PSYCHOLOGICAL TRAINING FOR PEAK PERFORMANCE

The sports community now recognizes that mental factors such as confidence, composure, focus, and motivation are highly significant to athletic performance. As a result, over the year’s performance enhancement has become an emerging career track within the field sport psychology. Sport psychology (or sports psychology) is the study of the psychological factors that affect participation and performance in sports. Sport psychology professionals who focus on performance enhancement aim to increase athletic performance by minimizing the psychological effects of poor performance and instilling the mental skill needed to attain peak performance. In order for the field of sport psychology to advance professionals must educate the sports community on the value and benefits of mental training.

Psychology principles such as positive thinking, imagery, and goal setting can be applied in sports to help athletes perform and prepare for competition. At the elite levels all athletes have the talent and the physical tools to compete. In an interview hall of quarterback and sports analysis, Troy Aikman stated, “When you get to the elite level in sports, athletically, what separates the really great performers are the ones who are mentally tough and see things a little bit quicker than their competitors.” These athletes have the ability to move on after mistakes, maintain confidence and composure in the face of adversity, and focus on what is need to execute each task successfully.

The best practice to enhance athletic performance in the field sport psychology is through mental training. Mental training is the segment of sports psychology that concentrates specifically on helping athletes break through the mental barriers that are keeping them from performing up to their peak potential. Many athletes and coaches resist mental training because they do not understand how it can help them. In order for athletes to get the most out of their sport, it is critical for them to understand the value of improving their mental game. Athletes are more likely to embrace mental training when they understand it and its benefits. However, the best way for athletes to embrace into mental training is when they actually experience its power firsthand.

Mental training is about improving one’s attitude and mental skills to help them perform their best by identifying limiting beliefs and embracing a healthier philosophy about their sport. Mental skills, just like physical skills, take repetition, practice, and game-time application to develop. Helping athletes and coaches understanding the mental barriers that limit performance and the benefits of sports psychology intervention is a critical step in the mental training process. Mental barriers include high expectations, perfectionism, fear of failure, lack of emotional control and attentional focus. Athletes can overcome these barriers through sport psychology intervention that aim to enhance confidence, focus, composure, trust and mental preparation

MENTAL PREPARATION FOR PEAK PERFORMANCE

Depending on whom you talk with, whether they be a coach, player, sports agent, or parent, you will hear that the mental component of sport performance ranges from having as little as 10% significance to as great as 90% of the performance curve.

Measuring success is a difficult task because achieving exactness in performance is quite challenging. However, if even the smallest percentage of one's performance can be attributed to mental preparation one would think an athlete might consider implementing a mental game strategy to achieve that extra performance edge.

There are a number of techniques an athlete has at their disposal to strengthen the mental aspects of their performance. This article will introduce two of the more popular methodologies for improving one's mental game. The best technique is the one that helps the athlete achieve the performance levels they aspire to.

Imagery

Imagery in sport is essentially the re-creation of an experience that resembles the actual physical experience without actually performing the physical execution of the skill. The re-creation and sensory feeling of skill execution can be accomplished through verbal rehearsal (repeating out loud the individual task elements associated with execution of a skill), or by creating vivid sensory specific images of each element or step associated with execution of the skill.

For example, in the overt execution of a skill the muscles receive sensations associated with the actions related to task execution. However through imagery, all sensations experienced by the physical act of performing are actually recreated in a “frame of reference” by using the senses to re-live the experience. Everything is executed in a passive way by imagining or visualizing the actual performance as if it were actually happening.

By recreating the experience in the mind’s eye the athlete can actually experience the same feeling as if the overt execution were truly happening. Research suggests that mental rehearsal actually helps athletes prepare for competition almost as equally well as executing the physical skill.

Arousal Management

An athlete’s arousal (excitement) level has a direct impact on their performance. Research has shown that performance does increase as arousal increases up to a certain point, then performance begins to decrease somewhat dramatically. If arousal levels are too low consequently motivation and desire may not be optimal to support a quality performance effort. On the other hand, if arousal levels are too high it is likely the athlete will make mistakes and errors and once again not achieve the optimal levels of performance.

