Beating the Defence 21st May 2014

Ray Lewis, Linebacker, Baltimore Ravens

Session 8

Pressure, there is an old saying that pressure makes diamonds, although this maybe partly true its also makes coal, and these are two very different things. So it is important that all pressure is handled correctly and that a person is practiced in handling pressure. Much like the SAID principle talked about in session 7 a quality QB has processes and systems in place to cope with the pressure involved with their position, also they will practice every possible scenario to ensure that if that situation ever arose in a game they would be prepared for it.

A study on NCAA players and their coping mechanisms for stress found 5 main factors that would affect their stress levels,

1. Meeting their own expectations
2. Grades
3. Pressure to win
4. Life balance
5. Pre match nerves

 The results found that athletes had a number of ways that would help them manage the stress, the similar tools used are

1. Spending time with family members
2. Take a break
3. Exercise
4. Asking friends or family for advice

This suggests that they use both problem focused and emotion focused coping skills (Steiner, 2010). I believe that the all of the stress management processes had one thing in common and that is that they are distractions allowing the player to take time away from the game and that is all an important part of life balance.

Factors affecting a Successful American Football team on the field

General                                                                 

1. Total yards                                                  
2. Amount of possession        
3. Yards per play                       
4. Team effectiveness defense vs offense       
5. Home field advantage                               
6. Passing efficiency
7. Rushing efficiency
8. Turnovers and turnover differentials 
9. Sacks



Peyton Manning

10. Red zone stops

These factors are only a handful of different scenarios that affects how the QB runs his play and the chances of success (Osorio, 2011)

 

 This Session

Throwing under pressure both mental and physical pressure, this is to replicate the SAID principle. Every missed target I had to run a lap of the tree this put me under mental pressure as there was a consequence for my actions.

10 knee and had drills (no pressure)

10 throws to stationary target 15 metres (under pressure)  9/10

10 throws to a moving target post pattern (under pressure)    8/10

This was quite a challenge for me as my throw was not as accurate as I thought, there were a number of incomplete passes this meant that I had to run to the tree 8 times making me rather tired by the time I was at the end of my throws. I had 12 complete passes in the challenge and 8 incomplete, 3 were incomplete with the stationary and 4 incomplete with the moving target. This pressure from the Linebacker was a good learning curve as it taught me to speed up my action and helped me understand the importance of hitting my targets.

Everytime I missed the target I had to run around the tree and back

References

Steiner D. (2010). Coping with the demands of being a collegiate student- athlete: an exploratory investigation coupled with a set of procedural guidelines for athletic department personnel and related services providers. A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the graduate school of applied and professional psychology.

Osorio, G. (2011). A Brief Review of American Football Rules and Statistical Variables. Sportscience , (15), 20-25.