KEEPING PERSPECTIVE IN SPORT AND LIFE

   Few of us live our lives free of adversity, challenges and disappointments. Likewise, few athletes compete without adversity, challenges and disappointments.  Two thousand years ago, a philosopher and sports enthusiast named Philo who lived in Alexandria Egypt, wrote the following words: "It rarely happens that God allows a man to run life's race from start to finish without stumbling or falling, and to escape fouls by rushing past them with a sudden and violent burst of speed."    

 A mark of champions is their ability to face those challenges and disappointments in such a way that they are able to rebound from them and resume a spirit marked by energetic enthusiasm and a competitive attitude.  

  The following parable offers an insight into that wisdom.

   IN THE COURT OF KING SOLOMON there served a loyal officer named Joseph, who took upon himself any task that was required to minister to his master.  Often he could be heard bragging to others, "There is no assignment the king could ask of me that I would be unable to fulfill."

   When word of this reached the king, he thought to put the braggart Joseph to the test.  He decided to ask Joseph to fetch him an item that did not exist!

   Summoning Joseph to the royal chambers, King Solomon said to him:  “There is a ring that I have had my heart set on owning for some time.  It is a special ring that can make a sad person happy, and yet make a happy person sad.   I want you to find this ring and bring it back to me within the next 6 months.

   Joseph accepted his assignment eagerly.  First he went to the camel traders, certain that in their journeys across the deserts, one of them would have surely come across such a ring.  But, alas, none of them had knowledge of such a treasure.  So he turned to the seafarers, hoping that in their voyages to far off lands, one of them might have knowledge of this fantastic ring.  But none of them were of any help to him, either.

   SO JOSEPH DECIDED that he would have to go off in search of this special ring himself.  He traveled from country to country, from bazaar to bazaar, but nowhere was he able to find the ring he had been asked to locate.  Nevertheless, the knowledge that his king depended on him to fulfill this mission kept him devoted to the task.

   Month followed month, and after Joseph’s searches brought him no success, he arrived at yet another country, yet another bazaar, at yet another jeweler’s stall.  Here he found a young lad, and asked him, as he had so many others, if he knew perhaps of a ring such as the one he had been assigned to bring back.  Hoping against hope that the lad might offer encouraging words, he learned that the boy knew of no such ring.  Deeply disappointed by the news, and with the six months coming to a rapid close, Joseph turned to leave the shop when the boy’s grandfather, who had overheard the conversation, came forth and said, “I know of such a ring that truly has the power to make a sad man happy, and make a happy man sad.  Wait here and I shall produce it for you.”

   AS JOSEPH WAITED with great anticipation, the old man went into the back room of his shop, took a simple gold band, and inscribed something on the inside of the ring.  This he then brought it out to Joseph.

   Joseph examined the ring, smiled, and said, “Yes, this is certainly the ring I have been looking for!”

   Upon his return to Jerusalem, Joseph proceeded to the palace of Solomon.  When the king asked if Joseph had succeeded in his task, imagine his shock when Joseph replied that indeed, he had located the ring as requested of him.

   He handed the ring to the king.  As the king examined it, a strange expression came over his face, for he was reminded that both his greatest accomplishments and his deepest sorrows were but fleeting occurrences.

   “Yes,” said Solomon, “this is truly a ring that has the power to make a sad man happy and a happy man sad.”  For what was written on the ring were the words: THIS, TOO, SHALL PASS.

   The king put the ring on, and wore it from that day forward.  And every time he felt sad or depressed, he would look at the ring, whereupon his mood would change and good cheer would come to him.

                       © 2017 by Dr. Mitch Smith, Certified Sport Psychology Consultant

ARE YOU LOSING CONFIDENCE WHEN IT COUNTS MOST?

"GO FOR THE BUICK"

Athletes spend many hours each week (and some devote several hour every day!) to prepare for athletic competition.  BUT simply acquiring the skills and plays or routines you need isn’t enough.  Ask yourself – What is the one thing that more than any other causes otherwise skilled athletes to perform poorly in competition – especially WHEN IT COUNTS!!?

