My husband and I recently went to a Red Sox game. We are not the biggest of sports fans, but we like to get to a game or two each year. It was a glorious summer day – sunny sky with a temp in the mid-70’s. A perfect Sunday afternoon for a baseball game. We all know that baseball can be slow at times with brief moments of intense action. I put my crowd dynamics lens on and observed.

First there’s the “wave”. How do they start? And what does it take for them to be successful? The first one started in a section near right field, had to go through the grandstand area, and over to the “green monster”. If you don’t know Fenway Park, the green monster is a special section that probably has no more than 200 people in it. A prime spot for the wave to lose momentum. But it didn’t. It went all the way around the ballpark at least twice.

When another section started a second wave later in the game, it fizzled quickly. But my husband made sure he did it when the wave rather pathetically got to our section. He didn’t want to be the one to kill it. The takeaway – everyone must participate to make it successful.

Then there was the “dance off” between innings. The cameras focus on different fans around the park and when people see themselves on the big screen they do their best dance moves. You never know what you’ll see. Inhibitions are off for many people, especially kids. It was a young middle school age boy who won – he had the moves and the fans loved it. The takeaway – be less inhibited and you may go further.

And then there is the rhythmic clapping that starts and grows in intensity. It’s either to encourage the home team at a critical moment or to make the other team nervous. Think about the basketball games when the fans behind the basket wave all kinds of colorful things to distract the player making free throws. In baseball, when the count is three balls and two strikes, that clapping can lead to strike three. When done for the home team, it can lead to a homerun. Or so we think as fans, so we do it.

The second game for us this season was a night game. It was a real pitchers’ duel. Not a lot of action. Until the bottom of the 9th. The Red Sox were down by one, the bases were loaded, and there were two outs.  Everyone was on their feet.  The noise level was high. All eyes were on the pitcher and hitter. The count was 3 and 2. We were hopeful. But he struck out – game over.

Have you ever thought of trying to do your work with that kind of crowd pressure and noise? All eyes are on you and only you. Professional athletes are trained to ignore it and perform at their best. The takeaway – to deliver under pressure you need to draw on your inner strength, your calming self-talk, your best skills, and your years of experience. You just might hit your home run!

How do you handle your “bottom of the 9th” situations?