Flow and performance, continued

By Ed Piper

In my previous posts about the flow of a game and an individual athlete's performance being affected by the system in which she or he plays in, I am thinking primarily of team sports like basketball and football in which opposing players interweave and actively try to take the ball away from the opponent.

These comments would also apply in similar team sports like soccer, lacrosse, and field hockey.

For example, when aging centerfielder Willie Mays' skills began to erode badly in the early 70's, and he had continued to play baseball way beyond his prime, the fact he would drop easy flyballs in centerfield that he formerly would have handled with ease wasn't due to the opponent's varying tactics. That was just bad baseball. He should have retired before playing for the Mets into his 40's, which is ancient for a pro athlete in many sports.

Do my ideas of a system fitting an individual performer work for, say, badminton? I interviewed a star player for the University City team, a boy. He could blast a serve at over 100 mph, he figured. If his performance had dropped off, could it have been due to opponents' changing strategies? Maybe. But also, he might have experienced a drop in self-confidence in his skills. Maybe he lessened the extent of his preparation. Maybe he had other things on his mind that were interfering with his mental outlook, which formerly freed him up and empowered him to play at a high level. All of these, if his performance had dropped off hypothetically.