Summary
This article outlines sports psychology research which indicates that athletes who perform their best in critical situations engage in structured mental performance training at least 18 months prior to the competition. Long term mental training is a critical element to preparing athletes to perform their best when they most need it.
The article explains the three critical elements of an effective long-term mental training program: (a) increasing awareness, (b) developing consistent pre-performance routines, and (c) simulating the conditions of competition during practice and training.
Increased awareness will help athletes understand what thought patterns and feelings are associated with their best performances. Coaches may help their athletes increase their awareness by prompting them to reflect upon past performances. A sample “competitive reflections” worksheet for athletes is attached below.
Developing consistent pre-performance routines helps athletes to feel comfortable in situations leading up to pressure-packed competitions, making it more likely that they will stick to their normal thoughts and feelings. Pre-performance routines develop the mental toughness needed to thrive in a pressurized environment. Coaches can help athletes develop pre-performance routines through communication techniques that are explained in this article.
Simulating the conditions of competition during practice or training is the most effective way to help athletes get accustomed to the challenges they will face during critical situations. The strongest source of confidence in any situation is a successful previous performance in that situation. While creating an exact simulation of the Olympic Games or the Super Bowl may be impossible, certain elements of any high-pressure performance situation can be simulated. This article explains how to create effective simulations so athletes are more confident they will be able to handle the real challenge when it presents itself.
Clutch Performances
Sep 22nd, 2009
Big Moments: It’s why we play the game
I’ve been a sports psychology coach at the highest level of elite sports for over 25 years and have seen quite a few things in sports and learned a tremendous amount about performance excellence and championship behavior along the way. Even with the experience that I’ve accumulated and the situations that I’ve become used to, there is one part of sports that continues to amaze me: The power of “big moments” and the impact that these “big moments” can have on an athlete. Whether it is at the Olympic Games, an NCAA Final, a critical race on the NASCAR Sprint Cup circuit, or the Super Bowl, there is a huge amount at stake for coaches and athletes at these critical times. Success in these moments can be life-changing from a financial and career standpoint, and also can be tremendously satisfying from a personal pride perspective. Testing yourself and your competitive spirit under the most pressure-packed situations in your sport is what competition and athletics is all about. Everyone involved in elite sport desperately wants to perform at their best when they most need to during these “big moments”.
However, as we all know, things do not always turn out the way we want them to, and every athlete does not always produce the goods when the chips are down. As thrilling as it is to see an athlete produce a career-best performance when it matters most, it is twice as heartbreaking to watch someone underperform and fail when they most want to come through. In my 30 years of researching and coaching sports psychology, I’ve identified several fundamentals that are linked with performing great – rather than poorly – when you most need your best performance. This article should be considered a resource for coaches to use to help prepare their athletes and teams to produce great performances when they are most wanted and needed.
Research Finding: Long Term Mental Preparation is Key
In the early 1990’s the United States Olympic Committee wanted to more systematically understand the factors that led to great performances at the Olympic Games. They wanted to understand why some athletes were able to go to the Olympics and have career best performances, while others would show up and struggle to reach their potential. The USOC hired a team of researchers to identify the differentiating factors between athletes who produced great, personal-best type performances versus those who did not.
To study this issue we examined the preparation and performance habits of United States Olympians from the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, 1998 Nagano Olympics, 2000 Sydney Olympics, and 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. We compared athletes who won medals and had great performances against those who did not. A primary difference between them was how they approached mental training: (1) Athletes who won Olympic medals faithfully followed a structured mental training program specifically designed to help them perform well under the pressure of the Olympic Games, and (2) these mental training programs started well in advance of the Olympics – an average of 18 months prior to the Games. On the other hand, American athletes who did not perform up to their potential and didn’t win medals failed to engage in a long-term mental training program.
Long-term mental preparation is critically important to getting your athletes to a point mentally where they are able to handle the challenges presented by “big moments”. The coaches and athletes need to be preparing way in advance. For example, when I worked with the US Ski Team we started to prepare the athletes for their Olympic runs several years in advance.
