Psychological Factors in Sports

Rest and recovery is hugely important for us all, especially highly motivated and driven people.  In this bitesized episode, I chat with Nick Littlehales, a Sleep Coach to many elite sports performers.  Nick and I discuss sleep trackers and the upside to using them.  He also talks about orthosomnia, which describes individuals who become overly concerned or obsessed with tracking their sleep, resulting in heightened anxiety towards their sleeping patterns.

Key Learning Points:

• Orthosomnia refers to a situation where people rely heavily on sleep tracking technology and aim to achieve perfect sleep.
• This can lead to stress and anxiety, similar to the athlete who tracks too complex or unhelpful data when they perform.
• Maintaining a balanced approach to sleep tracking is essential.

Connect with Nick Littlehales

Website

LinkedIn

Book – Sleep: The Myth of 8 Hours, the Power of Naps…and the New Plan to Recharge Your Body and Mind

Connect with David Charlton

Sign Up to The Mental Edge

Join David @ The Sports Psychology Hub

Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn

To Listen to Football or Soccer Podcast Episodes

Ep015: Nick Grantham – Essential Elements of Rest and Recovery

Ep065: Dr Amy Izycky – Encouraging Mentally Healthy Cultures in Sport

Ep092: Dr James Hegarty – ACT in Sport, Improving Performance through Mindfulness

Ep113: Polly Brennan – The Relationship Between Mental Fitness, Mental Health and Mental Toughness

Ep138: Nick Littlehales – Why do the Mentally Tough see Sleep and Recovery as Important

Other Helpful Resources

Blog: How Mentally Healthy is Your Clubs Sporting Environment

Blog: Does Your Warm Up Influence How You Perform?

Blog: Using ACT and Mindfulness to Improve Your Sporting Performances

Blog: Why You Should Meditate To Improve Your Sport Performance?

Download THE FOCUSED ATHLETE CHECKLIST

In episode #177 of the Demystifying Mental Toughness Podcast, Lisa Avery, a positive psychology practitioner talks to me about how to help young people flourish using a positive psychology approach.  In our conversation we focus on a measure of mental toughness, life control, which links to having a “can do” attitude towards life.  We discuss identifying and cultivating positive emotions, character strengths, and virtues that contribute towards a feel good factor and overcoming our negativity bias as well as a lot more.

Key Learning Points:

• Arguably, here in the UK we are behind countries like the USA and Australia in our use of positive psychology approaches when supporting young people.
• We all have a negativity bias in our brains where we are quick to notice the bad stuff not the good.
• In order to get to the point of being comfortable in your own skin, and valuing yourself and your personality traits, you’ve got to know who you are.
• In schools and colleges the starting point is always to work with the staff, usually the senior leadership team.
• Dr. Susan David speaks about the fact that if you know what your values are, every time you need to make a decision.  You should simply ask yourself, “is what I’m about to say or do going to take me closer or further away from where I want to be?”.
• The central framework to positive psychology comes from Dr Martin Seligman’s work. He says that in order to thrive, human beings need positive emotions, a sense of engagement in their work and life, great relationships, a sense of meaning or purpose, and a sense of accomplishment.
• Abraham Maslow states “we either step forwards into growth or step back backwards into safety.”
• Do you focus on the strengths of your kids or their weaknesses? This questionnaire will help you. – https://www.leawaters.com/sbp-quiz

Connect with Lisa Avery

Website

LinkedIn

Connect with David Charlton

Sign Up to The Mental Edge

Join David @ The Sports Psychology Hub

Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn

5 Relevant Podcast Episodes

Ep134: David Charlton – Observations: 3 Things That Stop You Achieving Your Goals

Ep106: Amy Rowlinson – Why is knowing my WHY important?

Ep098: Jon Bartlett – Do You Know Your Why? 

Ep075: Grant Phyphers – How to Rebuild Your Identity

Ep021: Steve Hackney – How to Reach Your Full Potential

5 Valuable resources that can help you build a “can do” attitude

Blog: Make Better Decisions to Help Your Sport Performance a Values List   

Conversations with Kids – Values

Children and Youth Motivation for Sport Quiz for Children

Child and Youth Motivation Quiz for Parents

Performance Profile for Goalkeepers

Criticism is everywhere today, where people often share their opinions of other people very easily despite not knowing the person, online using social media.  The criticism often goes too far, especially in a sporting context, when so much emotion is evident.  Throw in general criticism on the side of a pitch from spectators, and negative feedback from coaches and team-mates.  It really can be tough being involved in sport with no hiding place.

You’ll find some athletes and coaches brush off criticism, others though can find it very difficult to deal with.  It can impact their well-being and relationships with other people.  Sometimes they’ll respond angrily or in an aggressive manner, in other cases they’ll be overcome with sadness and get very upset. 

The key is to take the learning, from criticism, which isn’t easy and is the focus of this bitesize episode, with Professor Paul McGee, one of Europe’s leading speakers and a respected author.  He shares some great stories and ideas to help you.

Feel free to tune in!

Key Learning Points:

• A bad game doesn’t mean that you are a bad person.
• Recognise if you become defensive in the face of criticism.
• Acknowledge if your inner dialogue is overly critical and learn to be kinder to yourself.
• Perspective is vital.

Useful Questions To Ask Yourself:

• Would you seek advice from the person who has criticised you?
• Does the person criticising you have your best interests at heart?
• Will I remember this incident in 6 months’ time?
• On a scale of 1-10 how close to death is this situation?

