While mental skills can help improve athletic performance, they can also be applied to other areas of life. Photo / Getty Images
These coaches help professional athletes achieve their goals through mental preparation - and they could help you, too.
Simone Biles, Iga Swiatek, Russell Wilson – these very different athletes have one thing in common: they have each sought help from sport psychologists to regain focus, manage anxiety, stay motivated and cope with setbacks.
A growing number of athletes and teams have turned to sport psychologists, in part because of the research that suggests mental skills can improve athletic performance. But these strategies aren’t just for elite athletes. With a little practice, they can be applied to any endeavour, whether it’s giving a big presentation at the office or taking a driving test.
In one study of more than 44,000 people, those who were briefly trained in sport psychology techniques such as visualisation and self-talk performed better on average against a computer-simulated opponent than those who had not received the training.
“Like physical training, the gains come with repetition and reflection,” said Andrew M. Lane, a professor of sport and exercise psychology at the University of Wolverhampton in Britain and the lead author of the study.
We asked Lane and other sport psychologists to share their best tips for improving performance, no matter the venue.
It’s common to focus on one do-or-die goal, like running a marathon in under four hours. But this creates a lot of pressure, and uncontrollable roadblocks like illness or bad weather could get in the way.
Instead of setting rigid expectations, consider different layers of goals, said Carla Meijen, a sport psychologist and an assistant professor at the University of Amsterdam.
Try coming up with a dream goal, a “silver goal” and a “bare minimum goal,” Meijen said. This allows you to regain control and make adjustments, rather than fixating on the big goal that you didn’t accomplish.
For example, Meijen, who wrote a book that applies sport psychology principles to pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period, suggested sketching out an ideal scenario for a birth plan but also visualising plan B or C.
While you can always strive for your top goal, it’s not the only way to define success.
In sports and in life, a relentless focus on positivity can become a distraction, said Jack J. Lesyk, the longtime director of the Ohio Center for Sport Psychology. He advises athletes to think about what’s helpful instead.
For example, he added, imagine that a golfer dominated the toughest stretch of the course: the 12th hole. “This is the best round of golf I’ve ever had in my life,” he thinks. “If I keep playing, I’ll set a personal record.”
But this type of positive thinking may end up distracting the player from the task at hand: driving the ball into the 13th hole. In this situation, Lesyk said, the golfer can switch to thoughts that are better aligned with achieving that goal, for example: “Where’s the ball now? Where do I want it to go next? How can I make that happen?”
Cue words are reminders – like “stay balanced” or “commit to the move” – that can help an athlete stay focused on what matters and manage the pressures of their sport when something goes wrong, Lane said.
Athletes may also incorporate a quick movement to physically “shake off” a mistake. A swimmer might flick the water off their goggles, for example.
Similar strategies can be used in other settings. If you’re working from home and find yourself fixating on a problem, you might pause to lie on the floor for a few minutes, grab a drink of water, or do a quick stretch from your office chair to signal to your brain and body that it’s time to pivot.
Athletes are often taught to mentally rehearse success – imagining their movements before time lights up the same areas of the brain that they use when they’re performing, reinforcing their skills and helping to calm their nerves.
Lesyk recommends visualising a task bit by bit.
Say you’ve been practising for an important presentation at work. During your first mental rehearsal, start small and work backward. “Imagine the ending first,” Lesyk said. Later, imagine the last two steps and successively add more steps. Then try to visualise the entire thing from start to finish.
You may want to devote extra time imagining the part of the presentation that you’re most concerned about. “For me the first few minutes are the most important,” he added.
This is simpler than taking on the more difficult task of visualising every single step it takes to achieve your full goal, but it still helps your brain prepare for the moment, Lesyk said.
We can resolve to go to the gym three times a week, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re going to immediately achieve sculpted muscles. What we can control is how much effort and preparation we put in.
Elite performers “spend little time worrying about the factors they do not control,” said Brian Foster, an associate teaching professor of sport psychology at Florida State University.
These athletes also understand that they cannot control distractions such as screaming fans or criticism on social media, said Justin Ross, a clinical psychologist who specialises in human performance.
Instead of trying to avoid feeling distracted, ask yourself: “What do I want to pay attention to in this moment?” Ross said. The more you practice this, the better you’ll be when you really need it, he added.
When your identity, self-worth and professional success are too tightly intertwined, a bad day can feel like a failure, Lane said.
But if you’re able to separate your identity from your performance, you recognise that your worth isn’t defined by one result, he added.
Reframing can be an effective strategy. Say you made a mistake at work. Instead of thinking, “I’m not cut out for this,” reflect on the situation: “I was rushing and didn’t double check my work.” Then reframe: “This is a signal that I need to adjust my pacing, not a sign I’m bad at my job.”
Finally, let go like a champ: Make a note of the lesson, maybe pause to take a short walk outside and then move on.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Written by: Christina Caron
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