Tiger Woods: Stepping Outside Of Your Comfort Zone

Common factors that can contribute to performance anxiety include; fear of performance failure, negative social evaluation and/or physical harm, as well as disruption of a well learned routine (Cox, p.201, 2007). The effects of these factors can be further heightened in correlation with importance of an event, or the level of competition. These fears and feelings of anxiety may affect the athlete’s perception of their abilities and hinder their self-confidence, which can be detrimental to their performance. Patterns of perfectionism can also lead to sport-related anxiety, mainly involving setting exceptionally high performance standards of oneself (Cox, p.202, 2007). Setting high standards can often be beneficial to a performance, but athletes that succumb to unrealistic thoughts, that nothing but a perfect/ideal performance is good enough, are more likely to experience negative emotions and heightened levels of anxiety due to the discrepancy between ideal and current self/situation (Koivula, Hassmén, Fallby, 2001).

There are many different “worlds” on this planet we live on called Earth. Everyone alive lives in some kind of little “world” of their own. There is the celebrity world, the “Disney” World, “Wally-world”, lots of different sports worlds, scholastic worlds, and so many others. There is a particular world that some live in, and that is the World of Dance. When you are a part of that world, you literally live and breathe it. Every aspect of the dance culture is wrapped up in that world. To those looking in from the outside it is beautiful, filled with lights, lovely costumes, mesmerizing music, and graceful movements.

I have been dancing since the age of two. When asked about my career aspirations, there is no hesitation before saying “I want to be a dancer.” Being a dancer means putting all other distractions aside, and focusing on my craft. Currently, I dedicate over forty hours a week to dance, which is a schedule that requires sacrifice. When I am dancing, the rest of the world fades away, slipping out of my mind with relaxed importance. For that moment in time, I am completely free, wholly focused on my goals, letting me know dance is what I’m meant to do. With this realization comes a responsibility to myself and the work I have put into improving my craft thus far, and I know I must seek out the best opportunities for growth and continued learning.

In this documentary of “Mad Hot Ballroom” showed students in 5th grade dancing with their peers. In the beginning of this film, students were really shy and immature dancing with their partners. They were embarrassed and they couldn’t keep that awkward smile off their face, but they still had fun. They were mentioned that the best of dancers will be chosen to compete in a yearly competition, but it was much more than just a competition. Each student probably didn’t notice it but they were maturing throughout each practice. Each day in practice students tried their best, even when they were tired the instructor put on a catchy music and immediately the students were dancing and laughing. Dancing was their escape of reality. It was like a dream for them. They had a really nice opportunity. While they danced you can see every blood, sweat, and tears they put into practice. Throughout the documentary you see them mature every dance move they made. They matured by boys dancing with girls and they got out of that awkward stage. They weren’t afraid or shy to talk to a boy or girl. The ballroom dancing had a much greater purpose than just dancing and having fun. “You are going to learn from this experience” (Argelo). Every student probably didn’t earn a medal but they all won. They came out more than what they had as they walked in. Some students also learned what they wanted to do for the rest of their lives, they want to become an actor,

As I ran up and down the tee line, I saw my father slamming the ground with a golf club. I could not understand why he was always so angry when practicing. I stopped running and watched him closely, studying his body as he elegantly whipped the club through the air. Sweat was dripping from his nose, his shirt soaked completely through. I was six years old and in awe of this man. At home he was just dad, but on the golf course, he was someone else. He was an athlete. I watched him for hours that day, and I would watch him for years to come as he practiced, trying to find the perfect swing.

I believe that golf teaches people life lessons. Golf has life lessons on every tee box, fairway, bunker, green, and hole. Every hole is different golfers must keep their cool in order to perform well consistently. Golfers will have good shots and they have bad shots but like my mom says to me, “Do not let one bad shot affect your entire hole.” Similar to life, golf has ups and downs. In life and golf if the golfer put away what just happened he or she will be back on track to be happy in life or get a good score on the hole. Bobby Jones, a historical golfer said, “Golf is the closest game to the game we call life. You get bad breaks from good shots; you get good breaks from bad shots – but you have to play the ball where it lies.”

