Chronicles of a sports psychologist

Honestly, I wasn’t sure on what to begin with on Sportskeeda as I certainly didn’t want to start off with why sport psychology is still in its infancy in India. Being a sports psychologist, I always advise people to identify the challenge (much better than using the word ‘problem’) and focus on the solution rather than being stuck with the issue at hand. Hence, I thought it would be better to share my experience as a sports psychologist, and also highlight some of the core areas to start with.

Peak performance is a combination of physical and mental skills. While athletes spend a good part of their day training physically, very few either know or have the dedication for mental practice. When you come to look at it, during any competition, it’s how well you manage your mind and nerves that decides the outcome, as the physical training component is always on track. Yet, it is surprising that ‘mind training’ is not given its due importance, especially when you know how much it impacts performance.

So what exactly is sport psychology? Sports psychology is all about gaining a mental edge, whether it is to improve your performance in competition, or to improve your training. Sports performance coach Brian Mackenzie describes sports psychology as “a method of dealing with competitive anxiety, or the stress of training and competition”. Instead of externalising the problem or trusting their luck, athletes can be themselves confident, focused and motivated when they need to be using sports psychology. A sports psychologist can help ensure that an athlete’s mind is in the right place.

Now coming to my experience, I do feel we are much better off than where we were when we started, both in terms of sports and sport psychology awareness. I can see the difference when I meet sports-related personnel. However, to obsess on ‘results’ alone would be undermining the effort of our athletes and academies. You do not become No. 1 in a day; I truly feel the focus ought to be on ‘process-oriented goals’ (as against ‘result-oriented’ alone). True, everyone wants to win and be a champion, but that comes only when one has mastered the game at all levels (physical, mental, tactical, etc.). Hence, I would rate a good fight as an equally good result as a victory, which would then lead to other goals and accomplishments.

Unfortunately, the world wants quick fixes and the demand for that is even higher in sport! Hence, people think sports psychologists are magicians and can make all problems vanish in a day. For example, I had an athlete seeking help just a few days prior to the event. Now, honestly, is the player in a frame of mind to even listen to me? And can he change his approach in a jiffy? All a psychologist or anyone else can do at that juncture is teach them how to handle stress. Surprisingly, even last minute intervention has helped quite a few of them, and they come back. Yet, ideally, it’s advisable to inculcate ‘mind training’ as a fundamental part of sport.

At times, a simple tip may help an athlete, but if there is a deeper underlying problem or block, it will need to be addressed in the long run. Such players lose hope when there is a lack of consistency and revert back to their prior ‘game mind’, which obviously does not provide the desired results.

Also, many a times, the issue is technical and athletes/parents avoid seeing this and try every possible approach from psychology to yoga to deal with the issue. In such cases, more often than not, the psychologist is used as a last resort!

Fortunately, the ‘last minute’ trend has changed and players, coaches and parents now approach psychologists at least a month or so prior to the events, which is a welcome change. This gives the player ample time to open up to the psychologist and work on key areas. Of course, ideally it is better if sport psychology or mental skills training are an integral part in sports training, the way it is in sporting nations such as Australia. This is best explained by the noted German mental trainer Thomas Baschab who stated in the popular German football magazine Kicker, “no athlete would ever stop conditioning training just because he/she has a good level of fitness already; so why should it be any different with mental skills training? You have to constantly practice and update your skills in order to ensure and improve their quality.”

I vividly recall a former Indian basketball player who would hide and come for her sessions, as the coach would say ‘kya psychology!’ The Indian coach apparently believed psychology was for crazy people or problem-stricken athletes alone.

That attitude is pretty widespread among India’s sporting bureaucrats. In an article that appeared recently in TOI, India’s archery hopefuls Jayanta Talukdar and Deepika Kumari said that they ‘lost out due to lack of mental preparation’. Apparently, they had sought the services of a sports psychologist but the Secretary, after initial promises of hiring one, finally made the following comment: “I am your psychologist. Ask me whatever you want”, and they dropped the matter. Sadly, as a result of that, India’s results dipped in archery. It’s disconcerting that even athletes competing at the highest level are not provided with essential support they require. How then can we blame them for not winning medals?

