{"id":46,"date":"2008-02-11T10:35:29","date_gmt":"2008-02-11T16:35:29","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2017-08-07T15:38:14","modified_gmt":"2017-08-07T20:38:14","slug":"pep-talks-why-didnt-my-team-win-one-for-the-gipper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesportjournal.org\/article\/pep-talks-why-didnt-my-team-win-one-for-the-gipper\/","title":{"rendered":"Pep Talks – Why Didn’t My Team “Win One for the Gipper”?"},"content":{"rendered":"
Submitted by: Mick G. Mack, Ph.D.<\/div>\n

From Knute Rockne, the basketball
\nmovie “Hoosiers,” and many other highly publicized
\n“win one for the Gipper” speeches, we have observed
\nthe magical powers of the pregame pep talk. In fact, today it
\nis widely believed that coaches must give their team an emotional
\nmessage before sending them into competition. Unfortunately,
\nwhat has been forgotten over the years is that the pep talk is
\njust one type of arousal adjustment technique, a tool to be used
\nonly under certain circumstances. Furthermore, as the following
\nexample illustrates, raising the emotional level of every player
\non the team may have disastrous consequences.<\/p>\n

Game-Day USA<\/strong><\/p>\n

During today’s precompetition
\nactivities, Steve is extremely excited and nervous. Today marks
\nthe first time that his parents are able to attend one of his
\ngames and he is beginning to feel the pressure of having to live
\nup to their unrealistic expectations. Next to him, sits Jerome.
\nJerome has just completed his typical pregame routine. He is
\nboth mentally and emotionally ready to play. Rafael, on the other
\nhand, appears listless and bored. He shows no energy or emotion,
\nacting as if he is only going through the motions.<\/p>\n

Rah! Rah! <\/strong><\/p>\n

Just before taking
\nthe field, Coach delivers a rousing win-one-for-the-Gipper pep
\ntalk that raises the emotional level of every player on the team.
\nCaught up in the emotional intensity of the moment, the athletes
\nsprint onto the field where they immediately make crucial mistakes
\nand play poorly. In fact, two-thirds of the team members are
\nplaying one of their poorer games of the season. Coach turns
\nto his assistants and asks “What happened? I thought they
\nwere ready to play.”<\/p>\n

Relationship Between Arousal
\nand Athletic Performance<\/strong><\/p>\n

An examination of the
\nrelationship between arousal and athletic performance may provide
\nsome answers. In sport, arousal refers to the energizing function
\nof the body that varies from deep sleep to intense excitement.
\nSport researchers believe that the relationship between arousal
\nand performance takes the form of an inverted-U. In other words,
\nwhen the athlete’s level of arousal is fairly low, the athlete
\nwill perform poorly. He or she is typically sluggish and under-excited.
\nWith a moderate increase in arousal, the athlete should perform
\nup to his or her capabilities. However, once the athlete reaches
\na state of having too much arousal, performance will suffer.
\nThus, it is predicted that best performances occur at moderate
\nlevels of arousal.<\/p>\n

The Importance of Individualized
\nArousal Adjustment Strategies<\/strong><\/p>\n

This critical relationship
\nbetween arousal and athletic performance is why coaches can no
\nlonger haphazardly use a blanket approach when preparing athletes
\nfor competition. The use of arousal adjustment techniques such
\nas the pep talk need to be individualized so that all players
\nenter competition at the level of readiness which is conducive
\nto his or her best performance. To further clarify this idea,
\nlet’s reflect on the experiences of our three athletes.
\nSteve, who was already too excited and nervous became so over-aroused
\nthat he had problems containing his emotions. An inability to
\nconcentrate caused him to play poorly. Similarly, Jerome was
\nshifted from an optimal state of moderate arousal to being sky-high.
\nHe started trying too hard which negatively affected his performance.
\nThe only player to benefit from the pep talk was Rafael. His
\nemotional-readiness reached an optimal level which allowed him
\nto play well. Thus, while the pep talk helped one player, it
\nalso negatively affected two others. A more perceptive coach
\nwould have realized that, in this scenario, Steve needed to be
\ncalmed down to reach his ideal level of readiness. Likewise,
\nthe only thing that Jerome needed was the assurance that he was
\nindeed ready.<\/p>\n

Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n

As coaches, we can
\nno longer risk hurting the performance of two out of every three
\nplayers on the team by employing a one-technique-fits-all philosophy.
\nInstead, we need to focus on having every player reach his or
\nher optimal level of emotional arousal. Therefore, prior to your
\nnext pregame pep talk ask yourself “Do I really want to
\nraise the arousal level of everyone on the team?”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Submitted by: Mick G. Mack, Ph.D.<\/div>\n

From Knute Rockne, the basketball
\n movie "Hoosiers," and many other highly publicized
\n "win one for the Gipper" speeches, we have observed
\n the magical powers of the pregame pep talk. In fact, today it
\n is widely believed that coaches must give their team an emotional
\n message before sending them into competition. Unfortunately,
\n what has been forgotten over the years is that the pep talk is
\n just one type of arousal adjustment technique, a tool to be used
\n only under certain circumstances. Furthermore, as the following
\n example illustrates, raising the emotional level of every player
\n on the team may have disastrous consequences.<\/p>\n

Game-Day USA<\/p>\n

\n <\/strong>During today’s precompetition
\n activities, Steve is extremely excited and nervous. Today marks
\n the first time that his parents are able to attend one of his
\n games and he is beginning to feel the pressure of having to live
\n up to their unrealistic expectations. Next to him, sits Jerome.
\n Jerome has just completed his typical pregame routine. He is
\n both mentally and emotionally ready to play. Rafael, on the other
\n hand, appears listless and bored. He shows no energy or emotion,
\n acting as if he is only going through the motions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[295,291,296],"tags":[18,27,8,24],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4btio-K","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6046,"url":"https:\/\/thesportjournal.org\/article\/pep-guardiola-and-manchester-city-2017-2018-a-case-study\/","url_meta":{"origin":46,"position":0},"title":"Pep Guardiola and Manchester City, 2017-2018: A Case Study","date":"September 27, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Authors: Jeff Segrave, Tim Spenser, and Kevin Santos Corresponding Author: Jeffrey O. 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