Connect with Paul McGee

LinkedIn

The Sumo Guy Website 

Books written by Paul McGee

S.U.M.O. Your Relationships: How to Handle Not Strangle the People You Live and Work With

S.U.M.O (Shut Up, Move On): The Straight-Talking Guide to Succeeding in Life

Connect with David Charlton

Sign Up to The Mental Edge

Join David @ The Sports Psychology Hub

Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn

Relevant Podcast Episodes

Ep041: Paul McGee – How to Develop Interpersonal Confidence

Ep105: Hannah Bromley – Overcoming Psychological Challenges in Professional Women’s Football

Ep120: David Charlton – Sport Coach Development: Helping Athletes Perform Better by Adapting How You Communicate

Ep131 David Charlton – How to Deal with Self-Criticism using Self Compassion – FINAL PART

Ep166: Mark Bennett MBE – How To Help Athletes and Coaches Reflect On Their Performances

Relevant Blogs

Blog: 3 Tips to deal with bullying in sport

Blog: Communicating with children in sport

Blog: Why You Should Recognise The Power of Your Words

Blog: How Coaches Can Help Athletes Deal with Mistakes

Blog: 5 Ways To Create A Psychological Safe Sporting Environment

Other Useful Resources

Conversations with Kids – Dealing with Criticism

Kristin Neff Website on Self-Compassion

In today’s episode we look at working with the subconscious mind to improve self-awareness, overcome self-doubt and reduce your chances of choking when performing.  My guest, Mental Performance Coach, Brandon Epstein shares his wisdom and gives you some ideas and strategies to keep moving forwards.

Key Learning Points:

• Our subconscious mind can be programmed to help us win or lose.
• A lot of people are unconsciously incompetent, they lack self-awareness and don’t live in the present moment.
• Self-awareness is crucial to be able to grow and overcome performance plateaus.
• Start by asking yourself the question – how does my emotional experience start?
• A lot of athletes crave the feeling of confidence when they perform – it is possible to experience this when working with the subconscious.
• Self-hypnosis can help you reprogram patterns of behaviour that you repeat.
• Understanding your limiting beliefs and changing them is a helpful approach.
• By being proactive and using psychological skills training you can give yourself a better chance of thriving under pressure.

Connect with Brandon Epstein

Website

Instagram

Connect with David Charlton

Sign Up to The Mental Edge

Join David @ The Sports Psychology Hub

Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn

Relevant Podcast Episodes

Ep013: Karl Morris – How to stay present like a major champion

Ep012: Alessia Bruno – The Yips, Crashes, Trauma in Sport there is hope for Athletes

Ep 081: Stuart Wade – Mental Toughness in Combat Sports

Ep092: Dr James Hegarty – ACT in Sport, Improving Performance through Mindfulness

Ep156: Ruth Chiles – There is Hope: How to Overcome Focal Dystonia

Relevant blogs

Blog: Mental Preparation for Combat Sports

Blog: Would You Like A Secret Weapon in Your Armoury?

Blog: Do you try too hard on the golf course?

Blog: Why You Should Meditate To Improve Your Sport Performance?

Blog: My Child Can’t Find “The Zone”

One of the hallmarks of Mentally Toughness is the ability to perform well under pressure.  Whether you play golf or cricket, or enjoy gymnastics or netball.  It’s the same in your job if you have to stand up and deliver presentations at work.

So why do many people struggle with this? Why does thriving under pressure separate the great from the good on occasions?

Many things can prevent people to be able to perform in the manner they’d like to when the pressure is on for a host of reasons, including:

• Performance anxiety
• A failure to learn from past mistakes
• Focusing on the wrong things
• Making practice sessions too comfortable
• Personality traits, for example your Mental Toughness
• Off field pressures

Today’s short bite taken from episode 94 of Demystifying Mental Toughness, touches on this topic where Professor Adam Nicholls shares with you a few ideas to be able to improve the way that you perform under pressure.  Enjoy tuning in!

Key Learning Points:

• Mental Toughness is about an athlete’s ability to be able to perform well under pressure, so that their performance is not adversely affected by pressure.
• Typical signs that someone struggles with pressure are that their routines change, that they speed up or slow down or that they fail to carry out tactics and get caught up in emotion.
• Experience is an important factor in making good decisions under pressure.
• Simulating pressure in training and practice is another helpful approach to take.
• Seeking to improve your self-awareness, being open-minded to learn is also essential so that you can make smarter decisions at critical times.

Connect with Adam Nicholls

Book: Psychology in Sports Coaches: Theory and Practice

LinkedIn

Email

Connect with David Charlton

Sign Up to The Mental Edge

Join David @ The Sports Psychology Hub

Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn

6 Relevant podcast episodes

Ep166: Mark Bennett MBE – How To Help Athletes and Coaches Reflect On Their Performances

Ep094: Professor Adam Nicholls – How to Develop Mentally Strong Rugby Players

Ep093: Dan Abrahams – How to Overcome Mental Blocks in Football

Ep091: Jarrod Leathem – How to Transfer Your Cricket Skills to Matches

Ep089: Will Shaw – How To Transfer Your Golfing Skills To The Course 

Ep050: Compilation – Mental Strength Does Not Guarantee Success

5 Relevant blogs

Blog: How To Play Well When You Aren’t Feeling Great

Blog: 5 Coaching Tips to Develop Mentally Tough Footballers

Blog: Mental Preparation for Combat Sports

Blog: Does Your Warm Up Influence How You Perform?

Blog: 3 Tips to Help You Overcome Setbacks

4 Valuable resources

Gibbs Reflective Cycle

Understanding yourself better – The 4Ts.  Timing, Thoughts, Tension and Temperature

Understand your mental toughness tendencies

Driscoll’s Model of Reflection

3 Great conversations to have with your kids to help them perform better under pressure

Conversations with Kids – Fixed Mindset

Conversations with Kids – Emotional Rollercoaster

Conversations with Kids – Bravery