WEBVTT

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When we look at Olympic sport,

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sport at the highest level,

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there are clearly some athletes 
who always seem to get it right.

NOTE Paragraph

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For example, Usain Bolt:

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Olympic 100m, 200m champion, twice over,

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in the 2008 Beijing Olympics 
and in the London Olympics.

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Michael Phelps:
the most bemedaled Olympian of all time.

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These are athletes 
who clearly get it right,

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both psychologically 
and physiologically all of the time.

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It is also interesting to note that 
they have contrasting approaches.

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Usain Bolt, with all his comedy antics,

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prior to his event, 
when he is on the start line.

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We've all seen this.
(Laughter)

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Michael Phelps, 
however, a much different approach.

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He sits down,
he is listening to music,

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he has much more 
cerebral, contemplative approach

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towards his event.

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But it's both very effective.

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Sport psychology may play a part
in their preparation for their events,

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and maybe a reason 
why they're successful.

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What happens when things go wrong?

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Here's another example.

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In the 2012 Olympics in London
in the soccer final,

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there were two finalists, 
Brazil and Mexico.

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Brazil were the undoubted favorites.

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They were expected to win.

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They were the reigning Olympic champions.

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They were extremely skilled,

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on paper, they were the best team.

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Mexico had made it to the final
playing well,

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but they were unfancied.

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In the final,
Mexico went at Brazil

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in an incredible display
of attacking football.

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It was incredibly impressive to watch.

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And if you watched 
the Brazilian players,

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their heads dropped.

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They seemed slightly defeated.

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They could not understand

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why they were not performing 
quite as well as they were.

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Perhaps they were complacent.

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Perhaps they'd expected too much.

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Perhaps they were overconfident.

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The Mexicans had nothing to lose,

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they attacked with fervor

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and they won the Olympic title,

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they were the Olympic champions
over the fancy favorites.

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Perhaps sport psychology 
can explain why fancied champions

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may be over-confident

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and may fail
when they're expected to win,

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and perhaps why underdogs
take on the best

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and win
despite all the odds.

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Take another example.

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James Magnussen:

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a man with seemingly 
unshakable self-confidence.

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He said he was going to win 
the 100m-sprint final in the pool

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at the London Olympics.

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He was extremely confident.

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But in that race,

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he was out-touched
in the line by Nathan Adrian,

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by 1/100 of a second.

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And that was devastating for him,

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you could see his body language after,
he was destroyed.

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Perhaps he was over-confident.

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Perhaps though, 
his obvious confidence

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in the events leading up 
to the actual final.

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Perhaps his confidence belied
an undelying self low confidence.

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Perhaps he was not 
very confident inside

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when he should have been
supremely confident of his abilities

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because he was
the world leader in the event.

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So perhaps psychology 
may have played a part,

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but in particular, 
it may help

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when overcoming such a devastating defeat
for the next event.

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Another very good example:
Roy McAvoy.

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In the 2011 Augusta masters, 
he was expected to win,

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he was amongst the favorites certainly,

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and he's an extremely talented golfer.

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In fact, he is the one player
that all the people on the tour,

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all the golfers on the tour,
the PGA tour,

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fear the most.

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And yet on the day,

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when he was leading,
on the final day of the event

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he was leading by four shots.

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He'd played superbly
on the previous three days.

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He experienced 
a catastrophic drop in his performance.

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He shot a round of 80,

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and this is something 
that professional golfers

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can do in their sleep,
certainly very easily,

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because they frequently shoot
rounds of 70 or below

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and that's a good shot.

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So 80 was a catastrophic failure,

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and he ended up tying for fifteenth place.

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So you'd think that 
that sort of devastating performance

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may have impacted on his mind.

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However, only eight weeks later,
he won the U.S open,

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and there was no sign 
of the lack of confidence

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and the fact that the pressure 
had got to him,

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that was displayed 
when he was in Augusta.

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So it seemed that
he picked up the pieces.

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And what is it that made him do so?

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Sport psychology 
may indeed have the answers.

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So, elite athletes, coaches,

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and the people who surround athletes,

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know very well the importance 
of sport psychology,

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and they're beginning to embrace it.

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Sport psychologists are often included

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in the teams 
that surround athletes nowadays.

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What is sport psychology?

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Well, it is the science, 
study and practice

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of mental preparation for sport.

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It involves identifying 
the techniques and strategies

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that athletes can take and use,

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so they perform on their most optimum.

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It also helps athletes deal 
with come back, with setbacks

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and help them to come back
from devastating defeats.

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Such as those by James Magnussen
or Roy McAvoy.

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So we just begin to unpack
some of these strategies

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that sport psychologists talk about.

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So looking inside of the mind of a winner,

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what factors are linked
to success in sport?

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Well, clearly an athlete
has to be motivated.

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Often goals that athletes set, 
describe or...

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will demonstrate 
how much effort

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and how much will they have to win
in their event.

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But sometimes motivation
is not enough.

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An athlete has to be confident,

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and confidence seems to be ubiquitous
amongst high-performing performers.

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There's a number of strategies
that athletes can use

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to boost their confidence.

