After Michael Phelps tied Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals in one Olympics, Phelps stated that his hard work, imagination, confidence, and coach, in addition to his competitors' comments, get him fired up to compete.
Observers of the Olympics are often amazed at how some athletes are able to handle the pressures of their sport while performing on a world stage. Successful athletes, such as Michael Phelps, often have an uncanny ability to manage their thoughts and emotions, even when all eyes are upon them. This ability to be focused and in control of their emotions under pressure is a result of the many training hours and competitive experiences they have endured.
Training involves learning, not only the physical and technical skills of their sport, but also the mental skills and strategies associated with their sport. The mental skills that are frequently associated with success are resiliency, motivation, arousal and emotional management, confidence, and attentional focus control. Coaches of successful athletes often incorporate mental training into daily practices. Through mental training, athletes often identify their present needs, beliefs, worries, behaviors, and emotional responses to their performances. They also learn to examine the consequences of certain feelings and thoughts and learn how to generate alternative causal explanation to negative events.
Mental skills such as positive self-talk and positive imagery can help them challenge and modify their negative responses to poor performances. Practice and rehearsal of these mental skills serve to make thought processing more efficient and emotionally beneficial. Regular use of these skills can help develop mental toughness or calmness under pressure, which will greatly improve the odds that they will be successful in the future.
Scott B. Martin, Ph.D., ACSM Member
Department of Kinesiology, Health Promotion, and Recreation
University of North Texas, Denton
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