How often does an athlete come along that changes everything about a sport? Tiger Woods, as he is known by most, popularized the game of golf and was able to reach many youth and grow the game that may have been on the verge of dying. Woods was able to energize what many had known as a boring game and instill excitement and drive that was never seen on a golf course before. Woods hit the golf ball unbelievable distances and dominated the sport in a way that seemed unfair. Tournaments were being won by margins unlike any in history and many golf course designers were required to add something called “Tiger proofing” in an attempt to make the playing field more balanced and even. Eldrick “Tiger” Woods, at an astonishing 19 years old, burst on to the scene at Professional Golf Association events and would change golf forever though exciting and energy filled play, absurd tournament performances, and a presence among all sports unlike anything ever seen before. Tiger Woods began training to become the master golfer he was at a very young age and would experience high levels of success throughout his youth, once turning professional, marketing companies were able to take advantage of the unique opportunity Woods presented, and during his professional years Woods was statistically unlike anything ever seen before. In this paper I will discuss (1) how the different forms of communication propelled young Tiger Woods into the face of golf at an early age, (2) how marketing and

“A theory of general psychology that states the differences between expert performers and normal adults reflect a life-long period of deliberate effort to improve performance in a specific domain. (Ericsson, K. A).”

Like Muhammad Ali is to boxing and Michael Jordan is to basketball, Tiger Woods is considered by many to be the greatest golfer of all time. Due to his incredible playing on the course, his young age, and the endorsement deals he signed with major advertising companies, Tiger Woods ' fans place him on the "best of the best" list in professional sports. Society places an enormous amount of responsibilities on its champions or favorites. " Sure, he is good on the course, but how well does he support society? What does he stand for", the public says. There is more to Tiger Woods than a good golf swing or how well he can say " Buy these shoes" in front of the advertisers ' cameras. Even

From the top of the golf charts to the nadir of social perspective, Tiger Woods has captivated America on multiple occasions without doubt. For every golf tournament win he has, there seems to be an equal amount of mistresses he had. It seems that as he rose to the pinnacle of stardom, the easier it became for Woods to fall into the traps of sex and drugs that have ensnared so many. From the moral degradation of Woods came the collapse of multiple journalistic standards. Shoddy reporting became common when dealing with the multitude of women alleging involvement with the sports star, and sports writers became tabloid journalists seemingly overnight. Two articles that comprise Donna Barbie’s The Tiger Woods Phenomenon illustrate these aspects of the collapse of Tiger Woods: “Painful Pleasures” by Jonathan French and “Responsible Adults in the Toy Department” by Steve Master. Both articles depict how Tiger Woods strayed from getting pleasure from golf to the easier high of drugs and sex, and how concurrently the journalistic world switched from well researched stories to easier sensationalized tabloids of the once proud golf star.

Golf. A sport that was dull and mundane twenty years ago, evolved when Tiger Woods came to the scene. I started golfing during high school and loved it for the single fact, Tiger Woods played it. Growing up I pictured golf as that once boring sport played by old white men lacking a fan base. Just like myself, many people hated the idea of watching golf, so the sport needed a change. Tour earnings were low, scoring was average, and young people did not want to pick up the sport. Tiger Woods came on the tour in 1997 and astronomically changed the view of golf. The “Tiger Effect” on golf is real and more people have been trying to work harder to get to that “Tiger” bench mark. He single handily brought golf to the limelight and made it interesting to watch this godly like figure tear up the greens while becoming an idol to young golfers around the world.

Tiger Woods has been making headlines ever since he started playing golf professionally. Over the past couple of years though he’s been making headlines not for his golf, but for his personal problems.

Tiger Woods is a trailblazer who has shown bountiful amounts of people that even when times get rough they can still succeed. Tiger Wood's real name is Eldrick Woods and his father was a huge inspiration to him. (Hasday, page 1) He was given trouble because he didn't have the same race as everyone else although, “he was actually of African American, Native American, Asian, and Caucasian background.” (Britannica School, 2014) Tiger Woods has gone through many tragedies and he is such a strong person that he hasn't let any of them stop him from doing what he loves. (Tiger Crash, 2014)

Q. Do golfers enjoy having a digital map of each hole that includes distances to the pins as well as distances to the hazards?

What is dance? Dance is defined as lively movement using one’s body with or without music. Dancing means to feel someone existence to feel vitality, joy, and most importantly to feel alive. Anyone can define dancing as whatever they would like, but how is dance useful to our lives? Whether you are a ballerina from birth or if you are newly introduced to the art of dance, everyone can dance some way, shape, or form. Dance therapy provides psychological and physical benefits. It helps connect body and mind as one giving support to become rooted and balanced. In order to be centered and grounded while moving your body, a dancer must be in tuned with the center of gravity in relation to the earth. Dance therapy is also a great way for people