Mental training in sports
published 11 Aug 2008, MST
Mental training as an essential part of the athletic preparation is not a recent discovery. It has been used around the world, by thousands of athletes, in all sports and at all competition levels from varsity tournaments to the Olympics.
Its effects are not disputed. The common—and fairly accurate view is that mental preparedness gives an athlete an edge among others,assuming they are of equal physical prowess and are subjected to equally rigorous physical training.
A book by Steven Ungerleider, Ph.D, Mental Training for Peak Performance, discusses the benefits of mental training through examples culled from actual international athletes, sporting events and interviews with the athletes themselves and their coaches.
Ungerleider, a collegiate varsity gymnast in earlier days, enumerates mental techniques that have been proven benefit athletes. Among these: building confidence with affirmation and self-talk; clearing the mind with breathing and meditation; maximizing performance with mental snapshots; relaxing to cool down and rev up; improving the game with guided imagery; using visual rehearsal to fine-tune one’s style; tapping into the power of dreams and getting psyched without losing one’s edge. The succeeding chapters discuss the application of these techniques in specific sports.
Amid the worldwide hype on the Beijing Olympics, we Filipinos continue to pin our hopes on Team Philippines, much too aware the gold has eluded us since we first participated in the Games in 1924.
What seems to be the problem? Are we essentially an non-athletic people? Or simply not up to par with the capabilities of other athletes in the world?
Like most of us are inclined to say, Arnold Lopez does not think so. There must be ways to unleash the best in our sportsmen so that the Philippines, like the Russians or Americans or Chinese, could be known for reaping sports medals internationally. He says it is a matter of tuning up our advantages so that they translate into tangible results, namely, victories in competitions.
Lopez is not talking above his head. He has a doctorate in clinical psychology and has been giving lectures in mental training for varsity athletes in numerous universities—Letran, La Salle, UP. He also teaches sports psychology at the University of Santo Tomas Graduate School. In 2003, he was tapped by the Table Tennis Association of the Philippines to administer a mental training program for its athletes. That year, and for the first time, the Philippine women’s team won the Southeast Asian International Table Tennis Championship.
That may have been nothing but a happy coincidence. But it was more likely due to the fact that it was the first time the team underwent intensive training under a program that spanned the course of and complemented their physical preparations.
It also helps that Lopez is, himself, an athlete. He used to be a varsity table tennis player. He continues to play the sport to unwind, to stay fit, and nurture friendships with players and coaches he has come to know over the years. The theories he preaches about don’t just float in the air they translate into muscle action.
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Of course, Lopez says, mental training amounts to nothing if there is no physical capability in the first place. Inherent ability is a given, and so are religious training and discipline. He emphasizes, nonetheless, that sports is more than a physical exercise. The body has its limits, after all. On the contrary, the mind does not.
Two examples come to mind. In the 2008 Wimbledon Championships, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal slugged it out for hours. Both were simply exceptional tennis players. But toward the end, it was the latter, displaying more consistent moves, more managed psychological arousal and better concentration, who bagged the title.
Another illustration is the 2007 World Pool Championship held here in the country last November. Twenty-nine-year-old Roberto Gomez, previously unheard of, promised to be a superstar against his opponent, England’s Daryl Peach. The Filipino was off to a good start, but alas, he could not sustain his advantage. “Kinapos,” Lopez says. The Englishman was more mentally composed.
Here in the Philippines, it appears that the value of mental training a programmed one, he hastens to add, in contrast to sporadic attempts by sedentary pseudo-psychologists, in the form of one-hour lectures or pep-talks here and there is lost on coaches, team owners and sports authorities altogether. They focus too much on the physical conditioning of the players without regard for the well-being of the individuals.
And yet they expect their players to be confident and focused, and bag medals and trophies here and there. They dangle the prospect of millions of pesos, of cars, of national pride. All of these spell extrinsic motivation. But how is all this possible when athletes themselves, just like any other fellow on the street, has some psychological baggage or anxieties that impede optimum performance?
Or maybe some coaches are convinced, Lopez concedes. They have just not incorporated this conviction into their budgets. These things come at a price, after all.
On the other hand, some athletes themselves are not keen on the idea. They find the sessions funny or awkward. They believe they already have all it takes to succeed. Sigh.
Victory in sports has a unifying effect on a nation. Notice how empty the streets become (and how traffic eases up) during a Manny Pacquiao fight. Even political squabbles come to a pause to celebrate such a victory. Would it not be nice if we can enhance the capabilities of our athletes in multi-dimensional ways?
