Psychological Skills Training

One aspect of cognition that differs in elite and less skilled athletes is an attentional focus. Numerous studies have demonstrated that during a performance, skilled players direct their attention on their movements’ outcomes ( an external focus of attention) whereas less skilled players orient their attention on their body movements ( an internal focus of attention). This differing role of attention in athletes is explained within the automatization thesis (Bernstein, 1996), according to which experts have highly automatic motor skills due to continuous practice, thus focusing on the movements’ outcomes promotes a more automatic control which leads to efficient movements and high performance. Conversely, the motor

Yogi Berra of the New York Yankees once started, “Baseball is 90% mental, and the other half is physical.”

Culley and Bond's Integrative Skills Model is another example of a counselling approach. This is important primarily due to the fact that the person-centred approach was developed in counselling. The focus is on developing skills and using them effectively. Subsequently, we may become competent in an 'unconcious' way in applying these skills in a counselling approach to guidance. This is a 3-stage model with a beginning, middle and end. As with Egan's model, Culley and Bond aim to bring structure to an activity which could be seen as' random or chaotic'. When talking about the exploratative aspect of the model, Culley and Bond (2004) suggest:

Something that has always been in my life and repeatedly been said to me, or mentioned is that during a sporting event everything is mental. Now what I have always wondered was that everything in the mental game is based on one’s own preferences, the way one thinks and processes information and how he reacts to a situation. There are various components of an athlete’s mental game such as motivation, agility, confidence; all of which contribute in actual competitions, games or even at practice. More importantly, confidence is more complex because it is what is affected most of the mental game, that’s what makes or breaks an athlete, and that can be affected by a coach, parent, or negative teammate, it’s not just personal thoughts reflecting

Every elite athlete has psychological training and uses the process of goal setting in order to enhance their performance. Goal setting is used to enhance concentration, build self confidence and to manage time and other resources. (Tony M 1995, page 259)

One of the more prevailing ideologies attached to athletes and coaches alike is the more training one completes the better performance can be obtained. While this method has proven to push athletes to crush records, there comes a point in this action plan when excessive training will cause an athlete to plateau or even deteriorate in performance ability (Wilmore, Costill, & Kenney, 2011). This particular method to training has sparked many a research study in which it is generally found that athletes who train in an excess of double the volume of a typical training program see no additional benefits to performance (Wilmore et al., 2011). There are several consequences to this type of training with the top two being overtraining syndrome and

Your brain is what powers your arms, legs, and your entire body and allows you to run as fast and as far as you can. Physical strength is just as important too, you need to have strong legs to run long distances. We also run to survive, as the author quoted, “Every morning in Africa, an antelope wakes up. It knows it must outrun the fastest lion, or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest antelope or it will starve. It doesn’t matter whether you’re the lion or the antelope- when the sun comes up, you’d better be running.” (67) What the author means is that you have to keep running, and you have to have a strong mind when doing so because it is your own mind that will allow you to give up, and if you were an antelope or even a lion, that would be bad news to you. Your brain, and your thoughts are what cause you to stop running or give up. That’s why mental agility is so important in sports, you need to think in order to know what to do. Not only that, but Heinrich also states, “I get choked up when I see a kid, or anyone else, fighting hopeless odds- someone who goes out there to run the lonely roads with a dream in the heart, a gleam in the eye, and a goal in mind. I admire those who have the courage to step up to the line of a great race to run their heart out for a dream.” (71)This quote proves that it takes hard work and lots of willpower to get to where you’d like to be in sports, and your mental strength is just as important as your physical strength. You need to think positive thoughts to gain courage to move on too, even if it means you have to run alone. You just need to follow your own path, and run as fast and as hard as you

Lastly, all of the body has to be working properly in order to have an efficient and accurate athlete. Our mind, muscles, and lungs all work together to make the perfect balance between mental and physical talent. “And our minds, as much as our lungs and muscles, are a vital force that empowers our running.” (Heinrich 68). This quote clearly demonstrates to the reader how to think of mental strength as your drive to do something, but physical power to be the thing that will execute your plan and finish

Even though, there continues to be mental training for athletes, which include several steps of mental preparedness

These objectives are based on CBT, strength-based/solution-focused theories and person-centered way of being. To facilitate the process, a key first step in CBT often involves psychoeducation to explain that thoughts underlie feelings and actions. Through evaluating thinking in a more realistic way, the clients are guided to develop more adaptive and positive ways of responding to the situations and triggers in their lives and experience improvement in their emotional state and behavior. Some of the major experiential strategies, skills, and techniques utilized in CBT are re-framing and Socratic questioning, which help clients challenge their thinking and assess their beliefs in terms of their usefulness and relevance (Seligman & Reichenberg, 2013). Other powerful methods that would intersect with person-centered approach is daily diary keeping of events, thoughts, and feelings, which helps people increase awareness of their inner and outer experiences. By using other CBT techniques such as modeling and role-playing (e.g., interviewing), counselors assist clients in learning new skills and behaviors to function more effectively. Finally, by learning relaxation techniques such as meditation and deep breathing, the client gains skills to manage stress and anxiety, and appreciate that whatever thoughts come up are okay and that he does not have to react to

Mental practice proves to be beneficial when individuals of every skill level use it as a tool in preparation for the performance of a motor skill. From novice learners acquiring new skills to professional athletes visualizing the movement and allowing for maximum readiness going into a competition, mental imagery can provide an advantage when combined with physical practice. It can be used at various times including the learning phase and even during the completion itself. When an athlete visualizes how they will perform, it in a way sets them up for wither success or failure, depending on their anxiety levels and other factors. The articles above all point toward one common idea, the idea that when mental practice when combined along with physical practice, can benefit the results of the individual. The timing of the practice does not matter whether it be in the learning phase of new skill acquisition or prior to the performance of a well-learned skill, there can be

competitive advantage. Hence, it is essential to study mental toughness and other psychological characteristics of the athletes.

In earlier days sports psychology was mostly concerned with developing assessment methods that would identify those people with the potential to become serious superior athletes. Today the focus is on psychological training, exercises that strengthen the mental skills that will help athletic performances on the path to excellence. These skills include mental imagery and focus training. If an athlete is serious about becoming the best he or she can possibly be, the most essential ingredient is commitment to practice the right things. It takes incredible commitment to reach the top: a commitment to rest and train the body so it can perform under the most demanding conditions and a commitment to train the mind to

Common knowledge is that participating in sports, represents a form of physical activity. By the same token, studying for a test, performing classwork, and taking notes illustrates performing mental activities. What might not be so common is that physical activity actually produces increased brain functionality. An article published by Florida National University elaborates, “Whether children, teenagers, or adults – studies have consistently demonstrated that physically active people remain healthier and are able to perform better on tests of cerebral or intellectual ability…Most studies show that the more exercise one gets, the higher one’s mental faculties and cerebral performance.” (Florida National University, 2014, para. 1 & 2). Given this information, it can further be expanded that the demands of participating in sports activities such as, games and practice, which can be considered physical activity, relates back to increased mental performance that has the potential to emerge in the

Mental toughness is not a new concept in sport, but is generally misunderstood. Coaches design programmes to develop mentally tough athletes, predominately in professional sport, to separate elite performers from good performers (Gould, Jackson, & Finch, 1993) as physical talent itself is not the only component that can lead an athlete to success (Gucciardi, Gordon, & Dimmock, 2008).