A COLLEGE BASKETBALL PLAYER, his team’s starting center, who had received prominent mention in SPORTS ILLUSTRATED and USA TODAY, found himself mid-season struggling at the foul line.  He told me: “Lately, when I step up to the line, I feel like my legs are going to give out from under me.  So I use my arms more to make up for my legs.”  Needless to say, as his free throw shooting took a downward spiral, so, too, did his self-confidence.

THE CAPTAIN OF ANOTHER TEAM was experiencing a great deal of frustration during games in which her team was losing.  “When we lose not because of the other team’s skill but because of our own stupid errors, I become extremely upset.”

In the Al Pacino movie “Any Given Sunday”, the back-up quarterback is called into the game when the starting quarterback goes down with an injury.  The young player becomes extremely nervous and starts to lose his lunch.  The coach calls him over and says, “Do you remember when you first began playing football?  Do you remember being with your friends out on the street, and you would tell one guy to run down the street as far as he could toward the Buick that was parked there, and you would throw him a long pass?  Well, it’s no different now.  You’ve just got to think: Go for the Buick.”

Consider the struggling basketball player with the free throw problem – making himself crazy trying to figure out the exact amount of extra force he would need to apply in his arms to compensate for the weakness he was feeling in his legs – he would have needed an advanced degree in physics! Talk about TRYING TOO HARD!!! 

I asked him instead to tell me a time when he didn’t have any trouble making his free throw shots. “Last summer in pick up games at the local playground,” he told me. “And what is the difference?” I asked him. “That is fun,” he answered.

When we discussed why games in season weren’t fun – at least not for him – it had mainly to do with the pressure he felt. The pressure to play well. The pressure to win. Pick up games were fun for him mainly because there was no pressure (just like the young player making that long pass to his teammate down by the Buick) – meaning that he played in a state of relative relaxation. The pressure he felt in competition prevented him from having fun – and thus prevented him from playing in an ideal state of mental and physical comfort.

THAT SORT OF PRESSURE typically causes the thoughts we hold to have a negative effect on our body, as was clearly this player’s case. That pressure or stress – originating in our thoughts – easily turns into physical stress that can prevent our muscles from operating in a smooth, fluid manner. Even the slightest excess muscle tension can throw your shot off or cause you to feel stiff.

ON THE OTHER HAND, when you’re having fun, it keeps you from feeling pressure (although you can still experience competitive intensity). That is what the captain of the women’s team discovered when she noticed the “Enjoy Coca Cola!” sign above the scoreboard, and decided, “Each time I felt frustrated or felt like swearing, I’d look up and see the word “ENJOY” as a reminder to – above all – enjoy myself. Even if the score indicated that we were really losing big, there would be that board telling me… just enjoy the game! And much to my delight, this strategy is most effective – to this very day!”   (Reported in Psyching for Sport by Terry Orlick) 

I asked the free-throw-shooting player, who wasn’t sure if he could enjoy the game because of his competitive nature, which player on his team seemed to have the most fun out on the court. I told him to see if he could compete with that player in his capacity for enjoying the game. With THAT as his primary goal and focus for the next two weeks, his game foul-shot percentage had gone from about 55% to nearly 75%!

EVERY SUCCESSFUL ATHLETE comes to realize what the captain of the women’s team discovered. “The only controllable circumstances within the situation are those that involve my own personal play. I realize that no matter how upset I get, I will never be able to control a teammate’s play. But I realize that I can control my own play. That’s all I can do, and the best thing I can do to alleviate the pressure of losing during a game.”

Sometimes the key to an athlete’s playing at his/her best when it most matters is not to add anything – not to train harder - but simply to remove the obstacles that stand in the way of their top performance. You can’t control whether the shot is going to go in… BUT you can control your state of mind, whether you’re having fun, and whether your body is tense or relaxed – all of which will permit you the fluid use of your muscles to maximize the likelihood that the shot will go in, that you will get and hold position, etc.

I once worked with a gymnast who, 30 minutes before a big regional meet, was extremely nervous. I saw that he was headed for disaster, so I took him aside and said, “Think about what you can control today and what you can’t. You can’t control whether you’re going to nail your routines or stick your landings. You CAN control whether you give the best effort of which you are capable, and whether or not you have fun. If you don’t do those things, you will have to answer to yourself at the end of the day. So worry about what you can control and let the rest take care of itself.” When the meet was over, he had won medals in 3 of his 6 events.

