Etiqueta: Competition

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pre-competition routine

Are you ready?

Do you feel in control before the race starts? Or do you get easily distracted by the crowd or intimidated by the opponent? Are you not really sure on how to get focused before taking that shot, or do a serve? If so, perhaps you can make use of the pre-performance routines for these types of scenarios.

A pre-performance routine is a sequence of behaviors aimed to make the athletes optimally ready for executing self-paced acts, by making them feel in control and preparing their neuromuscular system. This sport psychology technique helps making the performance more effective and can be used both during skill acquisition and in competitions. Without practicing a pre-performance routine the athlete may not pay attention to the relevant stimuli and may not be able to keep thoughts or emotions in control. 

Some of the situations where athletes can benefit from pre-performance routines are those in which they have the time to get ready to perform like:

  • Shots (e.g., archery, golf)
  • Throws(e.g., basketball free throws, penalties in football)
  • Serves (e.g., table tennis, tennis, badminton)
  • Starts (e.g., BMX racing, sprints, swimming)
  • Vaults (e.g., gymnastics)
  • Unexpected events! (e.g., false starts)

Pre-performance routines sometimes are confused with either superstitious rituals or those routines some athletes engage in to calm their pre-competition anxiety, by for instance tying their shoes in a particular order, or making themselves look good to feel confident. Those using superstitious rituals like entering the field with the right foot, or wearing lucky socks do so because they think that if they do not do them then their luck may be altered in some way. 

Pre-performance routines instead are those for JUST the moment before the actual skill is going to be executed. They are a sequence of steps in which athletes prepare physically (e.g., with the appropriate posture for the skill), and psychologically (e.g., controlling arousal levels) to perform at their best.  

When developing the sequence of behaviors for a pre-performance routine, the athlete’s preference needs to be taken into account, as it is very personal and what works for one athlete may not work for another. Here is an example of steps that can be included:

–Prepare: adjusting to the appropriate posture embodying calmness and firmness, smiling if that helps, preparing the specific pre-movements of the action (e.g., bouncing the ball several times, grabbing the bicycle handlebar grips, adjusting feet on the pedals).

–Create a quiet mind: by breathing to the preferred rhythm. Controlling the breath is the easiest way to calm down. A pattern could be the 7-11 by inspiring through the nose counting mentally until 7 and letting the air out through the nose for longer, counting mentally until 11. Positive key words to encourage confidence can also be useful.

–Imagine: not just by visualising the [realistic] successful achievement of the skill in as much detail as possible but by including all the senses and environmental and emotional information (e.g., seeing the trajectory of the ball and where does it need to go, or feeling successful while going through the different stages of the route, recreating the touch of the racket, exploding when the start signal comes up). 

–Focus: on the relevant visual field to block potential distractors. For instance not paying attention to the audience when about to do a serve, as the external and wide focus of attention is not what is needed.  

–Do not overthink: the action needs to flow automatically, if the athlete thinks about all the steps while doing the task, then the performance is not going to be optimal and a breakdown may follow because the process of thinking about the task slows or interferes with the task.

–Get feedback: from the performance to make adjustments next time (if possible). If the performance did not go well, there is no point to dwell on it, it is best to stay in the present moment and try again, Dwelling or criticize oneself is a waste of effort. If the performance goes well then it can be celebrated which in turn increases confidence. 

-Practice, practice, practice! Like with any other skill, the more they are practiced the better you get, and the same happens for pre-performance routines. Self-paced skills can definitely be improved by this technique. 

-For unexpected events like false starts: athletes can prepare a similar pre-performance routine for these kind of scenarios so they can try again with confidence, and are able to direct their attention after being distracted by something unexpected.

Photograph by Jules D on Unsplash

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Competition

How to prevent the trip to a competition impacting our performance

Traveling to international competitions requires good physical, mental and logistic preparation, otherwise our performance will be affected. Although we will be excited about the competition, changing our routine like any other small or large change is going to be a source of stress, and stress makes us tired.

Logistic preparation:

Several months before the trip you have to prepare the logistic aspects, especially if you have sport equipment to transport separately. If possible it is better to travel with all our things so we do not have to worry about whether our luggage has arrived, and we will not suffer separation anxiety for our belongings.

If we can choose the plane tickets we have to choose those in which we travel during the day, in order to sleep in the hotel at night. We must also consider how many days before the competition we need to arrive to be able to train since it can be difficult and frustrating not having enough days to practice. If we want family or friends to see us compete then we have to prepare the tickets as soon as possible to avoid worrying that they will not be able to arrive in time to see us.

The following may be useful to help us rest during the trip: a travel pillow, earplugs, and a foam roller like the one used to make Pilates, to massage the muscles.

