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There certainly appears to be a strong case for the display of positive body language during sporting performance. However, before applying this across all situations, it is important to consider it may be appropriate to respond differently at times, and of course their will be individual differences in regards to the display of body language and performance.
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Venting
Tennis players smashing rackets, athletes yelling at themselves after an error, and the verbal abuse of referees are all examples of athletes venting their anger. We see this type of behaviour in all levels of sport. It's a fairly common belief amongst athletes that venting your emotions can be beneficial to your performance, even though venting is typically accompanied with negative body language.
Anecdotal accounts from numerous sportspeople suggest venting emotions helps performance. For example, professional tennis player Alexander Zverev (at the time ranked 3rd in the world) broke his racket and in his 4th round loss in the 2018 Australian Open, in the interview after the match, said that he felt and played better after breaking his racket. This may have been the case, but he still lost the next two games to lose the second set, and then also the third set to lose the match.
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Henri Leconte said of fellow professional tennis player John McEnroe (who was well known for his anger tantrums), that if McEnroe got angry you were in trouble, as he would often play better afterwards. Former U.S. international football player Taylor Twellmen said in a Wall Street Journal article that for teammate Clint Dempsey "to play well, he has to have a chip on his shoulder", which meant Dempsey played his best when he possessed an element of anger.​​​​
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These are just a few if the many anecdotal examples from athletes, and research into the subject shows athletes do tend to believe anger facilitates good performance. Ruiz and Hanin (2011) found that 75% of their participants (karate athletes) believed anger had a positive effect on their performance, and Robazza and Bortoli (2007) also found their majority of participants (rugby players) believed anger was facilitative to their performance.
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However, beliefs don't always reflect reality. Even though Ruiz and Hanin (2011) had found that athletes believed anger was helpful, when they looked at how it affected actual performance, they discovered a different outcome. They had participants rate their levels of anger prior to and during their best and worst performances, and the results showed that anger levels were actually higher before and during their worst performances!
However, venting could be considered an appropriate response when trying to change undesirable situations. For example, if you are not happy by the way you are being treated, it may be beneficial to respond with anger, to improve the situation.
The All Blacks played against France in the 1999 Rugby World Cup quarter-final. The French players were allegedly using ‘dirty’ tactics such as eye gouging and head butting to put the All Blacks off their game. The All Black coach at the time, John Hart, did not believe in retaliation, and had coached the All Blacks to suppress their urge to retaliate. They lost the game. Many ex-All Black players believed if the team had retaliated in anger, it would have stopped the dirty tactics from continuing, and perhaps change the outcome of the game in the process.
Although letting go and failing to control your emotions can obviously have some negative consequences. Here are some costly real-life examples of athletes failing to control their anger:
- In the 2019 Saudi International tournament on the European Tour, golfer Sergio Garcia was disqualified for taking his frustration out when he damaged a green with his putter. He was disqualified for serious misconduct.
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In the 2006 football World Cup final, French player Zinedine Zidane headbutted Marco Materazzi in the Sternum, apparently in reaction to something the Italian player had said. Zidane was sent off. The game ended in a draw. Italy won 5-3 on penalties.
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In the second set of the 2018 US Open Women’s Final, Serena Williams was deducted a point for smashing her racket after losing a game. Then a few games later she was docked an entire game for verbal abuse of the umpire. The score at that time was 4-3, with Serena serving to even the set, but with the game deduction, she went on to lose the set 6-4 and the match.
Individual differences
Scientific evidence is gathered and reported on what works for the majority of people. For example, we can say that a display of positive body language has been shown to improve mood, as when this topic was studied that is what was found for the majority of people. However, there will be individual differences within almost any population, e.g. displaying positive body language may have made no difference to their mood or even made it worse.
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John McEnroe's coach has spoken about how he once tried to improve his negative behaviour, but when he tried to curb his anger, he lost in the first round, and then in the second round of his next two tournaments. Therefore, he told McEnroe to forget about it and just be himself. It is possible that McEnroe
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performed better with a more emotional display, but McEnroe himself felt that he would have won more matches if he had been better at controlling his emotions.
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A study by Lane, Beedie, Devonport, and Stanley (2011) found that 85% of athletes believed that strategies intended to reduce their anxiety before a competition would help their performance. Whereas the remaining 15% believed strategies aimed at increasing their anxiety would help. Assuming both groups are correct in their beliefs, it illustrates what works for one person may not work for another.
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The individual zone of optimal functioning (IZOF) was a model developed by Juri Hanin in the 1970's, which is focused around how individuals have different optimal performance zones, e.g. one athlete may perform well with high anger, whereas another person may perform better with low anger.
There is also evidence to suggest that there may also be different optimal level across different sports. For example, sports that require aggression such as karate, rugby, and boxing may benefit from a higher level of anger, as opposed to fine motor skill sports such as golf, dart, and snooker. Thus, we should be cautioned against interventions aimed at reducing anger in all athletes, as this may facilitate performance for some individuals but impair performance of others.
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MODULE BODY LANGUAGE
Cautionary Notes
References
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