FanPost

Overuse of the Tomahawk Chop



I've been a Braves fan for a long time, through some great times and some tough times. However, I feel like there has been a change in recent years with regard to how often and when the 'Chop' is used.

In the past, the Chop would be used at a crucial moment of a game, when momentum seemed to be building in order to get the fans even more involved in the action. I think that that use of the Chop is also what fed the team in some occasions - like the Chop itself was a rallying call for the team to succeed and do something great.

I think there is something to patterns when it comes to humans. If you provide a pattern, some kind of repeatable and expected event to trigger an outcome, you can increase the odds of your outcome being achieved. Think of Pavlov's dog - the guy rings a bell and the dog instinctively expects to be fed. If the Chop were used properly, the team could revert into some kind of instinctive 'victory mode' whereby the players play to the best of their abilities.

Instead, I see the opposite - the Chop is used all the time in all kinds of situations. More often than not (overwhelmingly, I would guess), the Braves fail when the Chop is played right before. Just tonight, moments ago, we had a runner on 1st with nobody out in the 8th. Freddie Freeman grounds into a double play. Then, inexplicably, the Chop is played - why? Where is the momentum? I see the usage of the Chop like this in games all year long - it just dulls the effect and the energy that the Chop (and moments for the Chop) could actually bring to the team and the fans.

I know, I know - this is probably a nothing post, but this team is struggling and I'm trying to find anything to turn us around! Go Braves!!

This FanPost does not express the views or opinions of Battery Power.