In 1988, the Berkeley swim team took part in an unique experiment. Each swimmer was asked to swim one of his (or her) best events as fast as he could. Their coaches then told them that their times were slightly worse than they actually were. After a sufficient rest, the swimmers were then asked to swim again. While some of the athletes performed the same, others did much better, and others--even some of the team's stars--did far worse than they had the first time.

What makes this experiment particularly intriguing is that the researcher who designed it--Martin Seligman* from the University of Pennsylvania--was able to predict which swimmers would perform the same or better during their second trial, and which would perform worse.

The determining factor was the athlete's "explanatory style"--or, put more simply, whether he was an optimist or pessimist.

We all contextualize the events in our lives in a way to give them meaning. We fit them into our belief systems. Let's say you lose an important bout in a competition. You may say to yourself, "I wasn't as focused as I should have been," or you may say, "My opponent got lucky," or, "I always underperform in high-stress situations," or, "The referee stole those touches from me." There are many possibilities, some more optimistic, some more pessimistic. ...

Read the rest on the Sheridan Fencing blog.