Each athlete will require a specific level of arousal level to maximize their performance. For example, a baseball batter will require lower levels of arousal to perform the skills necessary to execute on hitting the pitch. They should have very low anxiety levels when they step into the batter’s box. The hitter should have high levels of confidence and trust in their skills, with a narrow range of focus for successful execution to occur. Higher levels of arousal will cause the hitter to make decisions about pitches they would not otherwise make. On the other hand a basketball point guard on offense will need a higher level of arousal, as the situation requires them to be more active, yet they still must be able to run the desired offense effectively. Arousal levels will increase even more when the basketball players is asked to play defense.

Higher than optimal arousal levels for a particular skill may cause the athlete to become too anxious and begin to worry too much about the results rather than focus on the required task. As anxiety increase so does muscle tenseness and therefore physical and mental flexibility becomes hindered. Precision movements require flexibility as well as unconscious and automatic thoughts about play action. A point guard forcing a pass to the post under the basket might happen if arousal levels are too high. A baseball hitter might swing at a pitch out of the strike zone if anxiety to perform gets in the way of execution. If each of these athletes exhibit below normal arousal levels, they may lack the energy to perform a task. Specific techniques that can help an athlete be in control of arousal levels are:

• The use of a pre-execution routine to center and focus energy on the task.
• The use of breathing techniques to reduce stress and anxiety.
• The use of positive self talk in support of previous success.

Conclusion

Success comes from repetitive task achievement. Task achievement comes from having a focused and committed practice plan. The best practice plan incorporates mental preparation techniques supporting arousal control strategies as discussed above. A well rounded practice plan coupled with appropriate coaching and immediate constructive feedback will indeed build confidence and improved performance.

Just like technical skill mastery, mental skill mastery is achieved one small skill at a time. Create, implement, and practice one skill per day or per week until confidence or mastery has been achieved.

Your job as a coach is to guide your players through refinements in the exercises for mastering both the mechanical/technical, as well as the mental aspects of performance.

A MODERN APPROACH TO THE STRESS-PERFORMANCE RELATIONSHIP

Older research suggested that stress and performance were related by a curve shaped roughly like an upside-down U. This is no longer thought to be the case. A more realistic shape for the curve relating performance to stress is shown below.

This sort of curve is usually referred to as a catastrophe curve. It indicates that at low levels of stress performance should improve with increase in stress up to a certain critical point. At this point (point B) the performer starts to perceive that the demands of the situation are greater than his ability to meet them. Anxiety occurs, and performance suddenly and dramatically fails. After such failure the original level of performance can only be regained if stress levels are considerably reduced (to point A). This sort of phenomenon is very common in sport situations. Once a performer starts to "go over the top", it is very difficult to get him back up to a high level of performance.

Catastrophe curves like the one shown above usually occur as a result of opposing forces, and recent work suggests that this one is no exception. In competition these two forces are the desire to compete and succeed, and the fear of losing or failing.

Under normal circumstances the activation system "amplifier" is fine-tuned by the performer to meet the needs of his situation. However, when performers become anxious this fine-tuning is lost—in their anxiety they fiddle about with all the knobs, and so greatly distort their own performance. There is some debate as to how much effect the physiological response associated with anxiety has upon mental performance. However, there seems less doubt about its importance for physical performance, as any football coach who has witnessed the sustained speed at which a typical cup final is played will no doubt testify. Furthermore, it appears that the distortion produced by excessive physiological arousal is most apparent in skills requiring fine control or touch.

The basic implication of the model shown above is therefore clear: to maintain performance in the face of anxiety you must either reduce anxiety or increase the "strength" of the activation system. To remind you of what we mean by the "activation system", the diagram on the left shows how different "stressors" (factors causing stress) might affect the activation pattern of the information-processing system.

In order to perform difficult skills with accuracy and grace, the sportsperson must clearly "process" a vast quantity of information about the environment and his orientation within it. To do this, he must first of all perceive the relevant cues, then use them to make decisions about appropriate courses of action, "programme" these decisions into responses, and finally transmit these responses to the muscles. Of course, different situations will require each of these processes in varying degrees, so that the activation pattern necessary to achieve the best performance will vary from sport to sport, and from skill to skill within a sport. For example, speed of perception will be very important when close marking at basketball, hut much less so when performing a set shot. In fact, the stressors and the activation pattern is itself an over-simplification, since each of the three major cognitive processes which we have distinguished— perception, decision-making and action—is itself made up of a number of sub-processes. For example, decision-making requires information to be stored in memory, transformed into likely consequences, and recalled—all before the information is passed on for programming. However, the model is sufficiently realistic for our purposes.

