147 – The chemistry of hot and cold states
Filed in Anecdotes, Business storytelling, Corporate Storytelling, Podcast
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Context and emotional state determine success, so when stakes are high, consider simulating the scenario as best you can. Listen to hear how a premier league soccer coach did just that.
Welcome back to another episode of Anecdotally Speaking! This week, we also welcome back Rob Grundel, who cohosts with Mark once again!
Mark shares a story of unknown origins, which may mean it’s apocryphal. It follows the attempts of a soccer coach to replicate a hot state scenario and ensure his team’s future success.
For your storybank
Tags: context, emotion, practice, success
This story starts at 01:20
If there’s a tie at the end of a high stakes soccer match, the players get extra time. If the teams then remain tied, a penalty shootout occurs. Each team gets five penalty shots, and the team that makes the most shots wins.
During a penalty shootout at the end of a FA Cup (The Football Association Challenge Cup) game, a premier league soccer coach observed that it seemed much harder to get a penalty goal during a game than in training.
He noted that when players practised penalty goals in training, it was cold, there was no one in the stands, and they rarely missed. They practised in a cold state, with nothing at stake and no pressure.
At the end of a FA Cup game, they had run around for 90 minutes, then 10 minutes. They were hot and exhausted, there were tens of thousands of people in the stadium, and they often missed. They were in a hot state with high stakes.
So, at the end of home games, he started asking the crowd to stay behind and encouraged them to act like it was the FA Cup final. He would then have his team practice penalty goals.
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