This is a great article by Carl Zimmer on the brains of top athletes.

The qualities that set a great athlete apart from the rest of us lie not just in the muscles and the lungs but also between the ears. That’s because athletes need to make complicated decisions in a flash. One of the most spectacular examples of the athletic brain operating at top speed came in 2001, when the Yankees were in an American League playoff game with the Oakland Athletics. Shortstop Derek Jeter managed to grab an errant throw coming in from right field and then gently tossed the ball to catcher Jorge Posada, who tagged the base runner at home plate. Jeter’s quick decision saved the game—and the series—for the Yankees. To make the play, Jeter had to master both conscious decisions, such as whether to intercept the throw, and unconscious ones. These are the kinds of unthinking thoughts he must make in every second of every game: how much weight to put on a foot, how fast to rotate his wrist as he releases a ball, and so on. (more…)

By Teddy Katz

A top Canadian golf coach says he expects Tiger Woods to dominate in his return to the sport this week.

Woods is coming back after a four month self-imposed layoff following revelations of numerous extra marital affairs that shattered his once squeaky-clean image and saw several sponsors sever ties.

Canadian Sean Foley coaches several PGA players including Sean O’Hair and Hunter Mayan but says Tiger Woods will be the one to watch at the Masters.

“Tiger’s the best golfer ever. It will probably almost be therapeutic for him when he gets out on the golf course which will be scary to everyone else.” (more…)

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/science/eureka/article7011305.ece

Here’s an article from PSYBLOG

Classic social psychology study explores our yearning to bask in the reflected glory of successful others.
Here in England we have a strange tradition called ‘test cricket’. It’s a ridiculous game that goes on for five days, stops for tea and bad light, has impenetrable rules, weird names for fielding positions like ’silly-mid-on’ and ’short-backward-leg’ and which frequently ends, after the aforementioned five days, with neither side victorious.

Every two years England and Australia compete for ‘The Ashes’ (a tiny urn which usually stays in England no matter who wins) in a series of five grudge-matches dating back to 1882. Those who follow cricket, and I count myself amongst these, take this biennial pantomime-in-white very seriously. Sometimes so seriously I can’t bear to watch it. This year England won and I, as a proud Englishman, celebrated the vanquishing of the old enemy. (more…)