Food for thought....

Refreshing my mind today, towards the race day...

MIND ~ THE FINAL FRONTIER
THE levels to which an athlete will perform on any given day is dependant on five main factors physical attributes, mental attributes, level of technical skill, strategic awareness, and chance. Included under chance are all those variables which are not under the athlete's control such as the conditions and quality of the opposition. As there are always some uncontrollable factors, performance inevitably fluctuates to some extent. A consistent player is one who keeps this range of fluctuation to a minimum.

This is preparation controlling as many of the controllables as possible. The more factors that are controlled, the better prepared one is to compete, and the less one leaves to chance. The most successful athletes leave as little to chance as possible. While most athletes acknowledge the importance of mind, very few have in the past however focused on controlling it in a systematic way. Consequently, the influence it has on performance is left to chance, thereby increasing the inconsistency of performance.

Most athletes, when asked what percentage of their performance is determined by mental factors, will typically answer anywhere between 20 and 99 per cent. (In reality there is no way of knowing the correct answer to this question). The point though is that insofar as mental preparation is often not taken into account, it offers a wonderful opportunity to get an edge over other competitors who physically and skill-wise are at similar levels.

Often overlooked, one of the reasons why this important aspect is often overlooked is that people simply do not know how to improve it. Going to gym to work your muscles is one thing, but how do you train the brain?

In South Africa there has been some activity in the field of sport psychology over the past two decades. Since readmission to international sport in 1991 however, there has been a significant increase in demand for such services by athletes, coaches and sports administrators.

An important role of the sport psychologist is thus an educational one, teaching mental skills to help improve performance.The aims of sport psychology are thus to improve the general well-being and sports performance of the athlete. The latter function is fulfilled by teaching basic mental skills which all serious athletes should have. Once these have been learnt, they can be thought of as tools available for use when necessary. Examples include the ability to relax under pressure,effective goal-setting skills,and developing a personal blueprint for getting out of a performance slump.

The athlete's general well-being is however of equal importance. Relationship difficulties, low self-esteem, as well as other more traditional psychological domains, can significantly affect sports performance.

Not a panacea, anyone who expects an athlete to perform at a consistently high level at the expense of a life outside of sport is short-sighted. Athletes are only able to maintain good performance over time, if they lead a healthily balanced life. Sport psychology is of course not a panacea. Neither is it the quickfix which athletes typically want it to be.

This is not to imply that contact with the psychologist needs to be on an ongoing basis, but rather that the skills which the psychologist teaches the athlete need to be practised in order to derive their maximum benefit. In this regard, psychological skills are no different from physical or technical skills. Perhaps the greatest benefit which psychology can offer is awareness.

The athlete needs to become a student not only of his sport, but also of himself. It is only through awareness, that he can be sure of making changes to training, preparation and performance, which are appropriate for him, and which will be able to be maintained over time.

In closing, there is much which sport psychology has to offer sportsmen and women of all disciplines. In another sense though, we know so little about the mind and how it works. Yet we are learning more every day. In their quest for excellence, the most professional athletes, stay abreast of these developments, while the most progressive sports associations take similar steps to ensure the ongoing overall effectiveness of what is surely their most valuable asset - the players.

And the motivating pictures....
Olesya Krasnomovets of Russia celebrates victory in the women's 400m final during the 11th IAAF World Indoor Championships, at the Olympiyskiy Stadium on 15/03/06, in Moscow, Russia
Women sprinters, like Belarus' Yuliya Nesterenko (winning the 100m race at the 2004 Athen Olympics in 10.93secs) will one day run faster than the men.
Alesia Grate celebrates after winning the juniors Bantum Weight fight against Betrix Farage of Hungary in Stuttgard, Germany on 5/2/06.

It's Scottish invasion, from the kilted men serving as backdrop, to the Tartan plaid suits, velvet capes, and flannel trousers marching down the runway. Look for Roddy Piper??? :)


Don't underestimate... women are stronger...
:)