Hitting the Mark

Dear I Say,

I am a basketball player for our varsity high school basketball team. My teammates usually count on me to score points since I have won a couple of awards in the past. But recently, I haven’t been scoring as much as I should. My game has been pretty bad lately, and it’s costing us some matches. My coach says I rely too much on my strength, and that I should focus more on the ring and taking the shot. I’m not really sure what that means. Can you tell me what he meant before we lose another game?!

Senserely yours,

Most-Valuable-Loser

Since we’re in the subject of sports, why don’t we listen to what Troy Bolton 's advice might be for you. ;) 

Dear Most-Valuable-Loser,

I’m pretty sure that you are not a loser, it just so happens that you are in a losing streak right now. And it happens even to the best athletes. Even Michael Jordan missed so many times in his career that it certainly outweighed all the times that he scored. But I think it’s about time to get you out of the losing streak that you’re in! And it seems like your coach just read through a scientific journal article, because his advice has been proven by psychologists from Purdue University and University of Virginia.

Researchers have proven that goals appear larger to the athletes who are winning or performing excellently, as compared to those who are losing a game. Witt and Proffitt explored this phenomenon in different sports such as golf, softball and football. The winning players were asked how they perceived the goal, and they were asked to give a rough estimate of its measurements. Those who gave larger measurements coincidentally, where the individuals who scored better, while the ones who did not fare well in the game saw the goal as smaller than it really was. Though, they have acquired some knowledge regarding the topic, further studies are needed to find the reason as to why athletes perceive goals in this way.

According to Witt (2008), all we have to do is to focus on the goal, which will allow us to see the goal of the game in a clearer way. This is because the goal falls to the eyes’ center of vision, where most of the receptors are. This would lead to higher visual acuity because of the cones at work in the retina.

So maybe, when your coach told you to change your perspective, he actually meant for you to focus on the goal more. If you can place the goal in the center of your vision, you will be able to see it clearly, and your chances of scoring increase greatly. It’s the same thing when it comes to our lives. The more focused we are towards a goal, the higher the chances that we’ll achieve it. So from now on, get your head in the game and focus on the goal, or the ring, or hole, whatever it may be--- so you can actually change your name to Most Valuable Player. ;)

Senserely yours,

I Say Hontiveros <3

Sources :

Koch, C. (2008) Looks Can Deceive: Why Perception and Reality Don't Always Match Up. Retrieved from http://sams.scientificamerican.com/article/looks-can-deceive/?page=2

Witt, J.K. (2008) Study: Perception of hole size influenced by performance. Retrieved from http://www.purdue.edu/uns/x/2008b/080707WittPerception.htmlv