Defeat is impossible
2006/05/14 Rementeria Argote, Nagore - Elhuyar Zientziaren Komunikazioa
Athletes not only have to take care of the body, the head is also very important. They say that the best distinguishes elite athletes is the head. And surely that saying is not far from the truth.
In this sense, the need for a sports psychology is increasingly evident for athletes to give everything they have and believe they can win even in the harshest situations. More than one played football. Many research can also be done here, but this time we must mention research with swimmers. According to a study carried out with some leading swimmers, in case of failure in the competition, they find it hard to recover and reach already manufactured brands.
It is not easy to see your own defeat
Research has been conducted in Canada, using swimmers not classified for the summer Olympic games. Apparently, the psychologist who works with swimmers who have suffered a great defeat was worried. And it is not for less; in general, working with athletes who have suffered this type of defeats, he realized that he managed to feel good again, but that hardly they came to compete again top.
In view of this, he decided to see what was happening in the brain of these athletes and began working with a team expert in neurosciences. Fourteen swimmers (ten women and four men) were selected who were about to qualify for the Olympic Games and saw how they reacted to failure.
At the same time, researchers discovered what was happening in the brain in magnetic resonance imaging.
Researchers were not much surprised to see swimmers that the images of their failure were stronger than those of others. The discovery came in another way, as brain images showed that while they saw the failure, certain spaces related to emotions (the hippocampus, among others) were activated, the same ones that are activated in depression. And those swimmers never had depression.
The research did not end there and other aspects related to sports activity were analyzed. Along this path, athletes who have failed seek to turn the situation around. And the truth is that there is a lot to do. In any case, the work is worth it if an improvement is achieved. Elite athletes are increasingly under pressure to improve brands, win matches and be champions. And for this it is essential to work both motivation and teamwork (in the necessary sports), especially when the performance of an athlete decreases or suffers some injury.
They say that sport itself brings well-being to anyone. In addition to health-related benefits, it improves mood, drives stress away, increases self-confidence... and helps overcome depression. But what elite athletes do is something else, it is clear.
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