Athletes in every sport will from time to time lose focus, become self-conscious, have self-doubts to contend with and worry about things. It happens especially in cycling, which can be grueling on the best of days. Emotions with strong physical components are the worst because they have what’s called an attractor field – an energy field that can be quite intense and can affect the senses such as sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste. Often the result is a closed thought loop and corresponding mood that can be beyond upsetting, and the resulting anxiety, anger, disappointment, confusion and self-doubt can really hurt a racer’s performance.

“Train your weakness and race your strength.”
Chris Carmichael

These disruptive thought patterns may be transitional or long standing. Some represent concerns that pop-up unexpectedly, serving as an annoying distraction. Others may have assaulted your confidence for several years, and relate to a dreaded experience that got traction in your young mind many years ago. These troublesome cogitations may have nothing to do with racing but nevertheless, they do test your poise. Whether incidental or enduring, they can cause you to lose focus and make mistakes.

Imagine how potent a really disruptive pattern might be. You might say, “I never perform well when it’s windy” or “I always have trouble with this track.” This early in the season, it’s important to be thorough in working with your thought habits and take into account those triggers that have the potential to throw you out of your optimal performance zone.

Good habits in thinking are essential to building confidence, a positive self-expectation and focus. Cycling is extraordinarily challenging because performing well requires you to maintain concentration in the midst of both internal and external stress, as well as changing race conditions. Consider a thirty minute mental conditioning session, 4 times each week as a solid investment in your overall race preparation.

Thought Pattern Interrupt
The thought pattern interrupt (TPI) is a technique first developed by the renowned hypnotherapist, Dr. Milton Erickson, and has been used widely in cognitive-behavioral work and neurolinguistic programming (NLP). The TPI involves a four-step process that is designed to shift the flow and neutralize negative thinking. The four steps are:

1) Recognize and explore the thinking pattern getting in the way.

To do this properly, sit alone and think about your situations containing disruptive thought patterns and the associated feelings. Take enough time with this to examine them in detail, exploring the original experience if possible, but at least the most frequent and common situations that trigger the pattern. Journal this process and explore as much of the attractor field as you can, including all of the physical senses you encounter during the experience.

If you are not sure where to start, think about a competition you didn’t perform well in. We all have at least one in which we feel we psyched ourselves out. Consider what disruptive thought pattern or race condition you hold responsible for interfering with your focus. Anything that has the ability to take you out of a good mindset for performing is fair game. Windy conditions, heat, arriving late to the event, even an unwanted bib number can do it. The best racers perform well in all kinds of conditions. Their ability to neutralize a disruptive train of thought in favor of cool concentration on the task at hand can make a huge difference, not just in how much you enjoy the competition but in how well you perform.

2) After reviewing these situations, consider what you would like to have happen instead.

Talk with your coach about the situations you are most likely to experience again in upcoming competitions. Explore them until you are clear about how you want to deal with them. Discuss ideas for alternative responses you might want to employ.

There are some strategies for crafting these alternative responses. For example, Erickson suggested enlarging the possibilities. If riding in wind is a mental challenge, then enlarging the possibilities might include a clear focus on maintaining your form in race conditions that involve wind. Your focus goes to what is “possible” to accomplish, even in conditions you don’t favor.

Another strategy taught by Erickson concentrates on reframing your sensory focus. Once asked how he might confer with someone feeling guilty about a pattern of eating too much, he replied, “I hope you really enjoy lunch today. Enjoy it thoroughly and well. You know, it’s as easy to enjoy a small portion as it is a large portion. In fact, a small portion can be enjoyed even more than a large one. And you really will enjoy it more because you won’t have to feel guilty about that small portion.” In this case, Erickson reframed the thought pattern around food. You might be able to do this for yourself but it requires noteworthy concentration. You must purposely craft your internal dialogue the way you want it to go, and repeat the process until you’ve established an efficient neural pathway.

Don’t hurry. Think about how these alternatives might look and what replacement pattern you will employ for the results you want to achieve. Consider the attractor field and how the replacement will feel different. When you are crafting the script for the alternative, always give yourself a positive self-expectation and include a goal, an encouraging outcome, or perhaps a waking ‘dream’ to visualize your success. A practice session will naturally include the distraction, followed by your systematic and routine shift in focus to the desired concentration goal. Multiple practice sessions will be rewarded by good thinking habits and a positive self-expectation in a variety of conditions.

3) Occasionally, we get surprised by an intrusive thought pattern, one that we haven’t planned for.