The important feature of the model shown in the stressors and the activation pattern is that it represents the availability of each process by its elevation above the base plane. Fortunately, our brains are very flexible about how they allocate the resources at their disposal to each of these processes, so we are able to cope adequately with a great number of diverse situations. However, this flexibility is also our greatest weakness, for it means that the activation pattern required for a given situation can also be easily distorted by outside influences such as pressure from patents or coach, and also by internal influences like personality factors, anxiety and other negative mood states. The research literature suggests that the cognitive anxiety which is present for some time before an important event disrupts these activation patterns by:

• reducing the overall capacity of the system—pushing all the "process towers" down
• depressing the availability of some processes more than others.

On the other hand, it suggests that the physiological arousal that occurs immediately before performance tends to "turn up the volume controls" on all the output signals to the muscles. Thus errors which are due to problems in picking up the right cues or in making decisions about those cues are likely to occur several days before a big event, whereas errors due to output failures are much more likely to happen on the day.

As we mentioned earlier, the remedy for such distortion is either to build some sort of mental barrier to protect the processes by blocking anxiety, or to strengthen the resilience of the required activation pattern to such an extent that it cannot be easily distorted by anxiety. A coach and his methods of training can greatly influence this latter remedy, and at least partially influence the former.

 

GETTING TO GRIPS WITH THE PROBLEM

In mild cases of competitive anxiety, it should be possible to reduce the disruptions to the activation system by encouraging your performers to adopt specific strategies. For example, a rugby winger who is poor at anticipating changes in direction when tackling might be encouraged to look at his opponents' hips for cues; or a squash player who has difficulty memorizing an opponent s weaknesses during a game might be given a short mental checklist to work through during the "knock-up" and the first few rallies.

However, in more serious cases these strategies are unlikely to work. We shall look first at certain anxiety—blocking strategies, and then at ways of stopping these problems from occurring in the first place.

Anxiety-blocking strategies

Most anxiety-blocking strategies make use of relaxation techniques. There arc a large number of these techniques, and they can usually be categorized according to their physical, cognitive (mental) or behavioural emphasis.

For example, progressive muscular relaxation is an essentially physical technique by which you can learn to relax each muscle group in your body, either individually or all together.

Conversely, standardized clinical meditation is a psychological technique which enables you to focus your attention inwards while blocking "negative thoughts".

Finally, behaviour therapies usually require you gradually to approach a feared situation while maintaining physiological arousal at a low level. The exact technique prescribed for a given problem is usually determined by a number of factors, including both the source and the symptoms of the anxiety. For example, a gymnast suffering from excessive muscle tension at competitions (forced swings, fast double leg circles, loss of timing, etc.) might find a physical relaxation strategy like progressive muscular relaxation more helpful than a mental strategy like standardized clinical meditation. On the other hand, psychological strategies can be very useful for reducing negative self-talk and improving the self-confidence of a performer. While a detailed understanding of these sorts of techniques requires more psychological knowledge than most coaches at present possess, the ability to relax is an essential "life skill" which all performers and coaches should possess, and it is for this reason that we have mentioned these techniques here.

Self-confidence Another important way for you to reduce your performers' long-term susceptibility to anxiety is to improve their self-confidence. Although as a coach you should have a concern for your performers' general self-confidence, here we are interested in your performers' self-confidence in specific situations which is quite different and not necessarily related. For example, a tennis coach may want his tennis players to demonstrate great self-confidence in tennis marches, but need not be very interested in how self-confident his players are on a trampoline or while rock-climbing. This sort of situation-specific self-confidence is usually called self -efficacy. Essentially, self-confidence is the performer's belief that he has the ability to succeed and that his activation system is correctly set up, with all the processes that he will need in order to succeed being available to him. In a sense, then, self-confidence represents the force in the catastrophe curve (Figure 4.4) which is to do with the desire to compete and succeed, while anxiety represents the force to do with fear of losing and failure. Notice that it is possible for an expert to be both anxious and self-confident at the same time; that is to say, he may worry about the consequences of the forthcoming event, but still believe that his activation system is correctly set up and hence that he can win.

