As you will know i am doing a MSc in sport psychology, and i am already a qualified clinical psychologist working in adult mental health. Of course i'm going to preach what i do, but i can speak from experience in knowing how effective the mind can be in overcoming performance doubts that set in. I've very aware of club mates in Celtic Tri who voice concerns, or little self-doubts, for which a few psychological skills can be incredibly powerful. After a conversation with a colleague in work today i'm inspired to pursue my passion further, and the start of that is sharing some little hints that might help others out there with their tri-career, as it helps mine every day :)
"I can, I will" is a saying i came up with to convince myself that i could overcome my inability to swim with my head in the water due to never having learnt to breathe properly when swimming. After copious amounts of water being swallowed i got it and now, whilst my swimming will never win an olympic medal, i am now comfortable in the pool and my technique has come on leaps and bounds.
The power of the mind is immense...when you start doubting yourself, "oh that hill looks too steep, i won't be able to cycle up it" - if you say that to yourself then chances are you'll be right, you have just talked yourself out of that hill. However, if you learn to use positive self talk, such as "i know i can do it, i just have to keep moving, keep my legs ticking over, each turn of the legs is one metre nearer the top" then you'll find that you start achieving what previously had seemed too hard. You have to learn key words, key phrases that work for you. That might be a focus on technique, or a performance goal, such as "right, get to that next lamppost...right, let's try for that next one...", or have a reward set up ready for afterwards, mine is a junk food indulgent evening after a race, so when the pain sets in and i start thinking "oh i'm not sure if i can keep this pace up" i think to myself "keep going, keep pushing, you'll get to the end quicker and then you can have your dominos".
Another way of challenging those niggling self-doubts, or negative thoughts that set in, is to ask yourself what evidence you have for that belief. If there's no evidence then why are you talking yourself out of it? Anything is possible if you set your mind to it. Remember
a thought is just a thought, not necessarily a fact. Often the thoughts we have are beliefs or opinions, but they don't have to influence our behaviour if we learn to recognise them as negative thoughts and let them go; just as clouds come and go in the sky, so thoughts come and go of their own accord. You just need to learn to focus your attention on the task in hand and not get caught up in the spiral of negative thinking (this spiral will then affect your emotions, your physical sensations and ultimately your behaviour).
Another powerful tool is imagery, imagining yourself getting up that hill, imagining yourself keeping a high cadence, imagining yourself keeping your pace up and finishing that race strong. You can imagine during a performance, but you can also imagine perfecting a technique, or a part of the race (such as transition) before the event. I imagine transition as i'm setting up my transition area and when i'm finding the routes in and out of transition. I also imagine the swim going well and if i get a bit anxious in the swim then i use self-talk and say to myself "keep your stroke long, keep breathing steady, each stroke is a bit nearer the end", etc.
These are just a few ideas, and there are many more. It's an individual thing, you have to find what works for you, but i see sport psychology as a vital aspect of training, not just to be used when a problem arises. Research has consistently shown that those people who regularly use skills such of these alongside their day to day training, recovery, nutrition plans etc. perform better than those athletes who neglect the training of the mind. If you want more ideas let me know, i'm hoping before long that this will be a side venture for me, but i'm very keen to help others as there is no reason why people can't reach their full potential, they just have to believe it's possible.
Happy training and racing folks :)
I enjoyed reading that, nicely done
ReplyDeleteWell put Hayley, people should also set realistic goals and not expect too much of themselves, too soon. It's all too easy to get disheartened by not reaching goals instead of seeing how much improvement has been made and feeling good about it. I agree with your reward idea, I used to have a gym and chips night once a week, no gym meant no chips! I didn't miss a session, lol, and lost weight gradually in the process. Now the cold can of Guinness waiting at the finish line works as my 'carrot' when I'm struggling.
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