ONCE YOU’VE FIGURED OUT WHAT YOU CAN CONTROL AND WHAT YOU CAN’T, you’re ahead of the game – both ON and OFF the court. And once you’ve found your perspective in these matters, your game is most likely to take care of itself. And that should be fun!!

DESHAUN WATSON: THE MIND OF A CHAMPION

Some years ago, Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski wrote a book entitled "Leading With Your Heart."

While the heart (that is, our emotions) indeed figure prominently in any strong performance, most psychologists agree that our emotions are actually formed by our thoughts. 

And so it all really starts with the things we say to ourselves, and really how we lead with our HEAD.

So the thoughts we formulate, the things we say to ourselves - or in the case of a team leader, what we say to our team - can insure we choose self-trust over self-doubt. (See When the Pressure is On)

After Clemson beat Alabama in the very final seconds of a truly exciting national championship game, quarterback Deshaun Watson was asked what he said to his team at the start of that final drive down the field (with 2:00 on the clock and Clemson behind 31-28). 

"What I told them was what I always told them," he replied. "Don't panic. We are built for moments like this!"

Teams and individuals who are able to  step up in moments such as these can often alter the moment. Consider how many times an athlete starts to doubt himself under pressure or after having commited a few mistakes, or just trailing in the score during a games waning moments.

While nothing can guarantee pulling of a victory like Clemson did, it is pretty certain that without the champion's mindset victory is unlikely.

Some years ago, tennis great Andre Agassi was asked a hypothetic question: If you were down 5 games to 0 in the fifth set of a match, what would you say to yourself to stay competitive and have a fighting chance?

"I would tell myself there is no place else I would rather be."

Agassi and Watson remind us that the joyful anticipation of the chance to emerge victorious, whatever the challenge facing us, is perhaps the best way to LEAD WITH OUR HEAD.

PREPARING FOR FINALS: SOME HELPFUL HINTS FROM SPORT PSYCHOLOGY

 As a sport psychologist I work with athletes to play their best on the field (court, etc.) The fact is that doing well in the classroom – and on exams – is just a different kind of performance, and in many ways, the same strategies and concepts that are useful in sports are similarly helpful in the classroom.  Here are some thoughts that will hopefully be useful to you in maximizing your success in exams.  Good luck!!

1. SUSTAINING YOUR FOCUS

     Focus is a key factor in effective studying and in test taking. When it comes to studying, it is pretty difficult to maintain quality focus over extended periods of time. Most experts recommend dividing your study time into 20-30 minute bouts. During those periods expect of yourself to be highly focused.  You might set your watch for the 20 or 30 minutes.  Then take a 3-5 minute break to de-stress and re-group. Take a few slow, deep breaths. Check where there is stress in your body (shoulders? back? forehead?) and engage in some sort of relaxation strategy to rid yourself of that stress. You might take a brief walk or otherwise look for a change of setting during those 3-5 minutes. The more relaxed you are when you return to the task of studying the more focused you will be – and the more efficient your studying will be in terms of comprehension and retention of the material.

     Another thing to bear in mind is that just as you wouldn’t go into the weight room and try to do all your week’s work in one afternoon, it is similarly more effective to master the material in smaller, repeated sessions than in one extended session.  After an hour or so of studying one subject, you are probably well advised to shift gears and go to another subject (think of it like cross-training).

2. VISUALIZATION

     Before you sit down to study, spend 2-3 minutes visualizing yourself in the times you have been most focused, and visualize yourself being similarly focused as you go to the work at hand. See yourself being efficient and understanding the material. Even if you don’t exactly understand it altogether, having a positive mind frame should definitely help.

     There is research that highly confident athletes make use of visualization picturing themselves achieving their goals on a more regular basis than other athletes. If you have trouble seeing yourself being focused for study or test-taking, then recall in your mind a time when you were focused, so that you can transfer the feeling of being focused to the task at hand.

3.  DE-STRESSING

     Remember, stress is not the enemy.  Without some measure of stress we would not push ourselves – whether on the playing field or in the classroom.  Champions and top performers expect to experience stress, but they are also good at remembering to de-stress at regular intervals throughout the day in order to maintain a manageable level of stress rather than let it become overwhelming.  Do you have successful de-stressing strategies (which don’t involve food or drink!!)?  In general, taking some slow, deep breaths, taking a few moments to relax in areas where you may be tense (such as the back of your neck, shoulders, forehead, etc.) or picturing yourself in a relaxing setting such as the beach can help you to de-stress.

