The ultimatum of technical proficiency is to ensure that strength, endurance and other training benefits are efficiently translated into effective improvisation of on-field performances. But, does psychology play a significant role in these translations? Let's find out!
Amongst various psychological factors, mental toughness of a player has always been highly associated with their performance. This factor attributes performance translations via numerous pathways which involves the scrutiny of the entire system!
"Mental toughness is a measure of individual resilience and confidence that may predict success in sport, education and the workplace."
According to Dr. Alan Goldberg, appreciable levels of mental toughness can benefit the athlete via two major channels;
The ability to focus the flow of positive energy during crisis and adversity,
The ability to think specific and appropriate course of actions under situations so as to hold the right attitudes regarding problems, pressure, mistakes and competition.
A strong interconnection exists between thoughts, feelings and actions. We need to realise that our thoughts affect our feelings and our feelings affect our actions. Thus it is absolutely important to focus on "Mental Toughness" even during training because this provides a function of harnessing the power of the mind at complex situations. A variety of sports psychology studies have concluded that, amongst the other psychological aspects of performance during events, "Mental Toughness" directly relates to performance. Mental toughness facilitates the ability to consistently perform at the upper range of one’s talent and skill regardless of competitive circumstances. Both the athletes and the coaches can be benefited by knowing their level of mental toughness so that they can train accordingly .
"Based on my observations during the course time as a National Rower, I noticed that a few rowers took it hard on bad performances and losses and it had a huge negative impact on their upcoming repercharge events."
A lot among the existing psychological aspects are highly correlatable between the genders. We decided to check this out with a proper scientific experiment for assessing the levels of mental toughness amongst the athletes, placing gender as the locus of interest. The Questions to answer was " If mental toughness levels portrayed any differences amongst the genders? And if it did, by how much do they vary?"
So what we did?
On a curious note we tested 30 National athletes who were administered with the mental toughness questionnaire. The study population was composed of 15 male and 15 female athletes. This was created by Dr. Alan Goldberg. It deduces the mental toughness levels by assessing the following parameters:
Ability to handle pressure
Re-boundability
Focus/Concentration
Confidence
Motivation
The scores were marked in accordance with the questionnaire. The data was then run for a statistical ANOVA test. The result was quite surprising. The difference amongst the genders were not quite significant. The overall scores were quite higher with males. Astonishingly, the numbers were not quite different however significant. The only significant aspect was " the ability to handle pressure" in which the male athletes were predominating. The overall scores depicted that the males possessed higher mental toughness levels than their female counter parts. Except for the "ability to handle pressure" factor, all the other factors had a very marginal, insignificant difference amongst the genders (the males were topping). Â Â
Conclusion:
In terms of statistics and science, mental skill seems to be a very essential factor for the athlete's success. I feel it is crucial that the athlete and the coaches realise the importance of mental training and its effects on performance. There are a lot of ways to prepare ones mind. The coaches can take the assistance of certified and knowledgable sports psychologists to perfect the art of preparing the "mental fitness" for the athletes. Few of the suggestions/methods which are widely used are;
Relaxation techniques - breathing exercises and progressive muscle relaxation technique.
Refocus routines
Performance mantras
Thought stopping
Positive self-imagery (can include meditation)
Positive cue words
Positive self-talk
S.M.A.R.T. Goal settings ( Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relatable, Time bound)
There are numerous studies which prove listening to music, podcast and/or watching motivational movies can produce a positive effect on performance in a significant manner.
What is actually happening in India?
Many might wonder! If the effects of mental fitness is of such importance, why are many of the coaches not considering them on a serious note? It is fairly true that most of the training programmes and plans often miss out the schedules for psychological regards. Even if planned the coaches do not emphasise their importance to the athletes. A few coaches don't believe that it works and few believe it's just a waste of time for diminutive outcome. Few coaches have even proclaimed that psychology is just a lying business. But Science and numbers cannot be lying. The calculations and science conjugately support the evidence that psychology is also a strong determining factor of athletic performance.
And as straight as a die, it's not all a coach's fault. On a fair note, athletes' attitude varies a lot with mental training. Not all respond in a positive way. The level of confidence is highly variable amongst athletes. The coaches, over a long term of experience and exposure have evidently seen the negative sides of over-confidence. This is one of the main reasons that the coaches worry when it comes to Sports Psychology and Mental training sessions. Whatever the excuse maybe, it is with no doubt that the effects of psychology in athletic performance is often ignored! Be it a matter of doubt on the outcome or the fear of negative effects!!
"There is definitely one agreeable fact! at least with the Indian athletic population! It is quite a cold play….. a hard walk….to maintain the balance between confidence and over confidence. That is one of the main reasons why few of the coaches try to avoid psychological interventions."