Components of a Long Term Mental Training Plan
The athlete has arrived at his or her “big moment”: They are at the starting gate for the Olympic downhill that comes once every four years. Or they’re on the starting blocks of the USA Swimming Olympic trials, knowing that they have to make the Olympics this time because in four years they will be too old and their chance will have passed. Or they are about to start the final round of PGA Tour Qualifying knowing that they have to play well to realize the lifelong dream of making the PGA Tour or face another long, financially burdensome year playing mini-tour golf . What thoughts might be running through their head?
It takes a significant amount of mental training to guarantee that these thoughts will be productive and confidence-enhancing thoughts, instead of thoughts that may be infected with doubt, worry, uncertainty, or fear. An effective long-term mental training plan establishes a strong mental foundation so that when the athlete faces a moment of truth the good thoughts are there.
There are three significant components to an effective long-term training program are (a) increasing the athletes’ self-awareness, (b) developing consistent pre-performance routines, and (c) simulating “big moments” in practice and training. Coaches should introduce these components sequentially and over time. In the sections below I will outline each of these three components.
(A) Increasing Awareness
Self-awareness is simply to degree to which an athlete understands the feelings that he or she has when performing well versus the feelings that her or she has when performing poorly. Does the athlete know how they feel during their best performances? Do they know what thoughts are helpful and which are harmful to them? Do they know how they need to think and act in warmup to play their best? Do they know if they should be conversing with their teammates in an outgoing way, or very quiet and focused in order to perform their best? Athletes with higher awareness levels can answer these questions for themselves better than other athletes. Highly aware athletes know themselves better and have a more precise understanding of the feelings and thoughts that they need to have to play their best.
Helping an athlete become more aware of what thoughts and feelings are most helpful is the first step towards developing a mental approach to competition where only helpful thoughts and feelings are employed. The “how to implement this idea” section below contains specific instructions for coaches to help their athletes increase self-awareness. In general, coaches should prompt athletes to do engage in “competitive reflections” (see attached Competitive Reflections written exercise ). The athlete should think deeply about the times where he or she really competed well in a big situation. Prompt the athlete to assess what they were thinking and what they were feeling when they really came through. Also, challenge the athlete to think about and discuss times when they didn’t perform as well as they should have. They should assess what they did in their preparation and how they felt leading up to the event. They should try to contrast the good from the bad. Your goal is to help them learn from their own past experiences.
(B) Developing Consistent Pre-Performance Routines
A pre-performance routine is a standardized ritual that an athlete goes through in the time leading up to competition. A consistent pre-performance routine is a very strong tool for ensuring a consistent mindset for each competition, no matter what the competitive situation may be. The objective of the pre-performance routine is to get the athlete into the best possible mindset for performance regardless of whether the athlete is performing in the most important event of their lives or just another regular season competition.
Once an athlete has developed a sufficient degree of self-awareness so that they understand what works for them and what doesn’t, the athlete should develop a pre-performance routine that includes the thoughts and feelings that work and excludes the thoughts and feelings that cause problems. Athletes should practice going through their pre-performance routines in practice situations also, and refine them if they need to be adjusted.
One Olympic champion skier that I coached used to have a great understanding of herself and what mindset she needed to get in. Her pre-performance routine was designed to help her achieve her best mindset. Initially she would joke and be very outgoing during the ride up the ski lift and also at the top of the hill. However, she then transitioned into a very quiet, laser-like focused state of mind for the last two minutes before the start of her run. Importantly, her coaches understood this routine also so as not to disturb it.
No two athletes are exactly the same, which will mean that there will be some variation amongst your athletes that you must understand and account for. You will really want to know your athletes and their routines on an individual level. The “how to apply this idea” section contains instructions for helping athletes develop their routines and strategies to help you attain an in-depth knowledge of the routines of your athletes on an individual level.