In such a case, you can prepare a designed response for the moment the disruption occurs, with the intent to ‘change the channel’ of your thinking.

In these situations, the plan should involve a quick recognition of the problem, a physical gesture to snap you out of it, and a rapid shift in focus. One particular athlete who was accustomed to this experience wore a rubber band around his wrist. When he noticed the intrusion, he’d snap the rubber band on his wrist and repeat an inspiring quote he favored. Then he’d play a specific set of songs from his iPod. (Curiously enough, there’s an Aussie rock band named Pattern Interrupt who has some music that just might do the trick.)

I knew another athlete who would jump up and do a couple of jumping jacks and consciously take a deep breath to shift from an unwanted thought pattern. Of course, he freaked people out now and then but he wasn’t worried about that. He knew he couldn’t control their reactions. He just felt better being able to control his own.

4) For a TPI to be successful, it must be practiced and rehearsed repeatedly.

Consider the number of times you have practiced racing moves and tactics, done sprints, or picked the line going into a turn. You think nothing of practicing the same move repeatedly. Set aside practice sessions several times a week to practice your mental conditioning skills. These practice sessions will reinforce your ability to focus, control stress and maintain concentration when you need it most.

In conclusion, the TPI is but one method for proactively addressing those emotional glitches that can interfere with racing performance. More than that, it can help you enjoy the competition more, and feel better about your overall training program.

About the author:

Dr. Stephen Walker is a licensed healthcare professional who has served as a therapist, health psychologist, athletic & personal performance consultant for the past 31 years in the Rocky Mountain Region. His PhD in Counseling Psychology (1984) from the University of Colorado resulted in the publication of groundbreaking research that brought together the fields of psychology, integrative physiology, biofeedback and human performance in response to stress and recovery. Dr. Walker’s considerable experience in assessment, cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy, health and sport psychology makes it possible for him to put forward lessons and skill sets likely to be of great benefit in almost any situation.

In the field of sport and performance psychology, Stephen Walker began his work at the Human Performance Laboratory at the University of Colorado and for 19 years he worked to develop the use of mental conditioning skill sets with athletes from the CU Golf, Track & Field and Cross Country teams. He has interviewed many of the world’s finest athletes (both professional and Olympic) coaches and sport psychologists over several years culminating in his role as Editor-in-Chief of Podium Sports Journal: The Journal of Mental Conditioning for the Serious Athlete. Dr. Walker is the founder of Sport Performance Associates, a Longmont/Boulder interdisciplinary consulting group that provides counseling assistance, clinical support and performance driven personal coaching services, in addition to seminars and clinics to a wide range of individuals, teams, and business groups.

By Dr. Stephen Walker

Podium Sports Journal’s Podcast of the Week – An interview with Drs. Noah Gentner and Vanessa Shannon

by Dr. Stephen Walker, CC-AASP

This podcast was the first of a two part podcast with Drs. Noah Gentner and Vanessa Shannon on qualitative research they conducted with Olympic Gold medalists from the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece.  The interview was given at the Association for Applied Sport Psychology annual conference in Louisville, Kentucky October 2007.

This study evolved over a number of years in a series of interviews focused on identifying and describing the mental techniques and preparation strategies used by world champions.  The key exploration focused on how these premier athletes differed from those less successful athletes in their preparation and mental conditioning.  A total of nine male and female athletes from six different sports comprised the sample for this qualitative research effort.

Some of the techniques employed included self-talk, attention cues, process focused physical moves, smart “techniques”, short-term and long-term goals.  Stay tuned tomorrow for part 2 of this interview.

Dr. Noah Gentner is a sport psychologist consultant and Assistant Professor of Sport Sciences from Georgia Southern University.  Dr. Vanessa Shannon is a coaching education specialist and Assistant Professor at West Virginia University.  Both were students of Dr. Craig Wrisberg  and Leslie Fisher Gould at the University of Tennessee.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click Here to Listen to the Podcast: aasp-oct07-minding-for-gold-gentner-shannon3

by Stephen Walker, PhD, CC-AASP

What Happened to Jenny Barringer?

Legendary basketball coach John Wooden once said, “Things work out best for those who make the best of how things work out.”   The first time I read that I had to go over it a couple times to really let it sink in.  Jenny Barringer is such a person.  Heralded Olympian and American record holder in the 3,000m Women’s Steeplechase Barringer was heavily favored to win the 2009 NCAA Women’s Cross Country Championships.  Barringer had a misstep this past Monday when she faded during the last 3rd of the race dropping from the lead to finish in 163rd place.  Holy Moly! What happened?

