They chant and scream during the game as if it would have some magical impact on the results, in their minds it does.
I only did team sports in high school, but even in that case, there was a big difference between “everyone in the school is cheering for you” and “nobody gives a shit.” If everybody’s cheering for you, you’re more likely to exhaust yourself and do all you can to win. If nobody cares, you’re more prone to think: I’ll just take it easy, I’m only here for exercise… Obviously the dynamics are different for the pros, but I think it’s something analogous.
The dynamics aren’t all that different for pros, it’s more a case of pros trying to minimize that impact because you can’t let your performance rely on vibes.
I only did team sports in high school, but even in that case, there was a big difference between “everyone in the school is cheering for you” and “nobody gives a shit.” If everybody’s cheering for you, you’re more likely to exhaust yourself and do all you can to win. If nobody cares, you’re more prone to think: I’ll just take it easy, I’m only here for exercise… Obviously the dynamics are different for the pros, but I think it’s something analogous.
The dynamics aren’t all that different for pros, it’s more a case of pros trying to minimize that impact because you can’t let your performance rely on vibes.