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Home>Training Room>Sports Psychology |
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The following outline (courtesy of Jim Taylor, PhD, Alpine Taylor Consulting, www.alpinetaylor.com) is from a recent presentation at the Golden Gate Triathlon Club meeting. Essential
Concepts Essential Concepts
MOTIVATION
Developing and Maintaining Motivation a.
long-term focus will gird motivation against
short-term pain. b.
remind yourself why you are suffering. 2.
Training partner or group. a.
support from others. b.
common goals. c.
inspire each other. 3.
Chart progress with training log. a.
see yourself improving. b.
see yourself nearing your goals. 4.
True motivation comes from within. a.
compete because you love to swim, bike, and
run. Over-Training
a.
more is not better. b.
stick with your program.
a.
rest is an essential part of training. b.
rest should be built into your training
program. 4.
Tapering. a.
common worries include losing fitness, getting
fat. b.
you won’t lose fitness during taper. c.
adjust your caloric intake for less intensive
training. d.
goal is to be rested when you get to start
line. CONFIDENCE
Importance
of Confidence 1.
Definition: how strongly you believe in your
ability to achieve your goals. 2.
Problems with low confidence: low motivation,
negative self-talk, anxiety, poor focus, negative
emotions. 3. Confidence is a skill. Foundation
of Confidence 1.
Preparation breeds confidence. a.
trust your preparation. b.
acknowledge your progress. c.
believe in your fitness. 2.
Mental skills reinforce confidence. a.
actively build confidence. b.
enhance your sense of control over your mind
and body. c.
enable you to handle challenges of training and
competition. d.
examples: positive self-talk, relaxation,
focusing. 3.
Adversity ingrains confidence. a.
examples: rough water, headwind, hills, rain,
cold. b.
you should train in these conditions. c.
no shock when faced with difficult conditions
in competition. d.
“been there, done that, no big deal.” 4.
Support from others bolsters confidence. a.
accept positive feedback from others. b.
believe others who believe in you. 5.
Success validates confidence. a.
successes occur every day in training. b.
recognize small “wins” every day. c.
allow small victories to raise your confidence. d.
finishing triathlon will fully affirm your
confidence. Positive
Self-Talk
1.
Importance of self-talk. a.
impacts attitude and motivation in training and
races. b.
negative self-talk causes give-up. c.
positive self-talk can overcome fatigue and
pain. d.
as your body fades, your mind must stay strong. e.
when you think there is nothing left, there is
always more left. 2.
Power of self-talk. a.
will allow you to tap into your final reserve
at the end of a race. b.
always be positive and energizing. Importance
of Intensity 1.
Definition: amount of physiological activity
and whether it is perceived positively or negatively. 2.
Too much intensity is experienced as anxiety
and nervousness. 3.
Pre-race over-intensity will waste energy. 4.
Pre-race over-intensity is normal. a.
accept it as part of the excitement of the
race. b.
don’t make it worse by worrying about. c.
take steps to reduce over-intensity. Training
Prime Intensity 1.
Determine prime and non-prime intensity:
examine past good and poor performances for patterns
of intensity. 2.
Intensity training: experiment with different
levels of intensity during training. 3.
Psych-up: increase physical activation, high
energy self-talk and body language. 4.
Psych-down: breathing, passive and active
relaxation, smiling, pacing. 5.
Routines for consistency of intensity. Pre-Race
Intensity 1.
Breathe. 2.
Good physical warm-up. 3.
Keep moving before start. 4.
Active relaxation: tense and relax muscles. 5.
Talk to others to keep mind off race. 6.
Listen to music. 1.
Expect your body to tighten up as the race
progresses. 2.
Monitor your body throughout race. 3.
Adjust pace as needed. 4.
Control breathing, especially at end of race. 5.
Active relaxation of shoulders periodically
during race. 6.
Shake out arms periodically during race. FOCUS Importance
of Focus 1.
Definition: the ability to attend to particular
internal and external cues. a.
what internal and external cues will help your
training and races? 2.
Prime focus: focusing on performance-relevant
cues. a.
examples: pace, stride, breathing, muscles,
positive self-talk, terrain, fluids, food, stroke. 3.
Poor focus: attending to performance-irrelevant
or interfering cues. a.
examples: other triathletes, past and future
parts of race, pain, negative self-talk. Race
Cues 1.
General keywords. a.
physical: long and loose, easy breathing. b.
technical: slow and steady, good rhythm. c.
tactical: maintain pace from start, race starts
at mile 80 of bike (for Ironman), finish strong. d.
mental: stay positive, keep attacking, hanging
tough. 2.
Keys for each leg of triathlon. a.
create two or three keys for each leg of race
to maintain positive and useful focus. b.
swim examples: calm, rhythm, long, smooth, slow
stroke. c.
bike examples: circles, control, output, relax. d.
run examples: form, patience, relax. 3.
Four P's: positive, present, process, progress. Pre-Race
Emotions 1.
Positive: excitement, joy. 2.
Negative emotions: fear, anxiety. 3.
All emotions before a race are normal. a.
accept emotions, whether positive or negative. b.
shift to positive emotions, if possible. c.
pre-race negative emotions will go away once
race starts. During
Race 1.
Triathlons have emotional ebbs and flows that
mirror physical changes. 2.
Common emotions include fear, frustration,
disappointment, and despair. a.
don’t fall into vicious cycle that results in
despair. b.
as soon as you feel strong negative emotions,
refocus on positives of race. 3.
Experience the joy of the race in every leg. PAIN Importance
of Pain
a.
physical discomfort. b.
your perception of the discomfort.
a.
real pain: long lasting and uncontrollable. b.
training and competitive pain: short term and
controllable.
Pain as Your Enemy
Pain as Your Ally
a.
produces positive emotions (excitement, joy,
fulfillment). b.
creates positive self-talk. c.
releases endorphins which reduce the pain.\
Foundation
of Confidence 1.
Preparation breeds confidence. a.
trust your preparation. b.
acknowledge your progress. c.
believe in your fitness. 2.
Mental skills reinforce confidence. a.
actively build confidence. b.
enhance your sense of control over your mind
and body. c.
enable you to handle challenges of training and
competition. d.
examples: positive self-talk, relaxation,
focusing. 3.
Adversity ingrains confidence. a.
examples: rough water, headwind, hills, rain,
cold. b.
you should train in these conditions. c.
no shock when faced with difficult conditions
in competition. d.
“been there, done that, no big deal.” 4.
Support from others bolsters confidence. a.
accept positive feedback from others. b.
believe others who believe in you. 5.
Success validates confidence. a.
successes occur every day in training. b.
recognize small “wins” every day. c.
allow small victories to raise your confidence. d.
finishing triathlon will fully affirm your
confidence. RACE
GOALS 1.
Before race: good preparation; rested, injury
and illness free; enjoyed the training experience. 2.
At start line: be able to say: “I am as
prepared as I can be for this race.” 3.
During race: feel comfortable, have a smart
race. 4.
End of race: finish strong, pass people, use
their energy to propel you to finish. 5.
Outcome goal: time, result. Overall
Goals 1.
REVEL IN EVERY MOMENT OF THE EXPERIENCE!!! 2.
Veni (You came). a.
you chose to race. b.
you committed to a demanding training program. 3.
Vidi (You saw). a.
you experienced the rigors of a difficult
training program. b.
you pushed yourself to levels you have never
previously experienced. c.
you overcame many challenges. 4.
Vici (You conquered). a.
the training program. b.
the race. c.
yourself. d. and you will never be the same again. |
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