Many Competitive Disappointments are Attributed to Mental Performance
Agony of defeat!
Coaches, athletes and parents often attribute lack of good performance to things related to the mental aspects of performance such as: she was not hungry enough, he did not focus, I was so tense or she doesn’t play like she practices. These are all comments frequently used to describe competitive disappointments, but rarely does a coach understand what this really means. What is really means is that the athlete has not been taught how to deal with these states. The athlete does not have the proper psychological skills and strategies to deal with competitive situations. It is unreasonable to continue contributing shortcomings in performance to psychological factors and not to do something about it.
An athlete seldom realizes that the failure to achieve was related to poor or inadequate preparation of psychological strategies. After a competition the greatest percentage of excuses are generally attributed to the mental and emotional aspects of the game. Yet, almost no time is spent in incorporating these into a training routine. Rather, it is a case of back to the drawing board for a new physical strategy or increased practice time.
It is much easier to evaluate cardiovascular or mechanical differences between athletes than it is to evaluate different athletic mindsets and psychological aspects around performance. Why is it that performance differs from practice to a competition? Improving performance is not accomplished by isolating the body from the mind but by providing cognitive skills and strategies that deal with skilled performance.
There are no marked changes in physical capacity, in skill level or biomechanical efficiency during a competition or between two competitions which immediately follow each other. An athlete does not suddenly lose or gain stamina, talent, skill or speed in a day, week, month or sometimes even years.
What does change is psychological control or mindset. When an athlete loses momentum or gains momentum, the change is created by psychological and emotional factors. He or she can gain or lose psychological control in split seconds.This fluctuation in psychological regulation can be prevented by developing cognitive skills and strategies to manage anxiety, stress, negative thoughts and emotions – in other words, to help the athlete to cope with negative stimuli from the external world. An athlete must learn to take responsibility for recognizing their own arousal mechanism and to perform with it under control. This will establish cognitive behavior which in turn will allow him to perform in a constant manner. It is the athlete’s own psychological mindset that controls performance.
It takes time to develop and optimize the individual behavioral skills necessary to maximize athletic performance. It requires training on a regular, systematic basis to develop and apply the correct skills. Psychological training should incorporate methods and techniques which teach one how to interpret what is happening to you and why. Then in the following order, how to cope with whatever is happening to and around you; how to cope with whatever you encounter; how to make decisions based on relevant cues and how to persist despite what is happening with you and to you. These skills don’t just show up during practicing or during competition. An athlete has to learn them. In short it’s important for athletes to learn the cognitive skills and strategies that are necessary for controlling sport performance and the environment. There are brilliant techniques and strategies in the field of sport psychology that enable us to control and monitor our behavior in sport. By using these techniques we can develop consistent performance and maximize our potential.
It stands to reason that no athlete performs correctly and perfectly all the time. However, you can be taught to analyze your own thoughts and behavior so that you can recognize the cause of performance inconsistencies. An athlete who competes competitively faces stressful situations and anxious moments hundreds of times over the course of a competitive career. You don’t have to be a professional athlete to experience those anxious moments when your hearts starts pounding, your hands are sweaty and you feel weak in the knees. Moments of panic, anxiety and emotional ups and downs can interfere with the physical performance at every level. Athletes, who perform with some degree of consistency despite of their feelings of anxiety, have learned to cope in one way or another.
Relatively few of us, however, have been taught skills and strategies that would enable us to cope and maintain consistency in performance. Athletes have been helped with their physical skills and strategies, but few have attempted to help them with the development of the mental side of sport and sport performances.
In so many areas of life we don’t realize what’s actually getting in the way. We try to ‘fix’ what seems logical. Generally that’s something physical and tangible. Rarely is the physical thing the problem. When you head, heart and body aren’t working together, that’s a problem regardless of the situation.
Happy day!
Dr. Michelle