4.  CONFIDENCE

     You know how important confidence is in sport performance.  It is similarly helpful to be confident in studying and taking exams.  Recall past successes in both studying/mastering material.  If you find yourself saying things like “I NEVER…” (such as “I NEVER do well in exams), you need to do a reality check and change that NEVER to a SOMETIMES. Try to find at least one positive statement you can make that feels genuine (e.g., “I feel good about myself when I know I am giving my best effort.”)

5.  REALISTIC GOAL SETTING

     Everyone would love to have all A’s – and some of you reading this will achieve that goal.  But if you are struggling then it might be helpful to think about which courses – or which aspects of certain courses – you feel the best about and set a goal of doing your very best in those areas while setting as realistic a goal as you can in the other courses or areas – enough so to expect the best of yourself while cutting yourself some slack. 

6.  SLEEP

     You wouldn’t expect to play your best on only 3-4 hours sleep.  In fact, one study found that athletes who were sleep deprived were slower in tests of speed and less accurate in hitting tennis balls than those who were well rested. (Sufficient sleep has even been found to be a necessary condition for weight loss.) You will do better by getting as much sleep as you can (if not a full 8 hours a night try to get at least 6 and a 20 minute “power nap” at some point during the day.

                                                                                                © 2016 Dr. Mitch Smith

ARE YOU SERIOUS?

THE ONE SIMPLE THING YOU MIGHT NOT BE DOING ENOUGH TO BE COMPETING AT YOUR BEST

Dr. Randy Pausch, the American professor who wrote "The Last Lecture" as he was dealing with the cancer which took his life, said" "Never EVER underestimate the importance of having fun!"

I was recently watching the famous Chinese pianist Lang Lang on TV and noticed that during the entire performance a smile never left his face.

It is of course true that - unlike in sports - a musician has nearly complete control over the situation. But when you look at the facial expressions of so many athletes in their most demanding moments, consider what retired tennis champion Andre Agassi said in reponse to an interviewer who asked him what he would say to himself to remain competitive if he found himself in the 5th and deciding set of a match down five games to love. Agassi replied: "I would be thinking, 'THERE IS NO OTHER PLACE I WOULD RATHER BE.' "

No matter what is happening at the moment, making the mental shift in competition to having fun and treasuring the moment can make all the difference.

I was working with a college athlete who I used to tell after games, "You don't look like you're having fun out there." Although he was a gifted athlete he was not performing to the full extent of his talents. Once he took this to heard and started having more fun it made a real difference in his game. He finished his college career as a Division 2 second team All-American.

So in your next competition, you might want to ask yourself if you are having fun. IT JUST MIGHT MAKE A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE.

THREE VISUALIZATION TECHNIQUES YOU SHOULD BE USING

One of the demands of elite sport is the ability to play or perform in as flawless a way as possible. In a previous article I gave an example of how an injured athlete used visualization to master some high level skills. This time I want to share the details of three mental rehearsal techniques that can help you play in top form with as few mistakes as possible.

A basketball player (post) was having trouble when getting the ball down low because of frequent traveling once the ball was in his hands. He told me that he was working on NOT traveling and I explained to him the value of re-thinking his goal in terms of what he wanted to do rather than what he was hoping NOT to do.

He then showed me the move he would typically make and I asked him to do it without the ball. After doing this several times he worked on getting the pass and making the same move, this time with the ball. So he came up with the thought of making this move assertively and confidently as his intention (rather than staying with the idea of NOT traveling)

A week later he told me “I'm actually thinking about what to do and not about what NOT to do, but it's not easy ....I have to get used to it so it will become natural.”

I asked him to tell me what would help him do this and he replied, “I think how to make the move before I get the ball.”

I gave him the following additional suggestions:

1. When you are alone, close your eyes and picture getting the ball and making your move. Repeat this a couple of times, seeing yourself acting in a confident and aggressive way.

2. Picture yourself as if you were sitting in the stands and watching yourself make the move. Pay attention to your footwork and rhythm as you imagine watching yourself on the court.