What Every Gifted Athlete and Coach Should Learn From Barringer’s Experience

Following her story after the race and listening to her description of what was happening to her at mile four, its pretty clear to me that Barringer was feeling the unfortunate effects of “Overtraining Syndrome.”  Barringer reported feeling “light headed” even at the start, but that sensation intensified shortly before dropping out of the lead.  She described the experience of losing her sense of physical attunement as if a huge “weight had landed on my shoulders.”  Click here to watch her entire interview the next day on FloTrack coverage.

Jenny Barringer is a tough competitor and she’s known to train hard.  She is no stranger to monster workouts.  She’s trained heavy throughout the past two years and hasn’t taken much of a break since long before her 9th place finish in the Olympic Steeplechase.  She has set NCAA and American Records, had numerous PR’s in the past several months and engaged in a full complement of competitions through the World Championships.  With little or no break after Worlds, she started right into Cross Country and began a 4th straight year in NCAA competition without a break.  To say that Barringer is tough is an understatement.   Her NCAA Cross Country Championship was to be her last hurrah before turning pro.

As many best laid plans are set in motion, Barringer came to a very important conclusion during her post-race interview, “I’m not a machine, I’m a human being, but I had set the bar a little higher every time I went into a race this year…and I set this one so high I wanted to break the course record and win by a lot…and that didn’t happen.  I’m out of energy and tired and I need a good break.”

Stress Plays a Huge Role

Barringer had so much going on in recent months, her daily planner took over her life.  Graduating from the University of Colorado this month is small stuff compared to prepping for the race, getting engaged, beginning the process of planning a wedding, turning pro, interviewing potential agents, fielding a barrage of offers from sponsors wanting an inside position, dealing with the press and dreaming of the storybook ending.  “I realized my life is not a book, its a life and it requires care and attention.”  Everything else pushed into priority status and Barringer is not one to be careless with the management of things.  Even though coach Mark Wetmore encouraged her to “slow down”, Jenny defines her life not by her limitations, but rather her accomplishments.  I’m hoping Barringer takes her coach’s advice and re-evaluates her challenges with this experience as a reminder of the importance of balance.

Many athletes and coaches consider the absence of training makes it a “rest day”, but Barringer might just begin to redefine that standard as many sport psychologists and experts in overtraining can attest.  For more information on this topic and a compelling podcast interview featuring Dr. Kristen Dieffenbach on “overtraining and under recovery”, this is really important to understand.  Dr. Dieffenbach goes into a very thorough and comprehensive review of her doctoral thesis researching this issue with athletes training at the USOTC.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Kristen_Dieffenbach[1]

It appears that this combination of timing and events turned out to be “the perfect storm” for Jenny Barringer.  Hopefully, she will bounce back from this and continue to develop into one of America’s premier runners.  One thing for sure, she has heart and that puts her in good company along with a bevy of  University of Colorado women elites like Kara Goucher, Renee Metevier-Baillie, Shayne Culpepper just a few of the NCAA Champions who have graced this program and gone on to illustrious pro careers.

The USOC’s Coaching Newsletter – An Article on Performance Enhancement

A THREE-STEP FORMULA FOR COMPETITION READINESS: FROM PREPARATION TO EXECUTION
By Sean McCann, USOC Sport Psychologist- Strength and Power

When an athlete prepares well, has the talent, but simply doesn’t execute, it is frustrating and often puzzling to figure out what went wrong. At the Olympics, it is relatively rare to see a total performance collapse. When athletes underperform at the Games, the most common phenomenon is a series of small, atypical mistakes and changes in performance. Added up together, these changes and mistakes derail the performance just enough to create a below-average performance. Over the years, in my work as a sport psychologist, I have tried to determine what factors are present when athletes underperform and what it is that allows some athletes to perform at their best, time after time. After eight Olympics, I have observed a few consistent factors that result in strong performances.

Key to Strong Performances – Being in “Execution Mode”

When you’re out there in the big league pressure cooker, a pitcher’s attitude — his utter confidence that he has an advantage of will and luck and guts over the hitter — is almost as important as his stuff.” Bill Veeck

Athletes do not have to be “in the zone” or having a “peak experience” to perform well under pressure. But there are some basic characteristics of an athlete’s mindset when things go well. I call it “execution mode”, a state of mind in which an athlete has simple thoughts, a very clear idea of what she needs to do, and complete confidence that executing this clear idea will mean success.

