Fernando Alonso, one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time, discussed the importance of preparation. Knowing he has prepared the best he can allows him to perform almost like a robot on the day. One substantial aspect of preparation is training.
Training is fundamental for development. It is the place where we learn and refine our skills. We try new things and iterate. It is where we improve and get better. Athletes and performers alike understand the importance of training. Olympic athletes will train for years for a competition that only comes around once every four years. The competition is where you showcase the hard work you have put in during your training.
Training is the time when we can focus on implementing and improving all the relevant aspects of performance, going from the technical, tactical and physical. Most athletes and performers have the training for these aspects done for them. Can the same be said for the psychological aspect? It is getting there.
One thing we need to understand is that the mental aspect, the psychological aspect, needs to be trained just like the other aspects. We cannot expect to improve our mental game if we do not prioritise practice. That is why developing a mental training routine that is integrated into your overall training routine is important for your own development.
But how do we do it?
Work with a sports psychologist
If you are lucky enough to have access to a sports psychologist in your sporting or performance domain, utilise them. If not, you can develop a mental training routine on your own but it is much easier to seek out a sports psychologist. Many private consultants can also help. They will help you understand your context and what interventions, techniques and strategies will help you best. There are so many different things you can try to help develop your mental game and it can be overwhelming to start with. A sports psychologist will you overcome this overwhelming feeling and implement interventions that help you.
Start with awareness
If you want to start this on your own, then the first thing to do is develop self-awareness. Without an understanding of how you think, feel and behave in situations, it is hard to implement change that is gonna help you. We also need to understand what challenges we have and what potential things might help us. Becoming an expert on yourself is the fundamental pillar for mental development in sports and performance.
How can you improve self-awareness? Use these two things:
Keep a thought diary. Every day, write down a situation that happened, the thoughts that came up with the situation, the feelings you felt (rate the intensity out of 10), the bodily sensations you felt (rate the intensity out of 10) and the behaviour (what you did). Do this at least once a day.
Practice mindfulness of breath. Focus on the feeling of breathing in and out. Notice where you feel the in and out breath and focus on it. If you get distracted, that is ok, just bring yourself back to your breath. Do this for 4/5 minutes a day and increase it once you start to improve.
Learn and research
Once you have spent time becoming more self-aware, you will start to realise the challenges you have and how you respond to situations. You can then start to research about the certain area you need to develop. Whether it’s you’ve noticed you don’t deal with mistakes very well or you get nervous before a big game, you need to go and find out what you can do to help you in those situations. There are plenty of books on sports and performance psychology that are aimed at athletes and performers.
Apply
Alongside learning and researching, you need to start applying what you are reading about. If you find a certain technique that looks useful for your situation, go and give it a go. Try it out. Get direct feedback from it. Not every technique or intervention will work for you. We are all unique. It is up to you to find what works for you and how it works for you. We can spend time trying to find the perfect technique, however going out there and actively trying things is the best way to find what works. Don’t be worried if one doesn’t work for you, just try something else.
Schedule time to practice
Once you have found a few techniques that work for you, schedule time throughout the week to practice them and iterate on them. This is essential for psychological development. Without practice, we limit how effective the techniques can be. You wouldn’t learn how to do a skill in a sport once and not keep practising it, would you? The same goes for psychological skills. Let’s show you an example of a weekly mental training routine:
Complete thought diary every day
5x 5 minutes of mindfulness of breath
3x 10 minutes of imagery practice
1x performance reflection completed
1x competition planning
1x training reflection
Now the above is just a random example I just made up so don’t go away trying to use it and thinking thats all you have to do. Like I said before, there are so many different techniques, strategies, skills, and approaches that you can utilise. You just need to find what works for you and then practice it.
I hope this has been insightful for you. Developing the psychological aspect of your performance can be fulfilling and amazing once you get over the overwhelming initial feelings. I would highly recommend working with a sports psychologist as they can help take away these initial overwhelming feelings. Funnily enough, I am one of those if you couldn’t tell already! I am always looking to help people so if you are interested, reach out to me via my email drodgerssportpsych@gmail.com or check out my website https://www.thesportingbrain.com/.
