Off Guard: Fear

Hosted by two-time Olympian Perdita Felicien, Off Guard explores one unconventional theme each week, considered three different ways.

Check out the this week's show:

• Episode 7: Fear

Athlete's frenemy

Fear is every athlete's Frenemy. And it is the heart of a fine old gag: What did Sigmund Freud put between Fear and Sex? — funf! (We'll explain later *)  

This week, CBC Sports' podcast Off Guard has the nerve to explore fear in sport.

First, Perdita Felicien, with interviewing help from Scott Regehr, hears from those most intimate with fear in competition — the Canadian alpine ski team, including Manny Osborne-Paradis and Erik Guay, who just this week finished 4th and 6th in world cup downhill. Remember, these are women and men who race at 140+ kmh down frozen cliffs, wearing lycra bodysuits. Dang straight they know about fear. It's what keeps them alive! But the relationship is a complex one, to say the least. A little fear is healthy — it tones the athlete mentally, drives the performance, and keeps the training honest … A little jolt too much fear though? It can be disaster. Hesitation has no place in high-performance sport.

So what is the correct balance, and how do we form healthy relationships with the many terrors of athletic performance on the biggest stages? We get some deep thinking on this from Dr. Cal Botterill, who is one of the world leaders in the area of fear management for athletes (and surgeons, and other high-stakes professions). We also hear from rowing legend Silken Laumann on the long road to learning how to cope with the pressures of international competition. Lest we forget, Perdita herself has deep knowledge of wrestling with fear at the highest level of athletic performance.

Jamie Strachan takes the question of fear to the world of parent and child athletes … where there is a substantial fork in the road. Kids, no surprise, have very little fear in sports. Burglars, spiders, darkness, sure, but on the rink or field or track or pool? It's all good. Their mums and dads though? Riddled with anxiety about their kids' sporting lives. Are they doing enough to put their child in position to win? It gets a little crazy once parents start acting on these compulsions … a $5000 skate sharpening machine in the basement might be a sign you are taking your hockey parenthood too seriously.

Finally, speaking of rink side rigors, Pete Mahovlich knows both sides of that story. He had to face off against Boston and Philadelphia in the 1960s and 70s. Those games made Canada Packers look like Laura Secord outlets, but then, as he points out,  Pete had a teammate by name of John Ferguson. Bob Cole says even the Linesmen were nervous about getting on the wrong side of that guy.  Pete and Bob also take a moment to marvel at Guy Lafleur. Never had a fighting major in his career, but played his best games when he was scared of catching a thumping from the Broad Street Bullies. Helped him concentrate, he said. 

*It's a great one liner if you took German in high school … 4-5-6  is 'vier- funf- secchs' in Deutsch. Hiyo! Cheque please.

To listen to the podcast, go to cbc.ca/offguard

To subscribe and tell us what you think, email us at offguard@cbc.ca