11 26 12 7 00 PM Successophobia athlete that is obsessed over losing and winning they attach something personal to the event game match Ways to identify successophobic athletes 1 the fear of the reputation of their opponent this provides an excuse for not performing at their best level 2 obsess over prior great performances by their opponent 3 they are frightened by their own outstanding performances a true athlete has the ability to laugh at themselves a successophobic athlete cannot a normal athlete should always want to do good even in the midst of mistakes a successophobic athlete dwells on the fear of winning and losing why winning The successophobic athlete feels that success too much responsibility they feel like they can never do enough and become compulsive over trying to do too much making the team can be the successophobic s greatest goal but sometimes they get cut they re great at tryouts but in games they re a coach s nightmare you cannot count on their consistency true athletes possess inner psychological strength no neurotic tendencies and can handle success they were forced to compete at an early age they play for their parents glory The Hurried Child by David Elkind popular Psychiatric journal of problems with athletes feel loved EXAMPLE Pressures on kids by parents Achieve early in sport academically socially have to be Forced to compete at early age if you don t play you ll feel unloved if you play you will Dad teaches son tennis at an early age After every game dad would point out flaws in son s game and take him to get a slurpee At age 11 the boy beats his father The dad says nothing and they go right home The next week the boy loses and gets a slurpee The ritual cont d and the kid got a scholarship at Tennessee Dad flies down to son s first match Before serving the boy puts down his racket looks up at his dad and walks off It was the only way the kid could get back at his dad for all the emotional stress he caused him Mentally Distracted States Fear of Failure These individuals are motivated to avoid failure rather than to succeed These individuals will aim for an unbelievably close or unbelievably distant target this way they will either always make it or be able to claim that it was practically True athletes have a high achievement need and will want to aim for a reasonable impossible challenge Fear of failure people have other oriented traits they worry about what others think Symptoms of Fear of Failure Mental State 1 always make excuses before an event begins stomach hurts I didn t practice at all want to protect themselves from loss rather than take the blame 2 constantly worry about what others think 3 always trying to protect their self esteem can t take responsibility for failure their parents don t care about winning and losing but treat kid like a loser might tell the kid its okay you re just a loser parents should reward effort a hard work ethic will always help in life parents do not care about winning and losing but they threat the kid like a loser ex they might tell the kid its okay you re just a loser parents should reward effort a hard work ethic will always help in life finishing a game is hard they worry about what everyone thinks and cannot handle critical games championships put kids in realistic situations and make it a fun thing so they remember Convey that losses do not say anything about you as a person do not put pressure on kids and do not make it a big deal when they lose Parents can mold how kids will be in life Different Intimidation Factors used to alter an athletes mental state 1 hitting a batter in baseball 2 calling a timeout in football to freeze the kicker 3 waving sticks to throw off a free throw short 4 slamming a lob back at the opponent in tennis intimidate others in sports Mental States 1 psyche out there are many others so it might help to think about some other ways people can o opponents can use intimidation tactics to interfere with your mental state o examples tennis if a serve returner turns his back to prevent the serve stalling tennis if serve returner jumps up and down to show they re ready trash talk freezing a kicker or free throw shooter the way maryland s student section is organized o you can prepare yourself by considering it an honor for the opponent to have to psyche you out this is why psyche outs can sometimes backfire o you must respond intellectually instead of emotionally o if you are a clear underdog you must get a mental edge since athletically the o if you lose control you lose 2 being an underdog opponent has the advantage o athletes must imagine perfect execution o steps to overcoming the underdog role avoid focusing on win loss do not dwell on strengths of opponent watch tape of them losing focus on personal strengths watch video of your best victories 3 underachievers o Dr Brown calls this one the self fulfilling prophecy o Basically you don t think you can do it so you wont o When you start a new season you could have gotten better in the offseason through practice and working out o But underachievers focus on the past and how they failed before 4 the gifted athlete o these individuals are good at a very young age they might be bigger or more coordinated at an early age o however by 12 14 other kids catch up o if you develop a hard work ethic you can still compete o however there is a curse of the gifted athlete when the athlete takes advantage of his giftedness they don t know how to practice and work through jams o this athlete never takes pride in having a hard work ethic this athlete lives in the present they don t prepare for the future 5 the overachiever o o o they re the ones always doing extra credit or extra practice they know they re average but want to do better in the beginning they show signs of being gifted o but alter on they may hit the wall o they hit a point where they realize they have reached their peak They can practice more but it may not do any good 6 stinkin thinkin o when you think negative thoughts it erodes performance o you have to understand that negativity energizes an opponent o stay positive about yourself and your performance 7 choking o o this is a disease of me its when you freeze at a crucial moment o often associated with performing poorly in a stressful situation typically due to lack of mental preparation o but choking is not terminal it will not kill you o choking happens because you fail to understand accept the position you face during an