Decided to start a blog about Performance/Sport Psychology as a place to frame my thoughts on the field I wish to work in professionally. I completed my Msc. Sport Psychology at Liverpool John Moores University three years ago now and have almost unknowingly let that area slide into the background until January 2013 when I was invited to work with Neptune Basketball Club's (Cork) Superleague team for the final stages of their National Cup run. They had a successful year, winning the National Cup (their first victory in over 20 years) and finishing second in the Superleague. The time with that team was a valuable learning experience for me and re-introduced me to the world of Performance Psychology when I needed it. It asked as many questions as it provided answers and lessons, but it was only the beginning of what I hope will be a successful career.
With that little bit of background out of the way, its time to begin at the bottom, and with the most common question I'm asked when I say I work as a Performance Psychologist - What's that? What do you do???
So what do we do??
*It must be noted that Sport Psychology, although a distinct field of its own, relies in part on knowledge from more established fields, such as Organizational, Social, Developmental (Child) and Clinical Psychology. *
Mental Conditioning:
The most common area Sport Psychology is associated with is Mental Conditioning, or Mental/Psychological Skills training (MST/PST). The notion being that performance can be improved through the use and development of various mental 'skills', based on Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy in many ways. The Performance Psychologist will meet an athlete and discuss their performance, areas of weakness/strength and detrimental/facilitative factors, and develop a system for the athlete to 're-program' his/her thinking so that it will be more conducive to peak performance. I will discuss Mental Conditioning in detail in future posts, but for now will provide the basic details. The areas that would be focused on here are:
Visualization/Mental Imagery
Visualization is essentially controlled daydreaming. It is the focused and planned use of imaginary actions or situations in order to learn a new skill (i.e. imagining how you'd feel performing a perfect golf swing), perfecting a current skill (i.e. in my case kicking a football in the most efficient way), rehearse said skills when they cannot be physically performed (like when injured), control of emotions (i.e. for temperamental players, they could imagine staying cool under opposition prompting, imagining staying calm under pressure), developing overall awareness of a routine (dancers need to be aware of how they fit into a larger aesthetic display, basketball players need to understand their role in each play), and to develop confidence (imagining play at one's best, dominating an opponent etc)
Self-Talk
Developing awareness and conscious control of the little conversations we have in our heads that can have a positive or negative effect on performance or moods. This internal dialogue can be easily overlooked as it is often an unconscious process, and the athlete and psychologist together must tease out the self-talk through memory of previous events and conscious awareness of thoughts when they occur. The self-talk may be related to the athlete themselves (I'm fast/slow, strong/weak, I can/can't, I always miss/make these shots, I hate playing in this weather, I always/never make this mistake, I love/hate this stadium), the opposition (they're brilliant/terrible, strong/weak, they play a defensive/attacking style, we always win/lose against them), one's own team ('x' player always does/doesn't do this, 'x' player doesn't like me, 'x' player is slow/fast). The aim is to address the negative thought patterns and use 'breakers' (i.e. phrases/words that break set patterns of thought (being reactive)), or recognizing situations or conditions that produce negative patterns and preempting them with positive thoughts (i.e. a tennis player losing the opening set (being proactive)). Positive thought patterns may be refined also, and the use of mantras (slow is smooth, smooth is fast) may be introduced to ensure an athlete generates the right kind of feeling when engaging in an action.
Goal-Setting
Setting goals is an important part of improving, as their attainment is a way to gauge progress. Goal-setting is largely defined by the S.M.A.R.T.E.R. acronym:
Specific - Goals should be specific, i.e. I will run 10km in 40 minutes, not I will run 10km as fast as I can
Measurable - I will judge my recovery by my heart-rate, not by how I feel
Attainable - If you bench a 70kg max. now, you won't bench a 120kg max in 2 weeks, but may in future
Realistic - Must be something realistic, not I'll beat Usain Bolt in a 100m sprint after 3 weeks training
Timed - I will drop 4% bodyfat in 4 weeks, not I'll drop 4% bodyfat whenever
Evaluate - Did you achieve your goal?
