Noise makersHow deaf athletes deal with noise as part of game strategies
By Carmen Renee Thompson
ESPN The Magazine
Tune it all out. That's the mental approach most athletes try to take in pressure situations. Screaming fans, trash-talking opponents, the drumbeat of feet on bleachers ... it's all just white noise. Or so they say. But what if you can't hear any of it? What if you can't hear a coach's instructions or your teammates calling for the ball? What if you live in a world with little or no sound? Nearly three out of every 1,000 American children are born deaf. And that got us thinking: What's it like for athletes who are deaf to compete at an elite level? We caught up with five of them, who shared their strategies for thriving in silence.
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