Remember the Importance of the Nonverbal in Athletes: Language of Postures and Gestures
Three football players standing together in a role wearing white and blue shirts. Their shorts are black. In the background, there is a sign will the word stallions and a blue tent.
The body is the instrument of the athlete and as such there are many ways the body communicates. We often think of verbal communication first, but what the body conveys in terms of the nonverbal is also an essential element for athletes to consider. So let’s bring the nonverbal back into the conversation. Research points to the occurrence of information within nonverbal communication can play out about people's internal states, but it is essential to remember that people can also “fake” nonverbal expressions that can deceive others (Furley & Schweizer, 2020). Keep this point in mind as we dive into this blog post.
Language of Postures and Gestures
Our bodies have the ability to create different kinds of movement. Most often people tend to think of ballistic movements, running, etc., but they are also capable of more subtle movements. Think posture and gestures.
Boost Confidence
Athletes who explored expansive postures before competition in the study demonstrated a better performance than athletes who did not (Carney et al., 2010). Try finding your Power Pose! Find a pose or posture that evokes a feeling of confidence when you take that posture. Use it before a game, race, or even in practice.
Strategic Intimidation
Athletes who convey more expansive postures can be seen as more intimidating or formidable (Sell et al., 2009). While this is an interesting piece of information that an athlete can use to come across as someone to be reckoned with, it goes without saying to use this technique within the context of being a good sport.
Emotional Regulation
Your body and mind are connected. Have you ever noticed how when you are feeling sad your body tends to mirror your feelings? Try an experiment, just for fun. Find a posture or position that you connect with feeling sad, happy, anger, etc. Notice what happens to your emotions or feelings when you take that posture. One can apply that idea in sports. In one study, the research found that when athletes utilized their body language/postures/gestures it served in helping to regulate emotions during stressful situations (Veenstra et al., 2017).
Skill Perception
How we carry ourselves in our daily lives or even before a race of game is read by others. Our brains, consciously or unconsciously, are paying attention to other people’s body language. So the body language an athlete gives off in the way that they carry themselves can influence the perception of others which can have an unconscious effect on how other athletes perceive them and thus their performance (Greenlees et al., 2005). So next time you are at a meet, game, or race walk, warmup, etc. like you are the most skilled athlete of all time. Same ideas above about being a good sport though.
One thing to me mindful of is that these are single studies conducted in different sports. That does not mean that they can’t be used across sports with awareness. It just means that the study itself is specific to a particular sport, and science has yet to study every sport so we need to be mindful.
take action today moment:
Experiment with one of the above postures or gestures and see what happens. Try them in practice as well as in performance situations. A good place to start is with the Power Pose because one may find it useful in more than just athletic situations. Let’s say that you have a school or work presentation that you are nervous about. Try the Power Pose before you get on stage or step in front of the audience. It can help!
Learn More About the Importance of the Nonverbal for Athletes:
Thumbs Up! Non-Verbal Communication in International Sports Teams
References
Carney, D. R., Cuddy, A. J., & Yap, A. J. (2010). Power posing: Brief nonverbal displays affect neuroendocrine levels and risk tolerance. Psychological Science, 21(10), 1363-1368. doi: 10.1177/0956797610383437
Furley, P., & Schweizer, G. (2020). Body language in sport. In G. Tenenbaum, R. C. Eklund, & N. Boiangin (Eds.), Handbook of sport psychology: Exercise, methodologies, & special topics (4th ed., pp. 1201–1219). John Wiley & Sons, Inc.. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119568124.ch59
Greenlees, I., Bradley, A., Holder, T., & Thelwell, R. (2005). The impact of opponents’ non-verbal behaviour on the first impressions and outcome expectations of table-tennis players. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 6(1), 103-115. doi:10.1016/j.psychsport.2003.10.002
Sell, A., Tooby, J., & Cosmides, L. (2009). Formidability and the logic of human anger. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106(35), 15073-15078. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.090431210
Veenstra, L., Schneider, I. K., & Koole, S. L. (2017). Embodied mood regulation: The impact of body posture on mood recovery, negative thoughts, and mood-congruent recall. Cognition and Emotion, 31(7), 1361-1376. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2016.1225003