Psych music can pump you up, push you down
Right brain triggers help performance
Flipping through your music collection, what would you plunk in to get motivated for the big race or game or any other activity? Something good and loud?
AC/DC and Ozzy Osbourne continue to be blasted through overhead public address systems at professional sporting events, supposedly to get the crowd into the groove. But is that kind of music the best to motivate you?
Not necessarily, according to April Clay, a chartered psychologist who, among other things, deals frequently with sport psychology matters. She says motivational music works a number of ways.
"It can assist athletes in psyching-up or increasing their intensity level before a performance. Depending on the music, it can also assist in centering-down or relaxing a tense athlete," Clay explains. "Basically, it can be part of a pre-performance routine that helps the individual get into the right state for competing."
She then throws some left-brain, right-brain thinking at the subject, with the left being the part that's more detail oriented and best suited for analyzing.
"According to the right-brain left-brain proponents, because (music) is a sensory cue, it can also assist in the athlete triggering right-brain function, which is associated with performance," she addes.
Clay says music does not work for everyone, and in some cases it can have an "unmotivating" effect.
"It may contribute to someone becoming either too intense or too relaxed if it is not used right," says the author of Training From the Neck up: A Practical Guide to Sport Psychology for Riders. "However, this has more to do with the athlete knowing themselves to the point they choose appropriate cues for their performance. So it's not really the music's fault."
(Darn, there goes that excuse for when things don't go well.)
During her competitive prime, Clay used to listen to I'm Alright by Kenny Loggins. As this song was associated with the movie Caddyshack and a certain kind of cockiness, she says it helped her stay loose before competing.
"I would encourage (people) to experiment with different types and observe how each affects their mood (and) overall state," she said. "It can take some trial and error to find the right thing.
"I let athletes choose whatever does it for them. Recently, in a workshop for some horse riders, a group of teenaged girls said they liked the 'Zoom Zoom Zoom' jingle from the Mazda commercials."
Huh? Don't know the commercial, but can't imagine it would fall into the category we who are older than teenagers would define as psyche-music.
Then again, females do tend to have a slightly different take on motivational music. A random survey conducted for this column asked people who have, or are, participating in a variety of athletic endeavours to name a few of their favourite motivational tunes. One unique characteristic emerged – women were the only ones to include female singers or bands, or female-lead bands in their responses. You know, groups like Veruca Salt, Heart and Hole. Not one male surveyed mentioned a female singer or band, or anything about rap and dance music either, for that matter.
Clay was questioned about why this was the case, but she was at a loss to come up with a reason. And hey, who wouldn't be leery about such an unscientific approach to things?.
Maybe the answer to that question is simple. Despite conventional wisdom, when it's time to get psyched up, perhaps guys are capable of turning their minds away from food, beer and sex?
LIGHTEN UP
Anyone who climbs out of bed before 7 a.m. these days has noticed how dark the early mornings have become. If you use the bike trails to skate, ride or run to work, don't forget to put on a blinking light or two. Light-coloured clothing just doesn't cut it. |