(C) Simulating “Big Moments” in Practice and Training
Once athletes have increased their self-awareness and developed a consistent pre-performance routine, the final step in an effective long term mental training program is to simulate “big moments” in practice and training. Psychological research clearly shows us that the strongest source of confidence in a particular situation is previously performing well in that situation. If you want your athletes to perform their best when they need it most, you must create situations in training where they get an opportunity to “rehearse” coming through under pressure, thus gaining confidence that they will be able to perform their best when the real pressure is on. It may be difficult to simulate exactly the conditions an athlete will face in the Olympics or an NCAA Championship football game, but if some of the features of a “big moment” can be simulated and rehearsed the athletes will feel that much more prepared to encounter the real situation. They will be able to deal with the challenge better.
Implementation of a long-term mental training plan
The best time to implement a long term is in the off-season for you sport, well in advance of any significant competitions. Coaches should be warned against introducing anything new too abruptly, as adding something unfamiliar to the athletes may be disruptive and ultimately counterproductive.
I don’t have time to wait – we need a change now
Although long-term preparation is preferable, sometimes we are faced with situations where there is a clear performance problem that has come up for some reason, and a big event is just around the corner. Something needs to be done to change the mindset of the athletes, and it has to be done quickly. While this is a tough situation, the best approach is to avoid talking about the result of the competition (winning/losing) and instead emphasize to the athletes to focus on the process of “doing what you normally do”. Also, remind athletes to trust their training. If you are in a big situation such as a finals or a championship game, obviously you have been doing something right.
By Dr. Dan Gould (with Kevin Blue)
Implementation
How to talk to your athletes about performing under pressure and the need to take a long-term mental training approach:
- Be very straightforward with the athletes. Ask them, “How important is it to you to be able to perform your best on a big stage when you need it most?” Most of them will obviously say that it is very important to them. Then ask them, “How much time do you spend practicing specific things that will help us perform our best on the big stage?”. Probably not too much. “So we need to address this area, and we’re going to do that by starting a training plan to develop more mental toughness in each of you.”
How to help your athletes increase awareness:
- Hold an individual meeting with each athlete explaining the importance of self-awareness. Explain to them: “In order to get to a place of ultimate mental toughness you need to know yourself inside and out. You need to know your strengths and weakness, what you do and think about when you perform well or poorly, and what helps you perform at your toughest under extreme pressure. I’m having each of you do an exercise that will help you do that.”
- Give the athlete the Competitive Reflections exercise (see attachment), have them complete it and discuss it with a teammate or training partner they trust.
- Hold another meeting with each athlete and discuss the results of the exercise: “What do you know about yourself that is going to help you be your best when you need it most? What types of things should you do more of in your preparation? What types of things should you do less of?”
How to help your athletes develop a consistent prep-performance routine:
- Once the athlete has a better awareness for the type of thoughts and behaviors that are helpful and the type of things that aren’t, have the athlete make a list of each.
- Next, have the athlete write out a typical time schedule for one day leading up to the start of the event. For example, a hockey player may write: Game starts – 7pm, on-ice warmup at 630pm, dress for game in locker room at 6pm, off-ice warmup at 530pm, arrive at arena at 5pm, leave for arena at 430pm, afternoon nap at 3pm, pregame meal at 230pm, morning practice at 11am, breakfast at 10am, wake up at 9am.
- Then the athlete should try to fit in each the behavior from the “helpful” list into that daily schedule. For example, if the athlete finds that listening to music before the game in the locker room is helpful he or she should schedule that as a part of the routine. Each thought or feeling from the list should also be assigned a time and place in the schedule. For example, if they player feels light on his or her feet when performing their best, the player should make a note in the on-ice warmup to try to feel “light” on their feet.
- Once the routine is established, the athlete should experiment and make the necessary adjustments.
How to simulate competition in practice/training:
- Many coaches have famously created game like settings for their athletes in practice. For example, Dean Smith at North Carolina used to end basketball practice with simulation of late-game situations, complete with officials on the floor and a clock. They would do that the whole season. And his teams were known for doing great in those late-game situations.
Leave a comment