"Anecdotally, many athletes claim to perceive their sport-specific targets as bigger on days that they perform better. For example, baseball players in the midst of a hitting spree say the ball looks as big as a grapefruit. Golfers dropping birdie after birdie relate the size of the cup to a bucket. In contrast, on bad days, athletes claim that they are swinging at aspirins or putting to the inside of a doughnut. Recent empirical research suggests these experiences are not just hyperbole, but reflect a psychological reality....
Another interesting finding in the current experiment reveals that the manner in which participants missed kicks related to how they perceived the field goal posts. Participants who missed their kicks wide perceived the uprights as narrower. Similarly, participants who missed their kicks short, perceived the crossbar as higher off the ground. This result demonstrates a level of specificity, namely that perceptual effects occur according to where performance excels and where inadequacies exist."