3. Pick out one place in your body that is key in this move - your feet? your core? your upper body? This time use your sense of muscle feeling rather than vision to imagine this move, so that even though you are seated when you mentally rehearse this move you feel the very same muscles activated that you would feel if you were actually playing. 

In the gym practice this move alternating between doing it without the ball and with the ball. Every 4th or 5th time do the move in your mind, and then go back to doing the actual move. 

Finally, think of one or two words that most describe how you want the move to go and write them down.

One last thing I shared with him was that if he was going to plan the move in his mind ahead of time it was important to be careful to NOT get ahead of himself. Other players have shared with me that on occasion they got tripped up by picturing something in advance and then sticking with that when in the particular circumstances of actual play the defense played him differently and that move turned out to not be the best move for the moment. If you are too caught up in what you are GOING TO DO when you get the ball you may not be leaving enough focus for the PRESENT MOMENT that you are in right now.  Without strong focus as the ball is being passed to you, you may be more likely to have it slip through your fingers or be picked off.

So while it is good to feel confident about what you are GOING TO DO, it is no less important to stay focused IN THE MOMENT and be ready to adjust to any last second changes in the defense to make the best possible decision/move.

One way to increase your capacity to do this is to spend a good amount of time visualizing situations where the defender switches things up or your teammates are in different places on the floor.  

Adding this skill to your on-court practice can allow you to feel more prepared, and as a rule, when athletes feel more prepared they feel more confident and self-assured - a strong precursor of success.

For previous posts on using visualization click here.

VISUALIZATION: USE THESE THREE MENTAL REHEARSAL TECHNIQUES FOR MAXIMUM SUCCESS

A post player was having trouble when getting the ball down low because of frequent traveling once the ball was in his hands. He told me that he was working on NOT traveling and I explained to him the value of re-thinking his goal in terms of what he wanted to do rather than what he was hoping NOT to do.

He then showed me the move he would typically make and I asked him to do it without the ball. After doing this several times he worked on getting the pass and making the same move, this time with the ball. So he came up with the thought of making this move assertively and confidently as his intention (rather than staying with the idea of NOT traveling)

A week later he told me “I'm actually thinking about what to do and not about what NOT to do, but it's not easy ....I have to get used to it so it will become natural.”

I asked him to tell me what would help him do this and he replied, “I think how to make the move before I get the ball.”

I gave him the following additional suggestions:

1. When you are alone, close your eyes and picture getting the ball and making your move. Repeat this a couple of times, seeing yourself acting in a confident and aggressive way.

2. Picture yourself as if you were sitting in the stands and watching yourself make the move. Pay attention to your footwork and rhythm as you imagine watching yourself on the court.

3. Pick out one place in your body that is key in this move - your feet? your core? your upper body? This time use your sense of muscle feeling rather than vision to imagine this move, so that even though you are seated when you mentally rehearse this move you feel the very same muscles activated that you would feel if you were actually playing. 

In the gym practice this move alternating between doing it without the ball and with the ball. Every 4th or 5th time do the move in your mind, and then go back to doing the actual move. 

Finally, think of one or two words that most describe how you want the move to go and write them down.

One last thing I shared with him was that if he was going to plan the move in his mind ahead of time it was important to be careful to NOT get ahead of himself. Other players have shared with me that on occasion they got tripped up by picturing something in advance and then sticking with that when in the particular circumstances of actual play the defense played him differently and that move turned out to not be the best move for the moment. If you are too caught up in what you are GOING TO DO when you get the ball you may not be leaving enough focus for the PRESENT MOMENT that you are in right now.  Without strong focus as the ball is being passed to you, you may be more likely to have it slip through your fingers or be picked off.

So while it is good to feel confident about what you are GOING TO DO, it is no less important to stay focused IN THE MOMENT and be ready to adjust to any last second changes in the defense to make the best possible decision/move.

One way to increase your capacity to do this is to spend a good amount of time visualizing situations where the defender switches things up or your teammates are in different places on the floor.  

Adding this skill to your on-court practice can allow you to feel more prepared, and as a rule, when athletes feel more prepared they feel more confident and self-assured - a strong precursor of success.

For previous posts on using visualization click here