Is someone worried about not being able to call up their performance properly at the next test? Then maybe a small ball could help. Because vigorous kneading of an object by hand apparently prevents a drop in performance under pressure, a research team from the Technical University of Munich has found out – and thus produced a new learning tip against test anxiety.
“Throttling under pressure”: When it comes down to it, the performance drops
For many years, the working group of sports psychologist Jürgen Beckmann has been investigating why athletes suddenly fail in a pressure situation – such as a competition – and remain far below their potential. The experts call this phenomenon “choking under pressure”: when it really matters, performance drops.
Most learners at schools and universities are familiar with such situations from exams: Yesterday you knew the vocabulary or formula, but now you can’t think of it. Something in the brain is shutting down – and that’s exactly what Jürgen Beckmann’s team was looking for.
“Dynamic Press” works – but why?
The scientists had already noticed before that the “dynamic pressing of a ball with the left hand” in sports leads to better competitive performance. They had studied various sports: badminton, football, beach volleyball, golf, taekwondo, gymnastics … just not the one where you always have a ball in your hand or pants anyway, namely tennis.
They are now catching up, and all the more precisely: During the examinations, the athletes not only got a ball in their hands (or not for control purposes), but also a cap with electrodes on their heads. The small metal plates in the cap allow the weak electrical currents inside a brain to be measured from the outside. The result is what is known as an electroencephalogram (EEG): This allows researchers to identify which areas of the brain are particularly active at a certain point in time and which are less so.
The result of the tests: Those tennis players who were allowed to knead a second tennis ball with their left hand before serving served much more precisely than their colleagues who did not have a ball in their hands. And at the same time, the brains of the ball-kneading athletes looked much more relaxed in the EEG than in the experiments with an empty left hand. (Here is the link to the original publication)
Is the learning tip also useful for left-handers in the biology exam?
Sports psychologist Jürgen Beckmann emphasizes that his team’s studies only say exactly that: Right-handed tennis players serve better and have more relaxed brains if they knead a second tennis ball with their left hand before serving. Strictly speaking, no one knows what applies to left-handers with a ball in their right hand and whether a baseball also helps in the bio exam.
But you can try it.
What is your experience with this learning tip? Tell us in the comments or by email to [email protected]
“Teaching tip: kneading against test anxiety” – Photo: pressfoto/freepik
