Photographer's Notebook

Tongues.

Often, in every photograph of a player, he or she will be sticking their tongue out.  Why is that?  Here’s what I found out.  (BBC Focus Magazine)

Much of your brain is devoted to your tongue. It is a huge muscle, constantly moving, that has to keep out of the way of your teeth, help you swallow and avoid choking you.  It’s covered with densely packed touch receptors that constantly update the mental map of the shape of your mouth.  And your tongue is connected to the brain’s language centers so it often moves to partly form word shapes as you think.  All this sends a huge stream of data to your brain.  Sticking your tongue out or biting it, reduces its movement and cuts down on this torrent, which leaves more brain-power available to concentrate.

If you are upset that a great photo is ruined by a tongue sticking out, remember all those shots of Michael Jordan with his tongue out.

Hands.

I’ve also noticed soccer players (other than the goalie) often have their hands in an odd position such as thumbs tucked in or fingers twisted.  I’ve had less luck investigating this, but the tongue theory of sensory data flow (above) seems to have some merit. 

Interestingly, I found a number of references to “Mudra” yoga, where areas of the hand are thought to have a reflex reaction in a specific part of the brain.  A Mudra locks and guides energy flow and reflexes to the brain.  Any ideas on what's going on with hands?  Send me a note at photographer@candidsports.net