Sports psychology comments from the Orlando Sentinel – Ethan J. Skolnick – September 5, 2009 – Towards the end of this article, the coach of the Miami Dolphins, Tony Sparano, is quoted as saying, “So nothing is owed to you. Nothing is guaranted.” Skolnick continues, “And even the guy who made football’s most famous guarantee can attest.” He then quoted Joe Namath: “And I can tell you, our brains throw a lot at us, man,” Namath said. “You know, they’re tricky. We like to think we’re very strong, too, but we can be brought to our knees very easily with some strange things, man … Total tunnel vision is very difficult to achieve. Tunnel vision, my goodness! But focus is so critical and distractions play such a role. We think we’re ready when we’re really not. It’s hard to convince yourself, but sometimes you really get fooled.”As Namath put it, “We talk about how frail the brain is. You lose some of that urgency. You get spoiled, maybe.”

Focus is indeed so important in all sports and sports psychology is the profession best suited to train this critical mental skill. Hope you enjoyed the commentary by another NFL legend, Joe Namath, on sports psychology.