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Teams can turn losses into motivation, sports psychologist says
The Dallas Cowboys ended their season with an agonizing wildcard playoff loss to the Seattle Seahawks this past weekend, but a University of North Texas sports psychologist says losing teams such as the Cowboys - who also lost three of their last four regular season games - can turn disappointment into motivation with the right confidence, leadership and goals. "Losses are tough to handle," says Dr. Trent Petrie, UNT professor of psychology and director of the university's Center for Sport Psychology and Performance Excellence. "But the impact that a loss has on a team depends a great deal on the teams level of cohesion or connection prior to it." He describes cohesive teams as ones that "work well together as a unit, are confident in themselves, have mature leaders, have a positive coaching staff who communicates clearly with the team, and have clear goals concerning what they want to achieve." For them, he says, "a disappointing loss may serve as a motivator." Such teams will likely evaluate their performance, make needed changes and perform more effectively in the next competition, Petrie says. "Teams who are not as cohesive may experience dissent, poor subsequent performances and blaming," he says. "It may undermine what little confidence they had as a unit and cause them to play tighter or more conservatively than they would." Petrie cites athletes who lost in competitions only to emerge later with spectacular wins. Decathlon athlete Dan O'Brien missed the 1992 Olympics but came back in 1996 to win the gold. Speed skater Dan Jansen crashed in his first Olympics but came back to win gold. "Ultimately, athletes need to accept what has happened, learn from it, and then let it go and move on to future performances," he says. "Some will throw themselves into training and stay in the public's awareness through the media, whereas others will step back, taking time off from training and the media to gain a perspective. What is important is that the athletes make sense of the event in the context of their lives, their history as a performer and their other relationships, such as family. Again, athletes are much more than their performances, particularly if it is just one bad one."
UNT News Service Phone Number: (940) 565-2108
Contact: Ellen Rossetti (940) 369-7912
Email: erossetti@unt.edu
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