Review - Re-draft the goals to reflect your new achievements
Routines
As mentioned above, certain activities precede certain patterns of thoughts. With this in mind, if an activity pattern may be made to precede a positive pattern of thought/performance, then such a routine may be used to ensure successful completion of a task, such as a routine used by a basketball player before taking a free-throw. Routines may also be used to ensure a player develops an appropriate mentality or level of arousal, i.e. a warm-up or private routine before a game for most sportspeople. Routines may involve superstitions, idiosyncrasies, conversations, seating positions, pretty much anything!
Priming
Linked to self-talk, our brains are mostly lazy, or to put it nicely, looking for ways to be most efficient. Through this, we develop patterns of association for everything we encounter. If I said Michael Phelps to you, you would think of swimming, Olympics, swimming pools, U.S.A., Speedo, and gold medals. The point is, these associations are automatic, but that does not mean they cannot be changed. As a football (soccer) fan, a very common cliche used is 'they lost the game in the tunnel'. The suggestion being that when a team lines up in the tunnel before the game alongside players from, say, Barcelona F.C., they think of all things associated with that team like tiki-taka, speed of their play, trophies they have won, legendary figures such as Xavi, Puyol, Iniesta, Messi, Villa and unconsciously expect they will get beaten, as Barca always win. This is not always the case obviously, as demonstrated so emphatically by Bayern Munich recently, and if a team can re-arrange those associations into something positive, like viewing Messi's brilliance as a challenge for their defence, then his presence will produce a different reaction, and result in better execution of the system of play.
Counselling
We tend to forget that athletes are just normal people for much longer than they are sportspeople. In each week there is 168 hours, and a professional athlete may train for 20-30 of those hours, That leaves roughly 140 hours a week when they are mere mortals like you and I that are often forgotten about. And as mere mortals, they suffer from pain, depression, pressure, relationship problems (outside and inside the sport), break-ups, sleepless nights, fear, threats, doubts and confidence issues too. These in many cases are exaggerated by the media intrusion or public scrutiny they may be put under. The career of a top-level sports person is usually short (most would be finished by the time an athlete reaches their mid-30's) and fraught with the constant demand to excel, to be the best, to win. They do not know if they will be picked for the next squad, tour, match or tournament. They may suffer a career-threatening injury every time they perform, and are still expected to put their bodies on the line for the good of their sport. Take this down to high-level amateur athletes, such as GAA inter-county players in Ireland, or many Olympians, and they must go endure the above, and also hold down jobs or complete their education. Adding the strains of having children to this and it is clear that the psychologist must be prepared to deal with much more than just performance. While we must be clear that we are not qualified to deal with issues of a clinical nature (depression, anxiety disorders etc), we are trained to help athletes to deal with the normal strains of life. Indeed, a key question in the field is whether what we do is 'just talking' to athletes given how much time is spent discussing day-to-day issues a person may face? A Performance Psychologist will often find that athletes at the highest level have already developed the appropriate skills for dealing with the sporting pressures they face, often finding the sporting field the place they are most at peace, but may be carrying life's difficulties into that other part of themselves, and need help with this. It is evident there is more to the role than executing Mental Conditioning skills.
Culture
Culture is the strongest driving force in our lives outside of our most basic biological needs. It is the reason men and women associate the colour blue with boys and pink with girls, why we talk and interact the way we do. Cultural norms and mores drive much of our higher order behaviours, and due to the social nature of our species, the need to belong, and thus to adhere to group rules, we adapt and succumb to the social environments we find ourselves in. Sport in general, but each sport specifically, has its own culture. Compare football to rugby, in something as simple as a penalty. In both sports it affords the receiving team the chance to get a valuable score, but both are treated differently. In football, jeers, boos, camera flashes etc are directed at the taker in order to put him off, whilst in rugby a mutual silence will often descend on both sets of supporters while the kick is being taken. This simple demonstration indicates the need for any psychologist to attempt to understand the particular cultures of each sport. The way basketball players relate to one another is different to that of golfers, the GAA association with the local community is different to that of an NFL franchise. Each sport must be understood on its own merits.
