When Simone Biles, the American gymnast, bowed out of the Tokyo Olympics citing mental health reasons, it shifted the focus once again on the importance of mental wellness in the field. Everyone knows that sports is a test of a person’s mental fortitude as much as physical capabilities. The pressure to perform and keep up can make athletes of the greatest stature stumble and suffer.
Psychology And Sports
Sports psychologists train athletes in calming of nerves and walling of doubts. What does it take to overcome mental limits and handle pressure? Sports psychologists focus on training athletes in visualization techniques by imagining themselves winning. Research published in the Journal of Sports Sciences found successful Olympians have a high degree of self-confidence, are able to block out distractions, and are also goal-oriented. Sports psychologist, Madhuli Kulkarni says, “It’s all about reframing defeats, retraining the mind to see a victory. Successful people in sports have tremendous pressure to be on top of the curve. There’s stress to continuously “perform well". But beneath that, most of our sports icons hide their deepest fear of failure. You need great will power, visualization to reframe a negative event. The art of extreme positivity and confidence should be practised daily.”
An athlete's mental game comes in the form of mental toughness. The pandemic made the anxiety of competing more acute for athletes. Sports psychologist and mental trainer to athletes, Mugdha Bavare, says. “When people take up professional sports, they must nurture mental toughness at the same time. Training for toughness is about asking people to flex their grit and endurance. Toughness is having the ability to bounce back. Not everyone has equal mental strength. With the pressures and stress, it is tough to build. It requires patience and hard work. In a pandemic world, I had the toughest athletes call me up for help. Some sports like boxing and wrestling require tougher nerves, because you have to be aggressive. Visualization, goal-setting, extreme positive self-talk are techniques for mental toughness. Think of adversity and strategize about how to beat it."
Training Your Toughness
Art of Focusing: Set the focus on your goals. The ability to focus is a sort of muscle that gets stronger through resistance training. Intense focus will help you concentrate and be in control.
Importance of self-talk: Self-talk is a strategy, an internal dialogue we have with ourselves. Have a powerful mantra that is personal to you. Repeat it.
Power of Letting go: When failure comes, ignore it. Less desirable things can happen, but don't look back. Failure management is important to creating toughness. Build resilience with practice. That’s really all you ever need to succeed at anything.
Motivational Check-ins: Be internally motivated. Create powerful 'whys' to your motivation. Check-in to see if you are losing or building motivation.