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Another important factor
is knowledge of the sport.

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So basically, 
knowing your sport inside out,

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but also knowing the opposition.

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What are their strengths and weaknesses?

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One of the phrases coined
by Clive Woodward,

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who was the England coach

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at the time they won 
the Rugby World Cup in 2003.

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One of the phrases he coined, was,

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"Total rugby, leaving no stone unturned
when it comes to performance."

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He was very famous for developing 
dossiers on the opposition.

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Knowing their strengths, 
knowing their weaknesses

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and where he could attack them
and how he could tactically win them.

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And that's clearly important 
in sports these days.

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So, using psychology 
to understand the opposition

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as well as yourself.

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Athletes are also 
very good at using routines,

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getting themselves 
in the right frame of mind.

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We'll look at that 
in a few moments time.

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Athletes are also good 
at handling pressure.

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If you look at Usain Bolt
or Michael Phelps,

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they are cases in point.

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And anxiety management 
is clearly an important aspect

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of an athlete's arsenal of strategies

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to get them 
in the right frame of mind

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so that they can perform at their best.

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So let's look at some 
of these strategies in detail.

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Motivation is clearly very important,
and how do you get athlete motivated?

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The most important things
are the goals that they set.

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The goals that they set 
will determine how much drive,

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how much effort,

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how much will they have to perform well.

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But often a goal of winning
is not enough.

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Sometimes, oh, most times,

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it is important that an athlete 
has a number of sub-goals

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which are related 
to their performance.

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So things like personal bests,

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that drive them 
both in training and in competition.

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It's important that these goals
conform to certain features.

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And scientists,
psychologists and practitioners

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always refer to this SMART- acronym.

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And that's because, 
having goals that are realistic,

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relevant, specific,
measurable and so forth,

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are really important when it comes
to getting an athlete motivated.

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As I said earlier, 
motivation is not enough.

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It is important 
that an athlete is confident,

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and there are number of ways

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you can boost
an athlete's self-confidence.

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Experience.

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Reminding an athlete
of their experience

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is extremely important.

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Modeling.
I don't mean catwalk-modeling here,

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modeling is also an important aspect,

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because that enables an athlete
to have a model

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or blueprint if you like 
of the optimum performance.

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Imagery and self-talk are parts of that
and we'll get on to those in a moment.

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Feedback is clearly important as well.

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Positive feedback
from the athlete's coaches.

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Imagery is a mental rehearsal

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and it is a strategy 
that many athletes use.

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And here are the kinds of things
that an athlete

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or a coach will go through,
when they're rehearsing their performance.

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It is almost like 
a video of their performance.

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They will also use prompts,

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but they also visualize 
any contingency that arise.

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For example, any barriers 
or problems or difficulties

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that arise during the course
of their competition.

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Here's an example
of these kinds of strategies in action.

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This is Blanka Vlašić:

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she was a former world champion,
high jumper,

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and YWF athlete of the year.

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And she was very famous for going through 
the same performance routine

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prior to a competition.

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She would close her eyes,
visualize a successful jump.

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She would clap her hands rhythmically,

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and use the audience
to get the audience on board

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and that would both boost her motivation
and her confidence,

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and then she would practice some moves 
shortly before executing her jump.

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Self-talk is another strategy
that athletes use.

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It's an extremely important strategy

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because it enables athletes
to go through in their mind

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and use mantras 
to try to boost their motivation,

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but also to try to manage 
the competition and the situation.

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For example,

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the situation where the pressure
is on and they are highly anxious.

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So, self-talk might have
motivational components,

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but it also might help athletes
focus on important things

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that are relevant to performance,

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so-called cues,
and also might have a calming effect.

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Things like breathe and relax.

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Anxiety management is an important aspect 
of sport performance.

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Clearly at the Olympic Game

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the World Championships 
at the highest level,

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athletes are going to be under pressure

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and they need to be able 
to cope with that pressure.

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Sometimes being too anxious

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can actually undermine
an athlete performance.

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It can be sub-optimal.

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So relaxation techniques 
are extremely important in this regard,

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and psychologists will work with athletes 
to try and help them to relax.

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So it might involve
things like breathing,

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stretching,
relaxing the muscles,

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they'll also use things
like music and meditation.

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Michael Phelps is a good example,

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he listens to music right up 
to the few minutes before is an event,

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and that music will get him 
to the right frame of mind

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for that event.

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It will help him to relax 
but it will also motivate him.

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Here's a good example 
of somebody using those techniques

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to the greatest extent.

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This is Yelena Isinbayeva:

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double Olympic champion 
at the pole vault,

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and also the world record holder.

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This is her in the 2012 Olympics, 
she's clearly very relaxed,

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she lies back, 
she covers herself in a close,

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this has the effect 
of shutting out any distractions

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but also it has the effect of relaxing her 
and relieving the pressure.

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So in term of the mind of a winner
from a sport psychology perspective,

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an athlete has to be motivated,
confident in their abilities,

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manage pressure extremely well,

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and use these well 
trained-drilled techniques

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like imagery,
self-talk and relaxation.

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Thank you.

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(Applause)