By Andrew Walker, MPH; NSGA Director of Health & Well-Being
Image via Pexels.com.
The impact of mental well-being on athletic performance was a popular topic during the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, and the world’s best athletes continued to elevate this conversation during the recent Paris Olympics.
Sports influence society, and Olympians spoke up about the importance of managing mental health for human performance. Many courageously created space for others to seek healing while breaking down the stigma around mental well-being.
Consider Simone Biles, the most decorated U.S. Olympic gymnast, who credited her therapist for her successful return to the Olympics. Or champion swimmer Caeleb Dressel, who shared how he prioritized his mental health during this meet.
At the organizational level, the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) has integrated brain health into its athlete services and resources. Mainstream medicine has also embraced alternative and complementary strategies like meditation and mindfulness.
What lesson can we take away from this? Athletes at every level can benefit from developing mental skills for health and human performance.
Key Mental Performance Skills
Sports of all types require deep focus, concentration and relaxation, and success can be improved through mental performance training.
In a presentation for the Lakeshore Foundation, Dr. Artur Poczwardowki, Ph.D., named four cardinal mental performance skills to be mastered, including:
- Productive self-talk (cues/triggers).
- Intensity (energy) regulation.
- Impactful imagery.
- Flexible mental plans and routines; and awareness (mindfulness), which underlies all these skills.
According to Dr. Poczwardowki, the aims of mental skills training are effective execution of your task by staying composed (constructive and positive) and being able to focus and refocus.
This session and others on mental performance can be accessed for free through the Lakeshore Foundation’s learning management system.
Brain-based sports performance training and mental health enrichment can help Senior Games athletes as well as Olympians and Paralympians. In a recent discussion with University of South Florida sailing coach and 1988 Olympian Allison Jolly, she reflected on how brain imagery skills can be a game changer for amateur athletes of all ages. She noted that practicing imagery and visualization contributed to winning her Olympic gold medal in sailing.
Working on the mental performance skills covered here can help you perform and feel your best. Don’t neglect your mental game!
