On the evening before the championship game, in preparation for the colossal rematch, both coaches Nick Saban (Alabama) and Les Miles (LSU) chose to take their teams to the movies. The difference was in the movies they chose. Saban decided to let his team view the movie “Red Tails” (The inspiring true story of the Tuskegee airmen who courageously fought to not only help win the war against Nazi Germany but the war against racism in the country they were fighting for as well.)

On the other hand, Miles decided to let his team view the movie “Contraband” (A fictitious story about an infamous retired drug/money smuggler being forced back into the business in order to bail out his brother who is also in the smuggling business.)

Less than 24 hours away from kickoff, one team was in a theater experiencing the true story of real American heroes who sacrificed everything they had for a larger cause while the other was watching a fictional story of counterfitting and drug running.

Which team do you believe was more mentally prepared to play in a championship game? Coach Saban even mentioned how he used a saying from the movie to help motivate his players for the next day. The pilots in the movie, Red Tails stated: “From the last plane, the bullet, the last man, the last minute we fight and we always stay with the mission.” Even if LSU had won the game, I doubt Les Miles would have been quoting a mantra from Contraband.

The images and environment that athletes are in prior to competition can have a direct influence on their level of play. Studies have shown that factors such as motivation, anxiety, and self-efficacy, can all be manipulated by what athlete’s see/hear/and experience before competition. Pick your movie wisely…

About the Author: Jake Cooper is an associate of DRB, helping athletes, coaches, and teams build mental toughness. He is currently a graduate student in Sport Psychology at Ball State University. He was a four-year letter-winner and captain of Taylor University football team. He can be reached at jake.cooper@drrobbell.com or follow him on twitter: @coop_a_loop55

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So, how does this happen?

The level of play falls at such an extreme rate due to the presence of one thought, “ I just lost the master’s”  {speculative of course}, which causes the anxiety to spike. When an athlete makes a mistake under extreme pressure  {starting with Triple Bogey on 10}, the anxiety becomes so high, so fast, that it takes awhile for one to recover, but in the meantime, the errors often keep piling up, along with the negative funnel of thoughts and anxiety.

Jack Nicklaus is often correct, “People don’t realize how often one has to finish 2^nd in order to finish 1^st.”

Dr. Rob Bell is the author of Mental Toughness Training for Golf and Assistant professor of Sport Psychology at Ball State University. robbell@bsu.edu.

photo courtesy of: Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Image

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