1. Simplicity and Clarity of thoughts. For best performances, athletes are operating with a stripped-down, uncluttered mind. Technique has been reduced to a shorthand. Strategy is a simple idea. The internal mind is quiet, but the senses are open and aware. Thoughts are almost completely in the present.
2. Certainty regarding focus. During best performances, there is no confusion or uncertainty about where the mind should be. Athletes are sure they are on the proper performance path, which makes it easier to keep proper performance focus. Certainty and the absence of doubt reduces self-consciousness.
3. Confidence in approach. Athletes who perform well are completely confident that what they are doing is correct. With this confidence, they can fully commit to the simple, clear ideas above. They know exactly what they are trying to execute, and they trust. They trust that executing this plan will be enough for success. This trust and confidence decreases the tendency to become defensive, and increases the ability to stay relaxed, athletic, and aggressive.

Virtually every athlete in every sport I have talked to about these issues agrees that these three factors are present in great and good performances. Most consistently strong performers will agree with these ideas but they often say that they hadn’t really thought about these factors or given them a name. For most successful athletes, they discovered how to get into that state of mind by trial and error. I believe coaches can help a much larger number of athletes get into execution mode by setting it as an explicit goal for competition and explaining that there are three steps on the path to execution mode.      Read on………

Click here to Read McCann’s Article – Scroll to MIND GAMES

Podium’s Podcast of the Week: Dr. Lois Butcher-Poffley’s research on music & tempo in Sport

by Stephen E. Walker, PhD, CC-AASP

I remember when we used to watch cartoons on TV every Saturday morning.  We’d watch Loony Tunes and Road Runner, but the room would come alive when Bugs Bunny started doing the Rumba with a “1-2-3-kick.”  My sisters and me would love it and have a blast as we’d try to kick each others’ butt right on beat.   Anyway you look at it – the image is as fresh on my mind today – as any song, music or rhythm I’ve ever played with.   I’ve been a musician pretty much since 10 years of age and so tempo has guided these endeavors for many years.

I knew when I attended Lois’ workshop at AASP last year that it would be a treat and it was.  Not only did it provide me with some new tools for my work with athletes and coaches, it completely altered the way I would look at teaching motor skills.  

The applications are everywhere and you’ve got to look hard to find exceptions.  Open sports, closed sports, whether initiating a serve or teeing off in golf…the use of rhythm and music is pervasive…if we know what to pay attention to…and how to use it properly.  Music can calm us – hype us up – help us heal – give our team an identity – and do it all in a manner of ways likely to help us master a great many challenges when faced with complex motor skills…all the while making it fun!

Enjoy Podium’s podcast of the week – a few lessons with a former professional dancer turned certified sport psychology consultant.  Dr. Lois Butcher-Poffley is a professor at the City University of New York and director of SportsLogic, a consulting firm she operates out of  Philadelphia, PA.  She’s worked with a number of Division I teams in sports you wouldn’t expect, including football.  Take a listen to this podcast and you’ll begin thinking of rhythm and music in every sporting endeavor you engage in.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click Here to listen to the Podcast

by Dr. Stephen Walker, CC-AASP

Matt Reed was born in New Zealand but moved to the USA several years ago when his love for elite triathlete Kelly Rees brought him here.  Competing for the USA, he won the Olympic Trials in 2008 and is currently ranked number one by USA Triathlon, and #21 in ITA world rankings.  Disappointed in his performance in the Olympics, Matt is hoping to fare better in London as he gets stronger and more fit.  Listen to what Matt had to say about mental conditioning, handling adversity and for his hopes for the future.

By Dr. Haley Perlus

Athletes First

Why do young athletes participate in sports?  This is a simple question with insurmountable implications for improving youth competitive sport.

Children choose to participate in sport for the following six reasons:

1) to have fun,  2) to learn and improve skills,   3) to be with friends,   4) to be part of a team,   5) to get exercise and stay in shape, and   6) for the challenge and excitement of competition (Gould & Petlichkoff, 1988).   Young athletes do not yet possess the talent, strength, skill, and experience to be elite (Erickson, 1996).  They’re in it purely to enjoy the experience.

From a developmental perspective, there are two justifications for youth competitive sport (Wiggins, 1987): personal development and peak performance. Personal development includes, but is not limited to, positive self-perceptions, long-term motivation to be active and experience new things, ability to cope with anxiety and disappointment, and sportspersonship.

Performance enhancement includes skill development and improvement

To keep young athletes in sport long enough for them to develop these positive qualities and discover their true athletic potential, sport psychologists recommend ……..

…….that youth competitive sports find a balance between individual and competitive rewards (Ames, 1986).

