), but when I was in the game, I would perform to the best of my ability because I was able to focus on my game. So could it be that EXTERNAL stress is not as important as our reaction, our INTERNALIZED stress? Gunars