It is the final putt of the biggest tournament of your golfing career, sink it and you finish in first place, miss the hole and your opponent takes the title. You have successfully putted exactly the same stroke on countless occasions but this one seems so much harder, this is to win the championship and take home the trophy. Your mind suddenly goes blank. What do you do?

A group of talented athletes aged 13-17 from St Ninian’s High School in East Renfrewshire were given an insight as to how to answer this question earlier this month when they attended a Mental Skills Training workshop presented in a partnership between Winning Scotland Foundation and the University of Birmingham.

Over 40 athletes from a variety of almost 20 different sports attended, rock climbers, footballers, swimmers, karatekas... the list goes on. Although these athletes participate in a vast number of differing sports, they hold one thing in common: they are all on a quest to be the best, to become winners and to succeed in their chosen playing field. 

They also therefore hold a common feature in that they are often required to perform under pressure, make tough split-second decisions, and display determination and concentration.  

The workshop, presented by Lee-Ann Sharp of the school of sport and exercise  sciences at University of Birmingham, was presented with the aim of helping the athletes step back from a specific situation and take a different perspective on it.

“You could take that pressure off yourself with the help of mental skills and you could view it in a more positive, less pressured light. It’s important for you to realise that there are some different views and perspectives for you to view the situation you’re in. With Mental Skills, we’re going to give you the tools which will help you to step back from the situation and help you view it a more positive light.”

The athletes were given an insight into the importance of the mental side of sport. They were shown a table which displayed the aspects of training which are most important and the aspects of sports training which are currently focussed on in young talented athletes. Mental training did not feature on the chart for time spent while it constituted over 20% of the required skills training which should be undertaken.

The students were asked how much of their training time is spent on mental training, although one or two students said they focussed on the mental aspect for a few hours, the majority admitted that they hadn’t considered training mentally for their sport.

The final section of the workshop was focussed on the student’s dealing with nervousness before competition. The student’s put a mental skill into action through the relaxation technique of centring. Centring is a physical and mental relaxation tool, combining the use of abdominal breathing and key words with an aim to create an athlete who is at ease and ready to perform.

Morag Carmichael, principle teacher of Physical Education at St Ninian’s, created the talented athletes programme which runs at the school. Basically it's a programme to support children who are competing in sport at a high level, helping them maintain a balance between their sporting and school commitments,” she told In The Winning Zone.

Carmichael is a strong believer in the importance of the mental side of sport, especially developing this skill in young athletes. “It’s massively important and it’s probably an area that’s overlooked by a lot of the students. They all admitted themselves how important they see that side and that they didn’t do enough training for it. I think it’s hugely important.”

“Some of them knew a bit about it but some wouldn’t have thought about it at all so it’s just given them something to think about and speak to their coaches about and it’s also given them some strategies to try out for themselves.”

Speaking after the workshop, two of the athletes said they were influenced positively by the workshop. "It gave me different strategies to tackle everything.  When I am really nervous I now have ways of calming myself down.  I found it enjoyable and helpful" said Luke Fossett, a badminton player.  Michael Goold, a pro-youth footballer, also spoke about the benefits he gained from the event: "I thought it was good, I've already used one of the techniques and felt it helped my performance during the game" 

Sharp, speaking after the presentation emphasised the importance of mental skills training in the development of young athletes. “In order for young athletes to reach their full potential they need to train and develop all aspects of their sport skill needs,  which includes physical, technical, tactical and often neglected mental skills.”

She continued: “As youth athletes are learning and developing the physical skills of their chosen sport, research has indicated that they are also able to learn and develop the mental skills required for their sport which will help create positive behaviours and responses to competitive sport.”

It was evident from the workshop that Mental Skills Training can significantly enhance performance on the sports field in competitive and high pressure situations. The students, the majority of whom have all been involved in a pressure-cooker situation on their field of play, are all now a step closer to being able to deal with said situations.

“The aim,” Sharp says of the Mental Skills Training programme, “is to develop old heads on young shoulders.”

IC
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