An individual reward structure allows athletes to work toward exerting more effort, learning from their mistakes, and improving their personal best performances. Individual rewards foster a sense of personal control and persuades athletes to bring attention to their skill development.

Conversely, a competitive reward structure highlights the natural urge for social comparison and forces athletes to work against each other for recognition. Competitive rewards encourage athletes to evaluate their ability solely based on performance outcome criteria and to forget about whether or not they improved from last time.

Individual rewards are especially important for children younger than 14 years. Research in developmental psychology (Horn, 1991; Horn & Hasbrook, 1986; 1987; Horn & Weiss, 1991) demonstrates that young athletes between eight and 12 years rely heavily on social comparison criteria and feedback and evaluation from significant adults (e.g. parents and coaches) to measure their success. Individual rewards teach young athletes to become aware of their own skill improvement. In turn, they develop an internal sense of satisfaction, self-efficacy and motivation. At this point, it would be difficult for an athlete to want to do anything but play sports.

It isn’t until about age 14 that athletes use multiple sources of criteria including social comparison, self-improvement, ease of learning new skills, and enjoyment of the activity to measure success. Thus, athletes around the age of 14 are developmentally capable of putting winning and social comparison in perspective and balancing it out with self-improvement.

As young athletes are developing, it is the responsibility of the coaches and parents to emphasize individual improvement rather than highlight the natural tendency to focus on how one young athlete compares to another. In turn, these athletes will exert more effort, persist to improve and learn new skills, and develop a long-term interest to stay in sport. Most importantly, they will be given the opportunity to develop physically and psychologically and realize their true athletic potential.

An Example worth looking at: Competitive Ski Racing

In an effort to create a more enjoyable experience for young athletes and instill positive personal development and performance enhancement, many youth competitive sport programs have modified the typical reward system. Instead of rewarding only the top three males and females in their level of competition, the reward system acknowledges a larger number of athletes (e.g. the top ten males and females).
Although intensions are pure, this reward system could produce the exact opposite effect of what it was designed for. Instead of decreasing the significance of social comparison and winning, the reward system places further emphasis on finish placements. Also, by distributing competitive rewards to a larger group of athletes in an attempt to increase self-efficacy, the youth program runs the risk of instilling unrealistic expectations for future competition. These viewpoints are discussed below.

Emphasis on Social Comparison and Winning

Imagine Jake, a small nine year old racer, who continues to improve his technique, but is not yet capable of placing in the top ten for his age group. To be a good “team player” Jakes is required to stay after each race and watch his peers be recognized for their race results. With a typical reward system, Jake would watch for a short period of time while the bronze, silver, and gold medals are distributed to the three fastest racers. With this new reward system in place, the duration of the ceremony is much longer. Consequently, Jake is conditioned to believe that the results and the competitive rewards make up the main event of the competition.

Picture Tracy, an 11 year old girl, walking to her parent’s car after the reward ceremony. Tracy is now looking around and seeing many athletes holding their reward while she is getting into the car empty-handed. Compared to when only a select few athletes, who finished in the top three, received a reward, Tracy is reminded of how slow she was compared to many of her peers.

In both cases, Jake and Tracy are exposed to a youth sport environment that teaches them the importance of race results and social comparison for measuring success. Due to their inability to earn a competitive reward, Jake and Tracy will develop low self-efficacy and possibly a fear of failure. The end result is an unhappy athlete who no longer enjoys the sport.

Instilling Unrealistic Expectations

Lisa, an early developing and talented 12 year old ski racer, is among the top five fastest girls in every race. Lisa is used to being recognized for skiing fast and she loves the attention and praise she continues to receive from all of the coaches, ski parents, and peers.

What will happen in a few years when Lisa’s peers catch up to her in strength, ability, and speed? It is common for an athlete like Lisa, who received endless recognition for her performance outcomes, to develop high self-efficacy in her sport. Unfortunately, when a top ten placement becomes harder to achieve, Lisa will have difficulty coping with the possibility of not getting a competitive reward. She will then be susceptible to anxiety and emotional exhaustion that could lead to burnout and, in worse cases, dropout.

How to Structure Rewards for Youth Competitive Sport

Winning and social comparison is inevitable in sport. The desire to be the best will never disappear, nor should it. Athletes, young and old, are going to ask themselves if they won and how they compared to their peers. However, we can balance this orientation by emphasizing individual improvement.

It is appropriate for youth competitive sport to include competitive rewards, just as they are included in higher levels of competition. Young athletes do not need to be sheltered from the true nature of competitive sports. Experience with success and defeat will help athletes to develop coping skills they can implement in any life domain.

