A deceptive movement designed to mislead an opponent about one's true intentions, commonly used in fencing, boxing, soccer, and basketball. The athlete begins one action to draw a response, then quickly switches to a different action.
From Old French 'feinte,' meaning 'feigned' or 'pretended,' derived from 'feindre' (to feign). The word entered English in the 17th century through military and fencing contexts.
Feints exploit a fundamental limitation of human reaction time—once your brain commits to responding to a perceived threat, it takes precious milliseconds to recognize the deception and adjust. Elite athletes can layer multiple feints, creating a psychological chess match within physical combat!
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