What types of things can hinder a player’s performance during a match?
Dr. Loehr: People can perform very badly for any number of reasons. One of them could be simply physical, but you don’t really recognize it. We know that if a person hasn’t eaten sufficiently, and glucose levels drop below a certain point, the brain just doesn’t fire as well. When people get really tired because they don’t have the fitness, their whole system starts to break down. If a person starts to overheat, has a lack of sleep, or has been traveling, that can affect them too. OTB: Can nerves actually slow a player down? Dr. Loehr: When you’re nervous, fearful, or anxious, that chemistry is not designed to get you to move at lightning speed, and to bring out all those remarkable motor-neuro connections that are critical to success. OTB: Can you talk about how stress can impact a player physically? Dr. Loehr: What happens when you perceive something as threatening, a very powerful hormone called cortisol begins to rise. Your muscles become tense. They [players] get a very inflexible
