Last summer Indianapolis sports fans were treated to the best of amateur athletics. The Pam Am Games brought together some of the world’s most elite athletes who competed in such diverse events as gymnastics, basketball, canoeing, soccer, and wrestling.
Although the sports were different, the athletes shared two similar, observable characteristics: 1) exceptionally coordinated, well-conditioned, finely tuned bodies seemingly capable of defying laws of gravity and limits of human endurance: 2) a ferocious competitiveness akin to the animal instinct for survival. The fans could easily sense the intense energy the competitors emitted, and the spectators thrilled to the vicarious experience of having their own athletic potential tapped.
As fascinating as these athletic spectacles are to watch, there is another hidden and even more dramatic arena which rarely is exposed to the general public, Here, an athlete competes not only with an opponent butt with a much more powerful and sometimes more fearful adversary self doubts, fears, and interfering personal problems. This arena is, of course, the mind of the athlete, the mysterious psyche.
Clinical sport psychologists have developed some interesting techniques, which have enabled athletes to explore and share this secret world. One such procedure is the Clinical Assessment of Sport Performance (CASP) previously discussed in the December 1985 edition of INDY SPORTS. The heart of this particular approach is to conduct an individualized personality assessment of a participant and then to have the athlete do a cognitive analysis of an actual competitive event. This means that he will watch a close up videotape of his most recent performance and record all his thoughts and feelings before, during and after the event. By analyzing the athlete’s mental state when he competes in relationship to his personality and actual competitive performance, a psychological training program can be developed to maximize his potential.
Seven members of the Pan Am X Wrestling team participated in the CASP analysis, and a tremendous amount of data was accumulated. Three case studies identifying specific mental distraction and their cognitive solutions are summarized below.
Case 1. A very talented, experienced wrestler lost in a preliminary match to a relatively unknown, inexperienced grappler from a small county. Since little was known about his opponent, little was expected. The cognitive analysis revealed damaging thoughts, which significantly lowered his vigilance. Self talk such as “I should get this guy easy” and “My next match will be the tough one” gave the athlete a false sense of confidence. An assistant coach’s remark assuring him the he should win easily only compounded the problem.
Solution. Cognitive restructuring, changing one’s thoughts, is the key to preventing overconfidence. Thoughts designed to heighten one’s vigilance, especially against an unknown entity, should be used. I believe this wrestler would have won had he been thinking, “I have no idea what this guy can do, I must be ready for anything” or if the coach would have warned “Be careful, you don’t know anything about him, and he looks dangerous.”
Case 2. A talented young athlete had to forfeit his match because he did not get on the mat within the allocated time. Although he knew the approximate time he was to wrestle, he lost touch with the tempo of how quickly the preceding events were ending. When he was supposed to be wrestling, he was in the locker room talking and joking with other team members. Obviously, his mind was not focused on his upcoming match. Could this have been predicted and prevented? A review of his training program revealed he had also “forgotten” a scheduled team meeting two days before.
Solution. The first step in helping an athlete who has mental lapses is to have him accept full responsibility. To blame others or to accept excuses for one’s mistakes only increases the probability that similar errors will occur in the future. Once total personal responsibility is assumed, every athlete should develop and implement a total pre-match mental warm up routine. Specific mental stages can be cued by external events. Entering the gymnasium, getting dressed, warming up, seeing the start of the match immediately before, walking on the mat, shaking hands with an opponent, and hearing the referee’s whistle are all clearly delineated points which can signal to a wrestler that he needs to go into a deeper, more intense mental state of alertness. The young athlete described above had no such plan, and he and his teammates paid a very high price.
Case 3. A superior, world class wrestler was eliminated from the finals by a weaker competitor because he, the American, was moving slower than normal, wasn’t executing properly, and generally seen to be out of sync with his normal aggressive wrestling style. The cognitive analysis revealed he was feeling confused and hesitant with a great deal of self-doubt. Psychologically, he was describing a state of depression, which was apparently precipitated by the recent break up with his girlfriend. The personal problem not only affected his mind but his entire body. He was mentally and physically sluggish and got beaten not by a physically better wrestler but an emotionally healthier one.
Solution. As with the other examples, an identification of the problem is the first step in removing the psychological obstacles to athletic excellence. In this case, the athlete’s self-thoughts and images were those, which were saying in effect that he was no good, unworthy, and deserving of being beat. Another subconscious fantasy he seemed to be entertaining was that if he lost, his girlfriend would feel sorry for what she had done to him and would come to him in his hour of need. The antidote for this type of self defeating thinking is to have this athlete think a variety of self confirming thoughts such as “I’ll be the next Olympic and World Champion and she’ll rue the day she let our relationship end” and, “When I bring home the Gold, I’ll have my pick of beautiful, intelligent women.”
The USA team came in second to the Cubans, losing by one point. If only one of the athletes described above had won, the team would have been victorious. In each of these three cases, specific identifiable psychological factors appeared to have seriously interfered with their athletic performances. Now that some of these mental obstacles have been identified for these three wrestlers, other athletes and coaches can learn to avoid similar errors in the future and can elect to become mentally stronger. Through careful planning and hard work, the mind and the body can be in harmony. Only then can the universal goal of each athlete be reached: athletic perfection.
Reprinted from Indy Sports February 1988
Lawrence B. Lennon, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist and Clinical Director of Lennon & Associates, PC. and The Family Bonding & Attachment Center. Copyright 1991, Revised 2000
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