Sport is full of cliches. Footy is unfortunately no different. We hear so many unquantifiable puffery comments thrown around by clubs and fans alike. Port Adelaide are internally declared and externally hailed as the "fittest" team in the AFL. This is a statement that is quite clearly not quantifiable without all other 17 clubs IP, GPS data and so on. But the media run with it, and it is no secret why Port Adelaide are in fact the best last quarter team in the competition. They believe their own hype, and so do opposing teams. Whether this be intentional or not is irrelevant, things that are stated and spoken about repeatedly have an effect, whether it be positive or negative, on an individuals mindset. Power coach Ken Hinkley has played this card to perfection all season.
One of the other great cliche's we hear in AFL circles is the special "bloods" culture that exists at the Swans. Based on a selfless, blue collar, hard working attitude that separates them from the rest of the competition. On the biggest day of the season, the AFL Grand Final, surely this would be the stage where this culture comes to the fore and is present in abundance for all to see? Having finished top of the ladder in the home and away season and heavy favourites going into the game, all the talk late in the season was about the Swans, Buddy getting one up against his former side and the Premiership heading back north of the Victorian border. They were the fresher team (taking care of their preliminary final against the Kangaroos by half time and having an incredibly minuscule injury list), they had the extra day break leading into the game and they were playing their best footy of the season leading up the big dance.
What occurred last Saturday at the MCG was beyond most peoples wildest dreams. From the first bounce to the final siren, Sydney were out worked, out hustled, "out blooded" by a brutal Hawthorn. The Swans were physically beaten as well as completely outclassed. Everybody in highly competitive environments look for an edge, in any way shape or form. For a lot of teams, internally believing something whole heartedly is a great security blanket and gives teams a much needed psychological edge when the heat is turned up. The downside is, when a teams perceived greatest strength is so brutally exposed as it was on Grand Final day, it has a multiplier effect. Not only do teams holding this perceived edge begin to doubt, opposing teams finally recognise the myth and gain great belief from it. As much as players and clubs constantly state that certain issues "do not affect us", this is untrue. Individuals can try as hard as they like to stop things affecting them, but just merely trying means that the issue is being thought about. It is the way issues are harnessed and acted upon that matters at the end of the day.
Another glaring behavioural ace that Hawthorn took full advantage of on Saturday was the "Par Putt". Moskwitz and Wertheim discuss this concept in depth in their book named Scorecasting. Studies were undertaken on the PGA tour in relation to how players overvalue individual hole scores as opposed to an overall score. To illustrate this point, the study measured success rates of putts from the exact same position. The only difference being, one sample set of putts were for par, and the other were for birdie. The study found that most birdie putts were left well short of the target, illustrating the conservative nature of human behaviour when faced with that given situation. In contrast, the same putts for par were found to be much more aggressive, and if missed, were missed long the majority of the time. It is no surprise that the higher success rate was in favour of the par putts, as the idea of being faced with lost shot (a bogey) has a far greater net effect on a persons psychology than the prospect of a gained shot (a birdie). This makes no logical sense, as an individual hole score is irrelevant. If you miss the birdie putt, you are still going to be adding a minimum of two extra shots to your overall score.
Ever wonder why it is so hard for tennis players to serve out a set, why technically superior soccer teams sit back painfully deep to protect a 1 goal advantage in the last 5 to 10 minutes of a game or why it is so hard to shut out an offence when you hold a lead into the last one or two innings in a baseball game (this was evident yesterday when the A's blew a 7-3 lead heading into the 8th in their wildcard game against the Royals). This is all down to human behaviour. We generally perform far greater at the prospect of a loss, than with the prospect of a win, where illogical conservatism takes over.
The Swans blew their putt for birdie and the Hawks nailed their par putt. Simple as that.
One of the other great cliche's we hear in AFL circles is the special "bloods" culture that exists at the Swans. Based on a selfless, blue collar, hard working attitude that separates them from the rest of the competition. On the biggest day of the season, the AFL Grand Final, surely this would be the stage where this culture comes to the fore and is present in abundance for all to see? Having finished top of the ladder in the home and away season and heavy favourites going into the game, all the talk late in the season was about the Swans, Buddy getting one up against his former side and the Premiership heading back north of the Victorian border. They were the fresher team (taking care of their preliminary final against the Kangaroos by half time and having an incredibly minuscule injury list), they had the extra day break leading into the game and they were playing their best footy of the season leading up the big dance.
What occurred last Saturday at the MCG was beyond most peoples wildest dreams. From the first bounce to the final siren, Sydney were out worked, out hustled, "out blooded" by a brutal Hawthorn. The Swans were physically beaten as well as completely outclassed. Everybody in highly competitive environments look for an edge, in any way shape or form. For a lot of teams, internally believing something whole heartedly is a great security blanket and gives teams a much needed psychological edge when the heat is turned up. The downside is, when a teams perceived greatest strength is so brutally exposed as it was on Grand Final day, it has a multiplier effect. Not only do teams holding this perceived edge begin to doubt, opposing teams finally recognise the myth and gain great belief from it. As much as players and clubs constantly state that certain issues "do not affect us", this is untrue. Individuals can try as hard as they like to stop things affecting them, but just merely trying means that the issue is being thought about. It is the way issues are harnessed and acted upon that matters at the end of the day.
Another glaring behavioural ace that Hawthorn took full advantage of on Saturday was the "Par Putt". Moskwitz and Wertheim discuss this concept in depth in their book named Scorecasting. Studies were undertaken on the PGA tour in relation to how players overvalue individual hole scores as opposed to an overall score. To illustrate this point, the study measured success rates of putts from the exact same position. The only difference being, one sample set of putts were for par, and the other were for birdie. The study found that most birdie putts were left well short of the target, illustrating the conservative nature of human behaviour when faced with that given situation. In contrast, the same putts for par were found to be much more aggressive, and if missed, were missed long the majority of the time. It is no surprise that the higher success rate was in favour of the par putts, as the idea of being faced with lost shot (a bogey) has a far greater net effect on a persons psychology than the prospect of a gained shot (a birdie). This makes no logical sense, as an individual hole score is irrelevant. If you miss the birdie putt, you are still going to be adding a minimum of two extra shots to your overall score.
Ever wonder why it is so hard for tennis players to serve out a set, why technically superior soccer teams sit back painfully deep to protect a 1 goal advantage in the last 5 to 10 minutes of a game or why it is so hard to shut out an offence when you hold a lead into the last one or two innings in a baseball game (this was evident yesterday when the A's blew a 7-3 lead heading into the 8th in their wildcard game against the Royals). This is all down to human behaviour. We generally perform far greater at the prospect of a loss, than with the prospect of a win, where illogical conservatism takes over.
The Swans blew their putt for birdie and the Hawks nailed their par putt. Simple as that.