RPT-Olympics-Lesson for Rio: Prepare the minds to exploit home crowd


Mon Aug 13, 2012 5:55am EDT

(Repeats, only change to text is medal tally in paragraph 2)

By Kate Kelland

LONDON Aug 12 (Reuters) - If the wall of noise from an
Olympic home crowd were a banned substance, Team GB would have
been kicked out of the London Games on day one.

Judging by the host nation's record haul of 65 medals, 29 of
them gold, its performance enhancing properties are quite
something.

But dig deeper into the science behind home advantage and
the research shows it is not as simple as just having tens of
thousands of eager supporters screaming their heads off for
their national Olympians to win.

If Brazil wants to reap the same performance boost from an
enthusiastic home crowd in Rio 2016, its coaches and athletes
and people must first prepare their minds for success.

"People's notions of efficacy are extremely important in
performance," said Stephen Reicher, a professor of psychology at
the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. "So partly it comes
down to your own beliefs."

"If you believe 'I can't make it' and everyone out there is
expecting you to make it, then that has a negative effect. But
if you believe 'I have a chance', then a supportive crowd can be
very positive."

"IT CARRIES YOU"

In an analysis of home advantage published in the Journal of
Sport Science last year, sports scientists found host nation
advantage does show up in the final medal tables.

Home teams win around three times more medals at their
nation's Games than when they are away, the researchers found.

The analysis also found the greatest influence comes not
from knowing the surroundings, eating familiar food, speaking
the same language or not having to travel, but from the roar of
the crowd.

British athletes right across the spectrum, from teenage
newcomer and taekwondo fighter Jade Jones to the multi-gold
medal winning cyclist Chris Hoy, have credited the thunderous
crowds with at least some of their success in London.

Cyclist Victoria Pendleton, who won gold and silver medals
in a velodrome rocking with roars of support, described how it
had a "massive effect" on her performance.

"You're so lifted by the noise. It carries you. It really
does inspire you," she said.

Fellow gold-medal-winning cyclist Laura Trott, agreed: "I
just got going and the crowd just drove me home."

ALL IN THE MIND?

So is it all in the mind? Well yes, and no.

"It's complicated," says Nick Maguire, a senior lecturer in
clinical psychology at Britain's University of Southampton.

"It's psycho-physiological, rather than purely psychological
or purely physiological."

He points out that the mind can be extremely powerful - and
its response can trigger real physiological changes when it
interprets the crowd's vocal support.

While the descriptions of athletes of being "lifted" or
"carried" by the crowd cannot be taken literally, they do
describe real effects.

The physiological changes stem largely from the sheer noise
generated by a large crowd.

This can result in a high degree of arousal or excitement,
Maguire said, which in turn increases the production of
adrenaline, the hormone produced at times of "fight or flight"
that can sometimes enable people to do extraordinary things.

"It's how you think about that noise which is the key
factor. It could have either an excitatory or an
anxiety-provoking effect on you," Maguire said.

SELF BELIEF

Psychologists stress that if Brazil wants to use this same
legal performance enhancer to its maximum in Rio 2016, the
athletes, the team, the crowd and even the nation as a whole
must learn to believe they can win, so that athletes can
interpret the noise as positive.

Reicher points to a body of scientific literature on
so-called "stereotype threat".

This is a phenomenon by which if someone believes other
people think they cannot do something, they are more likely to
perform badly, while if they believe other people think they can
do it, they perform better at exactly the same task.

"A positive British crowd - which believes not that the
Brits always try hard but in the end they fail, but instead
believes they really can do something - effects our notions
too," Stephens said.

He said Team GB's cyclists, who have had brain training from
doctors and sports psychologists for several years, are a good
example. They learned to see things not as dreams, which could
be out of reach, but as attainable targets.

"What they were very clearly trying to do was to structure
things to create a sense of self-belief," said Reicher. "And
since self belief is a critical moderating factor ... it's
hardly surprising the crowd has a really positive effect."

(Editing by Alison Williams)

Leave a Reply