Stu Singer '98M, performance coach and sports psychology consultant, is the director of WellPerformance. On Tuesday, Feb. 3, he addressed SU coaches and athletic staff during a morning session before presenting to Raider student-athletes Tuesday evening.

Riddled with back pain and unable to bend down to tie his own shoes, Stu Singer '98M did not realize the end of his basketball career was the beginning of his life's work.

Singer spoke to Shippensburg University athletes Feb. 3 about the fear of failure, where his ideas on the mental side of sports began in high school basketball.

An SU alum, Singer teaches athletes how to improve their performances through mental training.

"What does it mean to be focused?" Singer asked the assortment of athletes gathered in the Ceddia Union Building, all whispering and laughing with turned heads to those to the right and left of them.

Singer asked for cell phones to be put away and for everybody to be in the moment for 30 to 40 minutes while he spoke. Jackets rustled and eventually the room was still, all heads turned toward Singer, who began his lecture.

When athletes face fear before a game, they worry about mistakes that could lose the game, result in failure, or make them look stupid, Singer said. Fear is a prediction of something that may happen, but since no one can predict the future, it is not worth worrying about.

"It's a story that you tell," Singer said of fear. "It's not real."

That free-throw shot is the same in the game as it is during practice, Singer said. The only thing that changes is the athlete's mental approach, because now there is the fear of failure.

It is not a catastrophe if that basketball hits the rim and bounces off, Singer said. "Part of performance is to fail."

This is how athletes improve. They have to push boundaries, and when they are on the edge sometimes they fall off, Singer said. They fall off and come back stronger than before because that failure taught them to work even harder for a taste of success.

A group of students huddled around Singer after his lecture, trading comments and questions.

Senior Pete Gelston reflected on his own experience, saying that his failure as a freshman was not qualifying for the steeplechase at the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Outdoor Track & Field Championships. That failure helped him to win the PSAC steeplechase championship the following outdoor season.

"Without the failure I probably never would have won," Gelston said.

The only valid reason for someone to fear failure, Singer said, is if he or she is unprepared. Put in the training, Singer said, and there is nothing to fear.

"When you train, you give yourself the best statistical advantage," Gelston said.

Sometimes it is scarier to be on the sidelines watching the game than it is to be playing. Freshman field hockey goaltender Catherine Matuszko was injured during her first season and said that she is more fearful sitting on the bench than she is between the goal posts.

When she is in the game, Catherine says, she has some control over what happens. As a bystander, there is nothing she can do to help her teammates.

It all comes back to the fear of the outcomes. Singer said during his lecture that athletes should not play to not lose, but to play to win.

"The only time failure is real is if you quit," Singer said.

Natalie Eastwood is a communication/journalism major, concentrating in print media, who competes in cross country and track & field at Shippensburg University. She is also a news writer for The Slate, SU's student newspaper.