At the 2000 Sydney Olympics Gary Hall Jr. proclaimed in a CNNSI blog that the USA relay team was going to, "smash the Australians like guitars." Well, it didn't work out that way. Above is a picture of Gary Hall just before he won a gold medal in Athens.Here is what Psychology Today says about "trash talk":
"... But does it work? Jonathan Katz, a New York City-based clinical sports psychologist, is doubtful. He believes that thinking up put-downs can actually impair an athlete's performance. "Some players feel they can intimidate other players by getting into their heads," says Katz, who has worked with the New Jersey Nets and several college basketball teams. "But many athletes are putting time and energy into something that distracts them from playing their best. Playing well is the most intimidating factor. ..." [Link]
1 comment:
There's a great article I read the other day about Mark Spitz psyching out his opponents at the Olympics; back in the day, competing swimmers all shared a warm-up room. Spitz would loudly moan and complain about how sore he was and how much his arms hurt -- all an act, of course.
Then he'd hop in whoop @$$.
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