MORE ATHLETES ARE engaging in mental workouts to gain an edge. They have trained to exhaustion daily for years, preparing their bodies for one fight. But have they disciplined their minds? The boxer who wins will need more than strong muscles, heart, and lungs; he will need concentration, control, confidence, and an unerring eye on the prize. At this tense moment, one mistimed twitch could be fatal and cost him the fight.
Sports psychology is booming. Elite athletes are becoming closer regarding physical prowess, leaving thoughts and feelings as the x-factor that brings victory. Many top athletes now find mental training indispensable for performing on race or game day and maximising daily workouts.
Many seek help from psychologists, but others go elsewhere: Former World Middleweight boxing champion Darren Barker received regular psychological exercises and a daily physical training plan from his mind and body coach, Wayne Lèal. Formula One auto-racing ace Lewis Hamilton uses performance coach Angela Cullen. Others rely on personal rituals to focus their game.
There is often little scientific basis for athletes’ mental gymnastics, and the placebo effect cannot be ruled out. Yet, the practices provide a tailwind. Studies show athletes may profit most by building psychological strength through visualisation, confidence, and self-talk. These techniques can also work for recreational athletes.
Although sports psychologists have supported athletes for over 40 years, the profession was largely informal until 1983, when the U.S. Olympic Committee established a sports psychology registry. In 1986, the Association for the Advancement of Applied Sport Psychology was founded to promote related science and practices. Since then, the profession has grown briskly; for its 2004 conference, the association received 450 potential presentations.
Visualisation
Visualising an athletic movement to perfect it became popular in the 1970s. Tennis players were among the early adopters. A player standing quietly on the court with eyes closed would imagine hitting the ball, thinking: “My racket is an extension of my arm. My entire body is tingling with excitement, but I am utterly relaxed. I am enjoying every ball that comes flying toward me. I am sure that with my next stroke, I can place the ball in any corner of my opponent’s court.”
Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi coined the term “flow” in 1975 to describe this feeling: complete confidence in one’s actions, blocking out distractions, revelling in the experience. To achieve this ideal performance state, an athlete seeks a balance of strain and relaxation, becoming completely immersed in their movements. Visualisation training focuses on seeing and controlling each component of a movement.
Brain researchers have studied this phenomenon with imaging technologies, discovering that imagining a movement activates the same motor regions of the cerebral cortex as the actual movement. Repeatedly visualising the movement may strengthen or add synaptic connections among relevant neurons. For example, basketball players and coaches claim that visualising the ideal arm and hand motions for a free throw improves success rates.
Some studies indicate that breaking a motion into parts and concentrating on them can hinder fluid coordination. The alternative is to imagine the outcome, such as the ball dropping through the net. Golfer Tiger Woods reports that it is easier to sink putts when he imagines the rattle of the ball in the cup.
Believe It
Automating movements frees the brain to concentrate on other aspects of an athletic challenge. But even more mind control is needed. Witness the so-called training champions, who perform outstandingly in workouts but falter during an actual race or game. Boxer Muhammad Ali, who proclaimed, “I am the greatest!” before every match, is a famous practitioner of this technique. Directed speaking increases one’s will to endure.
Most champion athletes are in good psychological shape; if they weren’t, they would not have reached such a high level of achievement. Various studies have found that top athletes have a more remarkable ability to concentrate and a stronger will to perform. These athletes brim with self-confidence during competitions. Part of this surety is an attitude that intimidates competitors. Primarily, however, confidence stems from an athlete’s faith in themselves, built by regularly setting high but achievable goals in training and competition.
Professional and recreational athletes can develop the ability to shut out pain or fear by training hard and exposing themselves to the extreme demands of an actual event repeatedly until it becomes routine. Muscular and mental relaxation techniques may be necessary to rebound from the physical and psychic stress these experiences impose. One way to reduce anxiety is autogenic training, which teaches athletes to repeat auto-suggestive formulas such as “I am completely calm.” Physical relief can come from progressive muscle relaxation, involving alternating contractions and relaxations of individual body parts.
A recreational athlete can exploit the same mental tricks that the pros use, whether talking to oneself for motivation, believing in one’s abilities, or visualising movements to optimise flow. More amateurs are resorting to mental gymnastics to push their limits. The fitness industry is happy to jump on this bandwagon, with many dubious figures billing themselves as mental coaches or “motivational trainers” without recognised certifications or degrees.
A qualified mental coach will begin serious sports psychology work by diagnosing the current situation. On what level is the athlete competing? What are their problems, wishes, and goals? Only then can appropriate methods be found to improve concentration, coordination, or endurance. Through it all, athletes must remember that physical fitness and mastery of technique and tactics are the overwhelming determinants of success in any sport. No one has ever won a marathon through mental training alone.
