Quote:
Originally Posted by Childress
Haha. You gotta love it. The majority has- grudgingly- accepted the reality of HFA but certain among us still strive to discover that elusive, rational and, preferably numeric, causality. Even if that doesn't exist.
Baseball naturally attracts stats freak, numbers oriented types. Computers, too. So you get a double whammy. What you have here is the discomfort of the binary minded in the face of the supra-rational. It is because it it is..
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But the "HFA" phenomenon is not just restricted to sports only. I have already pointed out that when it comes to education, students generally perform much better on tests in the very classrooms they learn in on a daily basis than anywhere else. Therefore, the best theory is "it has to do with the surroundings." If you are in a place that is familiar, it is much easier visualize right before your eyes certain actions and/or words spoken in the past that has the effect of triggering an associative pathway to the correct answer.
Same thing in sports. If you play half of your games in the same field in which you practice, it is probably much easier to locate the ball, or to focus on a certain area so you are not as easily distracted. Case in point: I forget which baseball stadium it was, but there was a stadium (Marlins?) in which they had to close the outfield seating areas to spectators, because they would wear white, which was a huge distraction to the players. Because the Florida players were used to this after playing so many games at home, they were able to learn to ignore it. Therefore, they were much better hitters than anyone else.
Another example: Let's say the stadium lights are pointing at a certain angle that happens to frequently serve as more of a distraction to the Right Fielder than any other position. The right fielder of the home team is used to this, and knows exactly where the worst blind spots are in the stadium lighting. Therefore, it is easier for them to avoid looking in that exact spot than it would be for the visitor.
Same could be said for all other sports and/or professions.
Of course, there are many other mitigating factors which contributes to better performance for the home team in the world of sports. In football, the home crowd will purposely get as loud as possible when the opponent has the ball and is in the huddle, or ready to snap the ball. Eagles and PSU fans are NOTORIOUS for this nasty bit of tactic. Makes it much harder for the visiting team to clearly hear the play-calling coming from the coach or QB.
But I think the familiarity of surroundings is the biggest factor.