okansas.blogspot.com Occassional thoughts about orienteering
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Performing under pressure
What portion of orienteers do you think perform better when the pressure is on? In other words, if it is a big race, what portion of orienteers do better than you'd expect?
Some people - lots, I'd think - have relatively bad races when they feel pressure (and they tend to feel pressure in big races). Some do about what you'd expect. There might be some that do their best when it really counts (Swede's talk about orienteers being "bast nar det galler").
I was reading a bit from the latest Hardball Times Baseball Annual when I came across this description of "clutch" hitters:
"It may be that the most outstanding hitters tend to be even more outstanding when the game or the season is on the line."
Keep an emphasis on "may." The issue is far from settled (and baseball has enough data and analysts that figuring out when and if players are "bast nar det galler" may be answerable).