It is essential, however, for coaches and parents to also provide athletes support for their self-referenced achievement. This support can be verbal (“Jake, your hands were up in front of your body the whole run – way to go”), physical (Tracy’s coach pats her on the back and gives her a smile in the finish area), or tangible (Lisa earns a hat, donated by a sponsor, for demonstrating aggressive effort from the start to the finish line). What is important is that each reward is earned and not just given for the sake of giving. When the reward is meaningful, it will instill self-efficacy in the young athlete, making the overall experience much more enjoyable.

The individual reward structure will also serve to put winning in perspective and define success and failure in terms of personal improvement (Smoll & Smith, 2002). Now, in addition to wanting to know how one person compared to another person, young athletes will be interested to know how they can get better than they were before and what will help them improve from their last performance.

Who is Dr. Haley Perlus?

Haley is a doctor of sport and exercise psychology.  She is an expert at empowering individuals to achieve peak performance.  A former elite athlete, Whistler Cup Alpine Ski Racing Champion, Coach, group fitness instructor, and fitness trainer, Haley has devoted her life to sport and exercise and understands the difficulty of overcoming performance blocks so that people can consistently perform to the best of their ability.  She is an enthusiastic and passionate seminar leader, speaking at numerous conferences, workshops, conventions and trade shows. She is an adjunct professor at the University of Colorado – Colorado Springs.  Dr. Perlus is available for individual and group mental toughness consultations. To find out more about these programs, email us at haley@drhaleyperlus.com or call us at (303) 459-4516.

The Research on Focusing Attention

Most research has examined the attentional focus of runners by categorizing their thoughts as either associative or dissociative. This model proposed by Morgan and Pollock (1977) describes associative thoughts as those that tune into your bodily sensations such as breathing, heart rate, tempo, turnover, shaking out muscle tightness, focused relaxation of certain muscle groups or a part of your body and, eventually muscle fatigue and other not-so-desirable training experiences. Dissociative thoughts are those focused on just about anything but your bodily sensations. It’s a pretty basic strategy that purposely attempts to distract one from thinking about bodily sensations.

In 1998 Masters and Ogles published a review of the research on associative and dissociative cognitive strategies, reviewing a total of 35 studies. With regard to outcomes associated with attentional focus strategies, Masters and Ogles offered the following conclusions:

a) association is generally related to faster running performances,
b) runners use association more in races and dissociation more during training,
c) dissociation is related to lower rates of perceived exertion.

About ten years ago Stevinson and Biddle (1998) proposed and tested what they referred to as a more comprehensive system for classifying runners’ thoughts, arguing that a simple dichotomy is not sophisticated enough to capture the full range of runners’ thoughts. They proposed two dimensions: task relevance (relevant or not relevant to task performance) and, direction of attention (internal or external).

The Plot Thickens with a New Direction in Research on Running

In our research lab at Western Kentucky, we have been studying attentional focus in runners in recent years. In one of our studies (Wininger & Gieske, 2006) we proposed subdividing task-relevant inward monitoring into three separate categories: bodily sensations, task-relevant thoughts, and self-talk. In addition, we developed an instrument that would better capture what runners actually think about, and when they do it. It is called the Measure of Attentional Focus and it consists of six categories of thoughts:

1) Bodily sensations: attending to bodily sensations such as breathing or muscles/body parts.
2) Task relevant thoughts: attending to thoughts about strategy, technique, or goals related to time, and pace.
3) Self-talk: self-statements such as “I can do it” or “Keep going” or “Push it”.
4) Task relevant external cues: time splits, distance markers, terrain, or other runners.
5) Task irrelevant thoughts: thinking about things unrelated to exercise such as planning, daydreaming, or past events/memories.
6) External distraction: attending to music, TV program, other people, or scenery.

We recently conducted a study with participants in several 5k road races. We wanted to examine how the addition of the new categories (2 & 3 from above) might relate with athletic performance. Previous research has suggested that focusing on bodily sensations was most closely associated with better performance. However, we discovered that the amount of time a runner spent focusing on task-relevant thoughts was most highly related to better performance.

In another study with collegiate swimmers (Wininger & Graves, 2007) we found that how one perceives thoughts about their bodily sensations may also affect how those thoughts affect performance. Top finishers judged thoughts about bodily sensations as neutral. Swimmers finishing in 5-7th place judged bodily sensation thoughts as negative. A veteran college cross country coach suggested to us that better runners just check in with their bodily sensations like an instrument panel and use this information to decide how to proceed in terms of altering their pace.