Goal-setting

An American psychologist called Bandura has shown that confident performers are higher achievers, and also more persistent in the face of failure. He has suggested that a performer's self-confidence can be influenced by four main factors:

1.     previous success (performance accomplishment)

2.     observing others succeed (vicarious experience)

3.     verbal persuasion (you can do it!)

4.     positive (or negative) interpretation of physiological arousal

Of course, all these factors are important determinants of self-confidence, but the crucial thing about Bandura's work is that it implies that performance accomplishment is by far and away the most important of them. As we have just indicated, performance accomplishment is about success, and success is about achieving goals. The more goals achieved, the more success the performer experiences, and the greater his self-confidence becomes. Moreover, he will be more persistent in his attempts to cope with similar situations.

Structured learning with task requirements gradually increasing in difficulty may assist goal-setting, but the position is far more subtle than this. Goals must be structured, but recent work has also shown that goals are much more effective if they are short-term, set specifically for the performer and the situation under consideration, lie totally within his control, and are accepted by him. For example, we would not consider a goal of becoming British champion appropriate for a national squad swimmer, because it lies largely outside his control. (It might well be a realistic long-term aim, but this is a different matter.) Specific goals within the control of the performer should:

• set a target for the next competition
• reduce the influence of other performers upon that target to a minimum.

Consideration of these two factors leads to the view that effective goals must be set in terms of scores or times, rather than positions (e.g. coming first). Of course, this is much more difficult in team games where a score is also highly dependent on other people. However, with a little bit of ingenuity, and knowledge of the opposition, realistic and appropriate goals can still be set. For example, in a netball match a goal defense player might set herself the target of stopping the opposing goal attack from getting in more than two close—range shots during the game. With this sort of goal the influence of other players is at least limited.

It is also worth emphasizing the importance of goal acceptance. The setting of specific goals only improves performance if the goals are accepted by the performer as being attainable and worthwhile. Once again performers differ in the way they like to set goals: some will prefer you to take the lead in setting goals for them, while others will prefer to propose their own goals and then confirm them with you. Either way, if performers are to accept their goals, they must in some way participate in setting them.

Goals should not be simply assigned by the coach.

PSYCHOLOGICAL PREPERATION FOR PEAK PERFORMANCE

Many athletes who perform well during training or practice can suffer from performance anxiety on game day. If feelings of nervousness, anxiety or fear interfere with your sports performance, learning to use a few tips from sports psychology may help you get your anxiety under control and reduce game day nerves.

Performance anxiety in sports, sometimes referred to as 'choking,'is described as a decrease in athletic performance due to too much perceived stress. Perceived stress often increases in athletes on game day because (1) they have an audience and (2) they have extremely high expectations of their success. This type of stress is often based upon the way the athletes interpret the situation. It is rarely the external situation that causes stress, but rather the way the athlete's self talk describes the situation that creates feelings of stress, anxiety and fear. For athletes who choke during competition it is important to understand that the thoughts you have regarding the event can be modified, adjusted or controlled with appropriate sports psychology and mental practice.

An athlete should first determine if thoughts of doubt, failure or a lack of confidence are due to a perceived lack of ability. If so, the self talk will generally lead to continued feelings of anxiety, nervousness, and tension. Athlete need to realize that it's tough to do your best in a sport when your own internal voice is telling you otherwise.

To overcome performance anxiety, traditional coaches and trainers may try to help the athlete understand why those thoughts and feelings develop and then try to change or modify that process with limited amounts of success. Why such thoughts arise may be of interest, but knowing the answer isn't always necessary to overcome them.

SPORTS PSYCHOLOGY TIPS TO HELP REDUCE PERFORMANCE ANXIETY

Here are a few tips that may help change or redirect the negative self-talk.

REDUCE PERFORMANCE ANXIETY BEFORE THE EVENT

1. Recognize that pre-race jitters are normal. Accept, rather than fight, the nervous energy you feel. Don't misinterpret it by thinking that it is fear. That adrenaline rush you feel is normal and it is part of your body's natural preparation for the competition. Notice it, but don't focus on it. Once the race starts, that feeling will subside, as it always does.
2. Prepare both mentally and physically. Arrive at the event with plenty of time so you aren't rushed, which only increases your stress. Get a thorough warm-up. Do some easy stretching. Know the course. Dress for conditions.
3. Visualize. Allow a few minutes to practice visualization. During this time you mentally rehearse, showing yourself doing everything right. Breathe easy, close your eyes and use mental imagery to visualize yourself performing well. This positive self-talk can change your attitude. While athletes need to be flexible enough to react during the event, you should enter the event with a general strategy of how you want to race. Your strategy can be simple (maintain a steady pace or maintain a steady heart rate) or complex.

