By Nsikakabasi AKPAN
The Highest positions in any Sport is occupied by those who are Strong, Creative , Fast and above all mentally Durable to the pressures of life. Pressure is not restricted to the things we can see but stretches to the thoughts in everyone’s mind.
The Word Psychology means the Scientific study of How human beings behave and the mental processes involved, while Human behavior is observable , the mental processes are abstract things like thoughts, emotions and memories, this Is the Focal point of this Article.
HOW POOR PSYCHOLOGY AFFECTS PERFORMANCE IN SPORTS
LACK OF CORDINATION: An unstable mind would not be able to Concentrate on the task at Hand, All Spheres of Sporting activities from The competitors , Media , Administrators, Officials and Supporters aside from the Physical exertions require optimum mental Cordination. For an Athlete , a single minute off the pedal and you’re behind.
A mentally unstable fan will not be able to Support his team as his mind would continuously take him out of the on field activities.
LACK OF SELF BELIEF: The inability to Pysche up the mind that you are Qualified and capable of doing well in a game leads to some avoidable errors. An example is a player who arrives for trials and meets A huge crowd of other trialist and Immediately begins to Visualize the ability of the rest to be Superior to Himself, at this point the player has lost a lot confidence and would inevitabily reduce his performance except he quickly returns his Thoughts to Factory settings.
HOW TO PREPARE BEFORE ANY SPORTING ACTIVITY
RELAXATION: Rest is very essential, everyone has a special way of relaxing and thus it’s counter productive to assume everyone relaxes by sleeping.
SELF MANAGEMENT: This refers to the ability to keep detailed precautionary measures to guard against known deficiencies. For example Mr Raymond has a knee injury and is scheduled to run by 10am, he must ensure every activity that could aggravate his knee so as to keep it in Proper condition for the Task ahead.
POSITIVE VISUALIZATION: This involves abstract thoughts of a Successful outing, Endeavor to keep away from negativity and put yourself in the right frame of mind.
THOUGHTS CONTROL: Develop a strong sense of Inhibition whereby you lock up all other thoughts of past failures, mistakes or future challenges. The moment you allow memories of past failures to creep in, it adversely affects performance, This explains why coaches most times stick to the Winning Team.
PSYCH UP: Tell Yourself I can do it, For example A young player sent me a message this morning telling me that he scored a lot of goals in his teams training but on match days he performs woefully, Upon further questioning he said “Whenever I see the opposing defenders I’m always afraid to go past them ” I quickly urged him to Play without fear in their next game today, It’s always important to Believe in yourself even when you know the opposition is Herculean, Give yourself a chance.