Also, it appears that certain thought patterns characterize different portions of a race. In our study on athletes competing in 5K road races we found that task relevant thoughts were highest during the first and last third of the race. Task-irrelevant thoughts seemed to peak during the middle third of the race. This would suggest that the most difficult portion of the race in terms of maintaining focus was the middle third. Runners would do well to develop strategies or plans for maintaining their focus during this phase of a race.

So What Should You Think About While Running?

Based on our research thus far, we would suggest that if you want to improve your performance try to focus primarily on task-relevant thoughts, check in on bodily sensations periodically and use this information to alter your pace accordingly, use self-talk to get through tough stretches, and develop a plan for maintaining focus during the middle third of a run.

For Shorter Events 5K and shorter – I would also suggest that each runner attempt to systematically identify the optimal combination with regards to allocation of attention across the six categories for specific types of running, e.g., long slow runs, tempo runs, and racing. Note, during races attention to task-irrelevant thoughts and external distracters should be keep to a minimum, especially races of shorter distances such as 5K’s and shorter.

For Longer Training runs – However, it is important to note that task-irrelevant thoughts and external distracters are desirable when completing long training runs as they help to pass the time and may also lower perceived exertion.

About the Author:

Steve Wininger received his Ph.D. in sport psychology from Florida State University in 1998. He has provided sport psychology consultation for numerous collegiate teams: swimming & diving, basketball, volleyball, tennis, soccer, and track & field. His current research focus is on how to increase performance via the manipulation of attentional focus, especially for non-scoring aerobic activities such as running, swimming, and cycling. Steve’s athletic background includes competing at the collegiate level in both cross-country and tennis. He currently enjoys running 5K’s, swimming, competing in USTA team tennis, and hiking with his family. Steve is an associate professor of psychology at Western Kentucky University.

The following is from Wikipedia.org. This is good. Wait until you see the set of examples of violence.

Violence in sports can result in chaotic brawls, both by athletes and spectators. They may involve beer bottles, sinks from stadiums, improvised stabbing utensils, stadium seats, and whatever else may be found on hand.

In sports which are inherently violent, violence which goes beyond what is permitted by the rules sometimes occurs.

Competitive sports, such as football, basketball, and baseball may involve aggressive tactics, but actual violence is considered to fall outside the boundaries of good sportsmanship. Contact sports such as American football, ice hockey, rugby football, boxing, wrestling, and water polo involve certain levels of physical violence, but include restrictions and penalties for excessive and dangerous acts of force. Violence in sports may include threats, or physical harm and may be carried out by athletes, coaches, fans, spectators, or the parents of young athletes.

George Orwell once made the observation, “Serious sport has nothing to do with fair play. It is bound up with hatred, jealousy, boastfulness, disregard of all rules and sadistic pleasure in witnessing violence: in other words it is war minus the shooting.”[1]

Here’s the full article.

by Tami Eggleston, Ph.D. CC-AASP

The following article is by Tami Eggleston, Ph.D. of McKendree University. She’s an Association for Applied Sport Psychology Certified Consultant.

“Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.”
-Lou Holtz

Psychologists know a few things about how to motivate people, that is basically what psychologists try and do for people is to help them get motivated to make a change. One of the basic things about motivation is that there are two main types of motivation: extrinsic and intrinsic. Extrinsic motivation means you are motivated by something outside of yourself. This would be the athlete who really ONLY plays because of the possibility of fame, fortune, or because of how other people treat him or her. Intrinsic motivation, on the other hand, comes largely from within. But which is likely to drive an athlete in both the up and down times?

This would be the athlete who primarily performs because of the internal feelings of accomplishment, satisfaction, they like a challenge, they like competition, or they just love the sport or activity. For most people for most things it is a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation that motivates them. For example, I love to drag race, but if there wasn’t a monetary payout and we were just racing for a trophy, I probably wouldn’t go racing nearly as much. Most psychologists say that having both is fine, but if you want to be active in your sport for the long term you probably need a great deal of intrinsic motivation to keep going. Intrinsic motivation keeps you going during the good times and the difficult times (the losses, the interceptions, the strike outs, the not qualifying, the missed serve, etc.).

Psychologists have also found that sometimes if a person gets too many extrinsic rewards, their intrinsic motivation might actually go down. I know this seems odd for most people, we would think that the more extrinsic rewards you received the more you would start to intrinsically love it. But this is not supported by research. For example, most kids love to read, but if you start to give them grades for their reading or you start to reward them too much for reading they actually start to like reading less! Most psychologists would not support the idea of paying kids to read, to study, etc. or else they might lose the intrinsic motivation to do this. A few extrinsic rewards are fun (certificates, t-shirts, food) on occasion, but the overuse and focus on extrinsic rewards can actually hurt intrinsic motivation!