Sport psychology is not just for athletes who have some concerns, but it is to enhance the psychological skills of players to perform to their optimal potential. W. Timothy Gallwey, the author of the Inner Game series of books on tennis, golf and skiing, uses a mantra to explain the importance of the mind. He writes that “Performance equals potential minus interference.” The aim of sports psychology is to get athletes to perform at their best.

A very reassuring trend in India is that coaches and parents of young athletes are realising the importance of training the mind and are trying to provide support to their wards in all areas of sports training. The best group to work with is the younger group; not just for their receptivity, but also because they are not yet conditioned to set patterns the way senior players are.

Sadly in India, most athletes do not want to admit there is a problem; this could be due to the ‘image’ they need to preserve. But at what cost? Will they wait till there is a severe problem? Look at the example of cricketer Praveen Kumar having issues with anger management. My point is, why wait till it gets so bad? Also, a few of them have an ‘I know it all’ attitude, even if they’re not getting the results they want. It’s a little tough to break through this barrier. On the other hand, my experience with Australian cricketers during my doctorate (PhD) was delightfully uplifting. They knew the importance of ‘the mind’ and even senior players were eager to learn more to help stay focused and perform better. One of the reasons for this acceptance could be the importance given to sports science in Australia and UK. If you recall, the Aussies had trouble with their players while touring India this year, and promptly a psychologist was flown in. This explains how essential it is to have a psychologist on board at all times.

Additionally, the coaching staff and parents or significant others of athletes also need to understand ‘what works for athletes’, as they form the main support network. This was highlighted by an elite athlete during a session, who asked “Can you please tell the coach how to behave before our events?’ Of course, I can only subtly tell the coach. The quote explains how essential it is for the coaches and parents to actually understand the ‘mind approach’ as they are constantly with the athlete, and will influence his or her mindset.

I have witnessed numerous occasions wherein the parent of the athlete is the one causing all the trouble. At those times it becomes important to show them how negatively they are impacting the players. Constantly criticizing and complaining will add to the existing pressure, and would not help the athlete in any way. There may be some athletes who could work well when negatively psyched, but does this strategy work for all athletes? Also, we need to remember to keep the athletes in the best state possible if we expect them to perform to their best ability!

I have realized during the course of my work that an integrated approach works best. I remember a pre-conference workshop organised by ISSP (International Society of Sport Psychology) at Sydney wherein the gold medal winning Australian water sports team coach and psychologist conducted a workshop to explain the impact of team work. This approach works best as no other person would know the player as well as the coach, hence receiving a coach’s feedback is doubly important.

More recently, Virender Sehwag, whose blistering unbeaten 95 annihilated Mumbai Indians during IPL 6, has attributed his revival in form to Sir Viv Richards’s ‘bluff’ theory. The former West Indian great, and now mentor for the Delhi Daredevils, told Sehwag to pretend that he was in terrific touch even if he wasn’t, so as not to give the opponents any advantage. As the saying goes, ‘fake it till you make it’; it’s all about quietening the ‘monkey mind’. The former great Viv Richards surely has some good psychology recipes from his experience.

The attitude towards sports psychology in India is changing positively, but it still has a long way to go. Thankfully, athletes, coaches, sports administrators, parents and the media are starting to give it attention the way sports developed countries do. I feel that the day we realise why it is essential to have a psychologist on board, we will take a big leap in world sport.

I shall conclude by stating that sport psychology aims to ensure players stay in their ‘zone of optimal functioning’ with a variety of techniques, which in turn enables athletes to stay in the ‘present’ and focus on the game, thereby ensuring they give themselves the best shot at achieving their goals!