Physical preparation:

Prepare your body in advance so that you get used to changing the schedule and recover from the fatigue of the trip. Do not underestimate the adaptation to the new environment in terms of available food, weather, humidity, allergens and pollution.

Sleeping well is essential to recover from the trip and to have your mind and body rested, make sure you sleep well before the trip. On long-haul flights when we go through time changes, our biorhythms and sleep cycles will be altered. We can suffer from ‘jet lag’ which is when our internal clock and external time do not match. People who suffer from ‘jet lag’ may have lack of appetite, headache, fatigue, and disrupted concentration. The body takes about three days to adjust to the new area.

You can adjust your schedule four or five days before the trip with that of the city you are going to visit by getting up between one and half an hour earlier than usual if you travel east, or going to bed later than usual if you go westward. Of course, hydrate well and do not forget to drink water during the trip. 

On training days just before the trip it is not advisable to introduce new exercises or try to learn something new. High intensity training sessions need to be done well before the trip.

Mental preparation:

It is common for athletes and coaches to be emotionally affected from the trip, so be patient with yourself, your coach and your teammates. With the new environment we can feel a little overwhelmed with such stimulation, especially if it is a country and culture that we do not know. Information about the event on the internet, newspapers and television will also be exposed and this can also cause over-stimulation. 

The key to being rested is to minimize our exposure to distractions. Take into account that being in our hotel room using the laptop or mobile phone tires us mentally.

Regarding the opening ceremony – especially if we are not going to have time to recover from it – It may be better not to attend or attend only at the beginning of the ceremony.

Photograph by Benjamin Wong on Unsplash

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training

When performance is better in training than competition

If our performance is better during training sessions compared to competition it could be due to not having mental control when feeling under pressure. Whether you are an athlete or a coach, you can reflect on the differences between training and competition. 

During training sessions:

  • It is where we learn and practice new skills. There is not usually as much pressure and sometimes we find the sessions boring because they may be repetitive. It is normal to make mistakes, and we also have more opportunities to practice specific techniques (e.g., passes, penalty shoots, correct our posture). 
  • The focus is not on the result rather we focus on the technical aspects, strategy or skill that we are trying to master. This is why it is easier to experience ‘flow’, the joyful experience happening when we are immersed in a challenging task.
  • Since we do not feel so much pressure, we do not have to think on the specific movements or the posture and our skills do not come out ‘forced’, so our performance unfolds automatically. 

During competition:

  • Athletes play in different contexts less familiar than the training sessions. They get out of their comfort zone for instance while playing with the rival team or from feeling exposed to the public. 
  • There are moments when the skills need to be executed right the first time, and situations like these may make the difference between classifying to a final game or not. This is one of the reasons why many athletes focus on the results instead of the process or the action they are doing at that time.
  • Athletes can feel pressure due to internal factors (e.g., fear of failure, thinking on outcomes if they do not win), or external (e.g., competing on a really hot day).

How can we train mentally for competition? 

  • Reflect about the importance of training. If you commit to train it is going to be reflected on the competition day and you will feel more confident about yourself. Make every session count, so you get a learning experience from every session, whether it is about the skill you are practicing or about yourself. Reflect on the types of mistakes you make, e.g., whether you do not anticipate to the rival on time or you are too quick, whether you pass too strong on the right side or too gently on the left side, whether your performance is better when you are over-aroused than under-aroused. 
  • If you are a coach, ensure that you cover in every session the following aspects: technical, tactical, physiological and psychological; Establish challenging and achievable goals and check their progress to consider whether they need modification.
  • Simulate the training as much as possible to the event day to reduce the difference between the training sessions and the competition. For instance: get familiar with the venue or the route where it is going to take place. If you cannot go beforehand you can check out the place through maps on the internet. Practice training with the same stimuli, for example: playing through background noise and cheering audience. This is so you get used to concentrate on the task at hand even if there are distractions. 
  • Practice controlling your emotions, for instance on how you react when you make a mistake, or when you are faced with an obstacle. If you ruminate about the mistake or you blame yourself about the way you have done something, then you will be wasting your effort and you will be losing your attention from the task at hand. Instead, focus on the present and be positive. Practice ways to respond to those difficult situations in which emotional control is key (e.g., when you do not agree with the referee, or a journalist asks you an uncomfortable question, or you are getting angry because you are losing).

Finally, here is a quote to reflect about the importance of mental training: 

‘In training everyone focuses on 90 percent physical and 10 percent mental, but in the races it’s 90 percent mental because there’s very little that separates us physically at the elite level.’ – Elka Graham, Olympic swimmer.

Photograph by Josh Calabrese on Unsplash