subject: A serious study of applied sports psychology [print this page] I wrote a book that was published earlier this year, called "The Psychology of Losing - Tricks, Traps, and Sharks" (go to www.gamesmanship99.com). It detailed dozens of ways that your game and mindset could be affected by various ploys - with the expected (or hoped for) result that you would not be able to play at your best capability. Each of these distractions was detailed with examples.
If this book was only a description of the various means of opponent distraction, that alone would be an education and worth the price of the book. However, what makes this book different from many of those that only teach distraction and confusion, is the many ways to stop and prevent those attempts from being effective. You might say that this book was a description of defensive gamesmanship. (I did think about naming the book with this title.)
This approach to handling gamesmanship has never been documented. Pretty much all of the material that is out there on mind games in sports has to do with what you can do to others. And, in the few cases where the consequences are discussed, bemoaning the fact that the sport allows such instigators to exist - plus the ever-present exhortation to do the "right" thing and don't pull the dirty tricks that have been labeled gamesmanship.
What was missing (now provided in the book), was a way out - a means whereby the attempt could be immediately recognized and counter-actions taken on the field of competition to shut down the poor fool who was stupid enough to try something silly like this.
Writing that book required a lot of research into trickery and misleading tactics. I talked with dozens of people who have been competing in various sports 40 and 50 years of their life. But the structure of the book was based on my personal experiences throughout a career spanning five decades of serious intentions to win.
The response of individuals who purchased the book (printed and ebook versions) told me that this was an area of study that has been poorly researched, described, and studied. This is what lead to the decision to create a location on the web where the curious, the serious, and the dedicated gamesmen (and women) can learn about defensive gamesmanship.
Here's a quote from the Welcome page of the book:
In 1947, Stephen Potter published a treatise named, "The Theory and Practice of Gamesmanship - or How to win without really cheating." This was a humorous sports book that identified some of the more light-hearted ways to win (while helping others lose) through the use of psychological tricks, traps, and sharks. The techniques that he pleasantly documented were only the mildest varieties of the many tactics of winning by changing the way an opponent thinks.
This forum will become the research center of gamesmanship, ranging from attempts tinged with illegality, to the very subtle feints and probes that reveal weaknesses and strengths.