REDUCE PERFORMANCE ANXIETY DURING THE EVENT

1. Focus on the task at hand rather than the outcome. Stay present in the moment and avoid thinking too far into the event or thinking about the finish.

o    If you find yourself thinking negative thoughts or negative self-talk, stop and focus only on your breathing. Focusing on your breathing rhythm will automatically pull you back into the present.

2. Force a smile. Really. If you are struggling with negative thoughts and can't break out of the cycle, simply force yourself to smile, even if only for a few seconds. This simple action will change your attitude in a split second. Perhaps that is all the time you need to relax back into your performance.
3. Race like you don't care about the outcome. If you find yourself caught up in negative thoughts and find that you suddenly expect the worst it will be impossible to perform at your peak. If you begin to race like you don't care about the outcome, you may relax and enjoy the event for what it is - another day in your life. Not the most important thing in your life.

REDUCE PERFORMANCE ANXIETY AFTER THE EVENT:

1. Review the race and recall the things you did well. Focus on actions, thoughts and behaviors that helped you perform.
2. Acknowledge, but quickly dismiss things that hindered your performance. This is the same principle as avoiding an obstacle while driving - look where you want to go, not where you don't. When you focus on the pothole, you invariably hit it. Focusing on the negative aspects of the event will not help you improve in the future. Rather, you want to focus on the times when you 'got it right.' This is a form of mental rehearsal where you practice skills that will be used in the next event.
3. Design a training program that mimics race-like conditions. Teams and clubs often do such training. If you always train alone, consider joining a group so you can do this type of simulation. Practice is most effective if you can mimic the conditions you will be faced with in competition. Coaches can also help or hinder an athlete's ability to overcome choking during competition. Coaches often inadvertently reinforce a pattern of choking when trying to encourage ("the next shot is critical"). Such talk only increases the pressure an athlete feels to perform.

Remember that choking can be dealt with if you are aware of the pattern of negative thoughts that snowball before and during competition. If you find yourself in such a downward spiral, simply acknowledge those thoughts and let them go. Focus on your breathing and play as though you are enjoying it. Chances are you will realize that you are enjoying it despite the occasional less than perfect performance.

REFERENCES

1.                  Sport, Culture and Tourism (1998). The Vitality of the Sport. Canada, Culture, Tourism and Center for Education Statistics Division.

2.                  Bucher, C. A. (1983). Administration of Physical Education and Athletic Programmes, (8^th Edition). St. Louis: The C. V. Mosby Company.

3.                  Fasan, C. O. (2000). Introduction of Sports Administration (2^nd Edition) Lagos: Beulah Publishers.

4.                  Penman, A.K (1981) Planning Physical Education and Athletic Facilities in Schools. New York John Wiley and Sons.   

5.                  Peretomode, V. F. (1995) Introduction to Educational Administration and Planning. Lagos: Joja Educational Research and Publishers Limited.

6.                  Guy, B. (1981): Management by Objective New York Pitman Publishing Company. 

7.                  Adolph, H.,& Böck, F. (1985). Sport als Integrationsmöglichkeit ausländischer Mitbürger. Kassel.

8.                  Allison, L. (Ed.) (2000). Taking Sport Seriously. Oxford: Meyer & Meyer Sport (UK). Ltd. 2^nd Edition Oxford.

9.                  Bröskamp, B. (1993). Körperliche Fremdheit. Zum Problem der interkulturellen Begegnung im Sport. Berlin. 

10.              Coakley,  J.J. (1990). Sport in Society . Issues and Controversies:  Intergroup Relations.  Is sport a model of racial and ethnic harmony? (4^th ed.). pp. 203-223. St. Louis.

11.              Harms, H (1982). Die soziale Zeitbombe ist noch längst nicht entschärft, zur möglichen Funktion des Sports bei der Integration der ausländischen Arbeitnehmer und ihrer Familien. Olympische Jugend 12.

12.              Heinemann, K. (1979).  Einführung in die Soziologie des Sports. Schorndorf.