So what can you do to keep motivated and to keep intrinsic motivation high? Here are a few tips:

1.) Remember why you love your sport. When you start to lose motivation, think back to why you started your sport and the things that make you love it. Think back to those early experiences in your sport that just make you smile. When the going gets tough, remember you love this stuff!

2.) Shake it up! Sometimes you need to change up your activities to keep you motivated. Maybe attend a different event, a different location, with different competitors. A change might help you stay intrinsically motivated.

3.) Add some fun; nothing makes you more motivated than having fun. Lack of fun is a sure fire way to kill motivation! You can be a serious athlete but still have fun. Just look at the Green Bay Packers Quarterback, Brett Favre, he is an elite athlete who still truly is having fun. Maybe you can add fun by having a picnic with your friends and family after an event. Maybe you could make a little vacation out of your next event. Fun won’t make you less committed; fun will just help you stay motivated for the long term. The best athletes can turn on and off their game face and have fun.

He who does not get fun and enjoyment out of every day… needs to reorganize his life. -George M. Adams

4.) WIN! Yeah, this is the hard one, but nothing makes you more motivated than a good win! But here is the chicken/egg problem if you win, you get motivated, but you have to be motivated to win…but you get the point, try to win and get happy, get motivated, and win some more! Celebrate those hard earned wins!

5.) Don’t second guess yourself. Take time to make good decisions, and then once you make a decision don’t go around beating yourself up if it doesn’t work. Nothing will knock out your intrinsic motivation quicker than beating yourself up. Sometimes outstanding athletes are very hard on themselves. It is one thing to make a mistake, learn from it, but then you have to forgive yourself and move on to stay motivated. Take your time making good decisions, learn from bad decisions, and then move on! Too much second guessing doesn’t do anything but make you feel bad. Of course we should think about our decisions, learn from our decisions, but too much second guessing will just make you feel bad and reduce your intrinsic motivation to do things.

“Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable.”
-Sydney J. Harris, Strictly Personal

6.) Another thing guaranteed to reduce intrinsic motivation is comparing too much with other people. Nothing will get you feeling crappy quicker than comparing with others. Of course in sports you get compared to other people, but spend more mental energy focusing on your strengths and challenges than on the competition. In the world of auto racing, nothing will hurt intrinsic motivation more than always comparing with the person who has the fastest, coolest car with the greatest tow rig, etc. etc. It doesn’t mean you can’t look at nice stuff, be happy for the other person for what they have, or even think of ways that you can work to have that. But being jealous or envious of others will only make you feel bad about yourself. Psychologists call this upward social comparison when you compare to people who have better or more stuff than you do. This will probably just make you feel bad. Now of course you can also downward compare with those who have less than you, it might make you feel better temporarily but in the long run it probably will just make you realize that someone else could be downward comparing with YOU! No matter how fast, how cool, how new, or how good your race car is, there is always going to be somebody with something better (and probably somebody with something worse). The secret is being happy with where you are at and not feeling the need to compare with others. You should work on constantly improving yourself and capitalizing on your own strengths and working on your own challenges.

7.) Pump yourself up! To help you stay motivated you also might want to try getting some motivational music or coming up with some motivational sayings or quotes. Figure out ways to get or keep yourself motivated for your sport and for life!

Well are you feeling motivated? Do you feel ready to practice, ready to perform, ready to capitalize on your strengths, ready to work on your challenges? I hope so! I feel motivated just writing this! Remember that true success is not measured by winning one game or event or even having one winning season. True success is measured by consistently competing and staying motivated over the years. If you have any questions, comments please email me at tegglest (at) mckendree.edu.

Tami Eggleston, Ph.D. is an associate professor of psychology at McKendree University in Lebanon, Illinois. She received her Ph.D. from Iowa State University in social psychology. She teaches sport psychology and conducts mental training with the volleyball, softball, soccer, and bowling teams at McKendree University. She and her husband, Mike, campaign a rear-engine, big block Chevy dragster at various drag races in the Midwest. She writes a monthly column for Drag News Magazine entitled, Think to Win, and is an invited speaker at the Drag News Expo on the topic of the psychology of drag racing. Her areas of expertise include team dynamics, the psychology of auto racing, women in sports, and commitment.

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Email: tegglest (at) mckendree.edu
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