Deeper than this however, is the culture established within each club, and each team. It is best demonstrated by football clubs such as Manchester United and Barcelona. Manchester United are the most successful team in British history, and much of that success has come under just one manager, Alex Ferguson. His own values and principles have guided the club and its players for over 20 years, and have petered down through, and been displayed by, his various teams in their successes. The phrase 'Fergie time' is no accident, having been long established by countless United victories snatched very very late in games by players refusing to give up a victory. This winning attitude, fight until the last moment for success is expected of all players at the club. They are Manchester United, they win things, they try to play attractive football, and they work each day, each game to be the best. That is their culture, set down primarily by one man to be the guiding principle of every person representing the club, at every age level.
Barcelona, my second example, recently labelled the greatest team in history, have established a different, but no less effective culture. They prize above all an adherence to 'the beautiful game', to total football. Their players play the same system from every level of La Masia (their youth development system) to the senior team. They look for technical and tactical excellence in their players, expecting them to dominate the ball in each game and make the opposition move as they see fit until they are ready to strike. They wish to win every game, but are expected to win in the 'right' way, their demanding fans not content with winning through negative tactics. Under Pep Guardiola they valued work rate and effort above all, and this was made clear to all players entering the team from La Masia or elsewhere.
For a performance consultant, a role may require establishing a culture that produces the best from a given set of players. Development of a set of guiding principles, appropriate punishments, specific roles and responsibilities within the team, the management and the club, the relationship with the senior team and the youth teams, they style of play the club wishes to follow, how the club wishes to be viewed by the outside world, how the players wish to be viewed by the outside world, how training should be structured in order that the players develop and perform to their maximum, how instructions and team meetings can be optimized, and how to aid in team bonding (i.e. team spirit) or focus of the team on common goals may all be areas that require input from a performance consultant.
Who we work with
Individual athletes - Sport Psychology is most associated with athletes in individual sports (Tennis, Golf etc), but is often utilized by individual athletes in team sports (David James and Ron Artest/Metta World Peace being famous examples). Certain players may feel the need for the skills of a Performance Psychologist on top of their current backroom teams, and hire them personally or ask their clubs/teams to make one available.
Teams - The group dynamics of a team make them very exciting to work with. The differing personalities and individual goals, coupled with the shared goals and responsibilities make this a challenging environment for coaches and psychologists alike. Work with teams may involve mental conditioning, bonding, establishing an appropriate culture, small group work (ie with units within the team such as defenders/attackers, specific positions), and often individual work too. It must always be remembered that the team cannot function without the individuals, but the individuals cannot function without the team.
Managers/Coaches - often the forgotten men within performance psychology, managers and coaches also suffer from the difficulties facing athletes, often worsened by longer hours and taking sole responsibility for their actions (a team player can share blame). They may benefit from counselling, but more commonly, their coaching may be supplemented and improved by the presence of a psychologist, who, similar to a Strength and Conditioning coach, or a Physiotherapist, bring specialist knowledge that the coach may not possess.
Governing Bodies - Performance Psychologists may be brought in to help governing bodies to develop coaching processes appropriate to certain age (and developmental) ranges, and to provide environments that provide players of whatever sport it may be to excel at their given sport, at every level.
Research - Research is not everything in applied fields, and similarly applied knowledge is useless without sound research to back it up. As such, Performance Psychologists may be exclusively involved in either research, applied work, or both. Much of the knowledge gained in Sport Psychology research is gained from cross-divisional research within Psychology at large (Social Psychology, Developmental/Child Psychology/Organisational Psychology), and much Sport Psychology research has been applied to other fields, notably business coaching.
That was a rather long-winded way of making something very simple sound very complicated, and of simplifying something rather complicated. I hope this has provided you with an idea of what Performance/Sport Psychologists do.
Thank you for taking the time to read my blog,
IC
