Success in sport is often gained in high-pressure situations. A penalty shoot-out in the final of a tournament, a two hole play off after a gruelling three-day golf championship, a tiebreak in the fifth set of a draining tennis final. But what attributes does it take to perform in these pressure-cooker situations?

Talent, skill, determination and physical conditioning are a few sporting qualities which come to mind. However, arguably the most significant is mental skills, the ability to keep composure at the most significant moments, the ability to focus on attaining specific goals.

“Mental skills are fairly important to the modest athlete at recreational level but once you get onto a higher level, there is very little which separates a winner and a loser. Even if they make a little difference to what the athlete does, they can often make a big difference to the result,” comments an enthusiastic Dr John Mathers.

From his office at the University of Stirling, In The Winning Zone realised the importance of mental strength when participating in sport, and gained an insight into sport in this country through the eyes of a top sports psychologist.

With over a decade of experience at the epicenter of sport in Scotland, John has helped to develop some of Scotland’s current elite athletes in a number of different sports, from youth level all the way to the world stage.  He also has bagfuls of experience on the field of play, currently one of this country’s leading amateurs, playing off a handicap of plus one.

Setting goals, striving towards them, and ultimately reaching goals are a part of his daily life – both personally and in his area of work, but what constitutes winning for the top sports psychologist?

“Winning for me is about doing the best you could possibly have ever done.” says the sporting enthusiast. “I think winning is more about how you feel inside rather than what cup you might win or the size of the cheque.”

The blurring stereotypes, which seem to create a sense of perplexity surrounding the role of the sports psychologist, are instantly removed as John mentions the fashion in which he deals with athletes. Gone is the image of a sportsperson meeting for a single session with the psychologist in the run up to an important competition. It is evident from John’s story that the sports psychologist is as close to the action as a coach or a physiotherapist might be.

“Ideally I would start working with an athlete from the early teenage years, and I would regularly meet with them and assess their progress. It is a great advantage if an athlete has been thinking in the right ways from an early age, as they will have developed a sound mental and emotional base when they begin to feature in world-class competition.”

Similar to the role of the physiotherapist, or even a coach for that matter, sports psychologists do not face the same situation in every athlete. Just as no two sports injuries are exactly identical; no two people are mentally matching, even in the same team. A winner may react differently psychologically to another winner. If a team does not achieve its goal, all members of that team will be pondering it differently.

“Any human being will function well when they are at a particular state of physical and psychological readiness, and the trick is to be able to create that state before you play your game”

“No two people are alike. Some people might like to be extremely aggressive and hostile and psychologically charged for their sport, others may prefer to be completely relaxed.”
So how does John go about dealing with individual athletes, guiding them towards their set goals?

“As a psychologist, you teach people to try and control their behaviour in a competitive situation. And you do that by using mental skills to find the optimal state of readiness.”
Take for example current Scottish badminton sensation Susan Hughes, who John worked with during her studies at Stirling University. Or tennis star Jamie Murray whom he has worked with from a very young age. Both are now sportspeople representing Scotland on the world stage. 

“I worked with Jamie for a short period of time when he was fourteen or fifteen, he then came to train in Stirling and I met with him here in this very room, giving him mental tasks to do while he was training or competing. We would then meet again and discuss how things were working in training and competition. Some of the work I would do with him would be courtside, as is the case with many of my athletes”

So, it really isn’t the one-hour pep talk in the run up to a cup final that defines the sports psychologist. Instead it is a long and organized structure, designed to benefit and prepare an athlete to perform at the highest level.
 
“If I knew that one of my athletes had a big competition, I would make it a season-long project. Perhaps meeting with them on a weekly basis, making a solid base and building up mental skills so that they are mentally controlled going into the competition” says the sports psychologist.

To his own advantage, John can apply some of the mental skills he instils in his athletes on a regular basis to himself. A high ranking in the world of amateur golf presents him with the chance to qualify for major tournaments. Most recently, he attended the regional qualification event for this year’s Open Championships at Carnoustie.

“I played pretty well round the course and I ended up in a play-off with sixteen other players, only two would go through” The ultimate pressure situation it seems? After a detailed enthusiastic description of the final play-off hole, we learn that John did in fact miss out on qualification by the skin of his teeth. “In the car home I thought to myself “Am I gutted? No.” I played pretty well under the conditions, I went for the shots in the play-off and I didn’t have any complaints. Probably ten years ago I would have wanted to break something because I was so unlucky, and I wouldn’t have been so optimistic about future events.”

So, his excellence in the area of sports psychology helps him both on a personal level as well as helping some of Scotland’s best talents. And, in the increasingly competitive world of elite sport, he believes that psychology could be the slight edge, possibly bringing more and more success to Scottish sportspeople.

“More people are winning, and more people are nearly winning. With the small margin of error and the fine line between winning and loosing, the role of the sports psychologist is likely to become more and more important.”
 

IC

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