27/09/2024

Sport Psychology

The Roman poet Juvenal  - around the end of the first century common era (what used to be called ‘AD’) - coined the famous phrase  'Orandum est ut sit mens sana in corpore sano' : “You should pray for a healthy mind in a healthy body”.  From the early 17th century in the UK it was frequently given as the ideal of education.

For me, ‘the mind’ includes three quarters of our PIES, the Physical, Intellectual, Emotional and Spiritual dimensions of our life. The Body is - obviously - the physical body.

The PIES are mutually interactive, influential. Sport psychology – at its best – works on pulling all four into their optimal, positive and thus creative whole, by improving their focus, increasing confidence, enhancing motivation, ambition, hope, positive thinking, mental resilience and concentration - and enhancing stress management.

Rory McIlroy’s despair in losing the Amgen Irish Open September 2024 in excruciating scenes was reminiscent of Rory of his US open defeat in June this year. He needs the help of a top sports psychologist. I reckon there is some sub-conscious, self-destructive button in his ‘mens’ which is not ‘sana’.

A wise Football Club Manager realised that their psychologists would produce better results working in conjunction with a religious chaplain, So, in 1992, Alex Ferguson of Man United who admitted that had there been a chaplain on board, George Best’s alcohol problems might have been prevented from increasing, appointed Rev John Boyes as his club’s chaplain. He worked there until his retirement in 2018. 

During his tenure, Manchester United won the Premier League eight times and the FA Cup and Champions League twice. Nice track record for John who, as Westminster Diocese Chaplain for Sport I get to know quite well.

There are a number of reasons why athletes get the yips - i.e. choke. These include:

1.    Conscious awareness. Recent research was conducted in which novice and expert golfers had to perform a series of putts either taking their time or as quickly as they could. When expert golfers were told to take their time, performance was lower than when they had to take it as quickly as possible (with the reverse being true for novices). When performance is rushed, athletes don’t overthink their play and instead operate on autopilot – including muscle-memory - outside of their conscious awareness

2.     Fear of negative evaluation. If athletes excessively worry about how they are being perceived, it can lead to choking. In one particular study, experienced basketball players completed questionnaires measuring their fear of negative evaluation before they completed a series of shots under low and high-pressure. In the low-pressure phase, shots were taken with only the researcher present, whereas in the high-pressure phase monetary rewards were on offer. It was found that those who had high fear of being seen in a poor light by others performed significantly worse in the high-pressure phase in comparison to the low-pressure phase.

3.    Psychologists have long speculated that there is a sweet spot in terms of performance and motivation. Too little and athletes don’t care enough to perform well. Too much and they find it hard to execute their skills.

Research in which participants were given varying levels of payment for completing a task showed that, beyond a certain payment, motivation was so high that performance declined. Therefore, extreme motivation to win could actually be causing athletes to choke.

       4. Research on penalty shoot-outs from two major tournaments (2014 World Cup and 2016 European Championships) showed that international teams with more highly decorated players were more likely to choke than those with less decorated players. This is due to the stress and worry about tarnishing their reputation and legacy. As a result, these players tended to rush their penalty, hoping to get it over with as quickly as possible.

      5. Research shows that, when under stress, the capacity of the brain to process information decreases and, consequently, slower processing occurs.

A Sport Psychologist’s focus will be on:

•    Diagnosing and treating emotional problems that can interfere with athletic performance

•    Help athletes to improve their self-confidence

•    Utilise strategies to help athletes improve their motivation

•    Helping athletes – and staff - set  training and performance goals

•    Assisting athletes to manage their stress and anxiety

•    Helping teams to help improve cooperation, communication, and cohesiveness

•    Improving communication between athletes and staff

•    Assisting athletes to develop mental skills such as attention, trust, and focus

•    Helping athletes to mentally prepare for their competition

•    Working on helping athletes cope with the physical and emotional effects of injury.

Sports psychologists are divided into two categories: educational and clinical.

Educational sports psychologists use techniques like goal-setting, imagery, or self-talk to help clients manage their mental and psychological thought processes to perform optimally on the field. 

Clinical psychologists go deeper by working with athletes on issues like anxiety, depression, or substance abuse. They are there to help you understand yourself and assist you in self-care and self-regulation. 

You don’t need to be a professional athlete to benefit from this type of support. Sports psychologists often work with people outside of professional sports who want to improve their psychological development and enhance the health of their bodies.

In sport, you can't hope to win if you don't train hard and consistently. Your confidence comes from knowing your body and mind are in the best condition, so even when you're up against tough opponents, you know you're ready. You believe in your abilities because you've seen them develop.

Much research within the sport psychology field looks at how our minds can lead to be detrimental on our performance. Instead of focusing on the negative aspects, such as worry, pessimism and fear, why not concentrate on looking at how positive psychology – with its hope and optimism - can positively impact our sporting performance.

Although hope and optimism may be perceived as just a frame of mind, it can in fact help coaches and sport psychologists to predict and understanding an athlete’s sporting performance. Those who are hopeful have the willpower and determination to overcome obstacles which may be blocking the pathway of their individual goal oppose to ‘throwing in the towel’. 

In sport, having the ability to continue to strive towards an end goal even when things get hard is crucial because within most sports the margin between winning and losing is by a matter of points or goals which can be quickly scored or conceded. With the correct mindset of positivity those crucial points/goals that you require can easily and quickly be achieved, as long as you remain hopeful and optimistic.

Sports psychologist Michael Caulfield, who has worked in professional sport for more than 25 years, said, “football is – or should be – only about joy.” He makes it clear that joy is England’s missing ingredient.

Sporting success isn’t down to pickle juice, according to a leading sports psychologist. The secret isn’t to be found in the inflatable unicorns England’s players famously mounted to recuperate in the pool. Or the £3,400 electric bikes they pedalled to boost their post-match recovery. It’s not even about the manager.

Caulfield, who has worked with Gareth Southgate in the past, says: “We’re now obsessed with the next quick fix – and I include the massive cult of the manager in that. Alongside pickle juice.

“The brutal truth is that players only learn from other players. You could bring in the reincarnation of Sigmund Freud and Barack Obama to motivate the team – and Ed Sheeran to play guitar to them afterwards – but the only thing that will make a difference is learning from and helping each other.”

And what are the players (ideally) learning from each other? The joy each and every one of them felt as children when football was their obsession.

“The players need to get back to their 10-year-old selves because what has been forgotten in this age of professionalism, is that football is not a perfect game,” said Caulfield. “It’s a simple game. It’s a game of utter chaos. It’s the most random game of all.” – a bit like life itself.

To end on a psychologically sound note.

Gary Player, (born November 1, 1935, Johannesburg, South Africa)  one of the world's best professional golfers in the post-World War II era - the third man (after Gene Sarazen and Ben Hogan, both of the United States) to win the four major tournaments composing the modern golf Grand Slam -  played  a wonderful shot and someone heckled “you’re so lucky!” Gary replied, “it’s funny, the more I practice the more luck I have.”