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Previous training strategies and performance regimes have failed to adequately prepare the Australian swim team. As the newly appointed director of sport psychology I understand that failure to address the mental components of performance leading up to competition has led to poorer results, attitudes and behaviour. The integration of new psychological skills and strategies will optimise performance by teaching the athletes how to appropriately manage motivation, anxiety and arousal and will be key to long term success.
- – Motivation: is the foundation of athletic effort, it dictates an athletes determination to train, develop their skills and is crucial in getting athletes to fulfil their potential. Motivation can be driven by positive or negative stimulus and generated intrinsically (self-generated) or extrinsically (by external forces). Due to the independent nature of the sport, swimmers who exploit positive intrinsic motivation tend to be more successful for longer periods of time. Successful athletes like Michael Phelps and Cate Campbell have attributed their success to the pure enjoyment they gain from swimming, this allows them to train harder and longer as they want to be in the pool.
- – Anxiety: is an unpleasant mental state of worry and nervousness, it is detrimental to performance and can be caused by high expectations or large crowds. There are 2 types of anxiety, trait and state, both are commonly experienced by athletes at all levels of competition. Natalie Coughlin (2 time Olympian swimmer with 11 medals) had this to say about the anxiety of performing in the Olympic games.
- – Arousal: is how prepared (both mentally and physically) an athlete is for a performance and is often linked to anxiety. Different levels of arousal have varying effects on motivation, focus, heart rate, muscle activation and ultimately performance.
The implementation of strategies and support structure that effectively manage the above-mentioned factors will see the Australian swim team attitudes shift and performances improve. Employing psychological skills such as concentration relaxation techniques, mental rehearsal, concentration skills and goal setting is paramount for reaching peak performance.
Concentration and Attention skills: let the individual disregard irrelevant foci and focus all mental effort on one task. Athletes who effectively concentrate are able to manipulate focus width (broad to narrow) and reduce the prevalence of anxiety whilst increasing motivation. This skill is important because it teaches athletes to ignore distractions (from both intrinsic and extrinsic sources), analyse the available information and make informed decisions, meaning they can perform at a higher level. The relationship between concentration and elite sportspeople is recognised by Alex Ferguson who stated, without question, at the top level, concentration is a big part of a players game and Petr Cech who said, everything is about concentration. To develop the concentration of the swimming team, simulation training and distraction drills will be implemented into training leading up to competition, whilst for the individual, mental queues in the form of trigger words and selective attention will be practiced prior to racing. Improved concentration results in greater skill execution, better stroke technique and higher quality training.
Simulating the race day environment at training will make them accustom to those conditions and reduce the prevalence of choking in competition. Trigger words and selective attention will prevent the athletes getting flustered on race day as they are taught how to ignore irrelevant foci, regain focus, and handle anxiety. The improved concentration also positively affects confidence and levels of arousal as athletes realize they can rely on their physical and mental preparation to support their performance.
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