By Alekhya Konanur and Ritisha Banerjee
"A person’s view of you is not important. What is important is what you view of yourself."- Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce
Have you heard of the term ‘Writer’s Block’? Well, it’s a condition, primarily associated with writing, in which an author loses the ability to produce new work or experiences a creative slowdown. Mental block in sports is similar. It’s a psychological hindrance that prevents athletes from performing at their peak level. It’s very common but goes unrecognised most of the time. Athletes face obstacles physically like fitness level, body mass index, subcutaneous fat percentage, skeletal muscle, metabolism, nutrition, and the list goes on. Meeting the optimum level of these parameters are hard enough for athletes and having to overcome a mental block is a much longer process. Nowadays we do not feel the need to talk about this condition. Our physical strength definitely plays a major role as sportspersons but our mentality throughout is also exceedingly important.
One of the main sources of a mental block is stress. Stress may arise from the fear of failure or inconsistency in performance. Every athlete has their ups and downs but when they feel like their performance competitively has been somewhat of a turbulence, it’s often frustrating. Athletes feel hopeless which can be very tricky at times close to a competition as it is crucial for them to maintain positivity and focus their ‘eyes on the prize’.
On the other hand, athletes may also feel completely conquered in every aspect as they’ve never had any ‘ups’ in their performances. They tend to lose clear sight of their goal and their fire of passion starts losing its flame. This is also known as perfectionism which involves athletes avoiding certain games and practices and wanting to quit their sport. Anxiety in sports is common but when it causes extreme distress, however, our mind naturally tries to avoid the task. The more it’s avoided; the scarier it becomes in our mind, which in turn causes more avoidance. The psychology behind the avoidance could be that they had a bad experience in the game or with a certain team as previously mentioned; or that they fear embarrassment, not living up to standards, etc. It therefore, becomes easier to avoid trying rather than facing these fears.
Another way to recognise a mental block is when athletes practice better than they compete. While practicing they are relieved from pressure of achieving a particular outcome. They are much more relaxed and feel more comfortable training at their own pace. However, as the competition starts to near they fall gradually into a state of panic. They feel tense with the need to win and not disappoint oneself or their teammates.
Dealing with social factors is a hurdle athletes face as well. When certain individuals like your siblings, parents, peers or even coaches seem to not believe in you and motivate you in order to move past losses or tough situations, it can severely affect your mental toughness. As athletes grow older they tend to be socially motivated but if the support system is inconsistent, one’s confidence is bound to quiver. Several times, peers you train with often pass negative or sarcastic comments unwittingly which leads to more mental clogging.
Alekhya-
"I for one, as an athlete have many at times felt crushed and felt the finish line move further away from me. I felt like nothing I did was helping me. One of my experiences that impacted me the most was not being able to place a position in either of my individual events at the CISCE Nationals (Pune). It took a toll on my confidence and motivation. Knowing that I had a chance but still lost was very discouraging. I started to doubt myself and began believing in a non-existent athletics career in my future.
How did I overcome this struggle? It was a long and tiresome journey-one that I’m still working through. The important thing to remember is that you’re not alone. We as athletes need to remember that it was never going to be easy. Making a living out of a sport not only needs physical effort but also the right mindset."
Ritisha-
"Being an athlete since the very beginning has taught me various lessons. Every athlete deals with a mental block at some point of their journey. Mine began when I slowly drifted apart from sports due to academic pressure from board exams, my teachers, parents and so on. Looking back now, it was one of the poorest decisions I made. I barely engaged in serious training for more than a year and as a result I would underperform and feel defeated by athletes who did not train as much. I began doubting myself and heard my peers pass comments. I thought I would never be able to feel the triumph of winning a race or any event as such which is something that every athlete craves.
But, being an athlete taught me to never give up. After trying to develop the courage and face my fears, I worked hard to push myself beyond my limits. Soon enough, I qualified for the CISCE Nationals in Pune and the School Games Federation of India (SGFI). These victories made me remember my love for the sport and the reason why I pursued it and I couldn’t be happier of the outcome.
It taught me once again that you may not always deliver despite the effort put in but, if you work towards achieving new heights, it will lead to accomplishment."
There are different ways to fight and overcome a mental block. The first step is to recognise the mental block and be open to understanding its cause. We strongly believe that change begins within ourselves. Hence, positive self-talk is very helpful. If you convince yourself that you are competent enough, you start to believe it and it becomes simpler to face challenges.
Similarly, an athlete must push and force themselves to move out of their respective comfort zones. This helps the individual to overcome the fear of failure and be open to experimenting. This leads to perseverance of one’s self-confidence.
“Practice makes perfect”. All things considered, humans are not machines and are bound to make mistakes. It’s all a part of the process in becoming a perfectionist. Trial and error is the path to become a pedant.
Setting expectations as a sports person is normal but self-positivity and belief is key. Moving step by step benefits an athlete largely. In other words, small expectations assist an individual to gain confidence by achieving relatively small targets.
As we have established, mental blocks can be serious but so is the work to overcome it. There is nothing wrong with asking for guidance. Hence, seeking help from outside (therapists and professional counsellors) might be the most effective method for some athletes who require a new outlook, along with coping strategies.
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica was the first mom to win an Olympic or world 100m title in 24 years and the oldest woman (mother or not) to do it at age 32.
Another renowned way to release this mental block is through the R.A.C.E Formula Process developed by Craig Sigl aimed at helping athletes to build their mental toughness and confidence successfully. This process is not limited to one sport but is designed to improve the performance of athletes engaged in numerous sports. He propagates an inspiring quote: “Change everything you are ever motivated to achieve from a ‘HAVE TO’ to a ‘WANT TO’.”
Craig Sigl is an author and a creator of 7 different mental toughness programs. He truly believes in the framework of a partnership between the client and himself rather than a therapist/patient bond. He claims that the first step to help an individual is to become aware of the internal dialogue. He also uses a basic formula; Performance = Potential - Interference, which seems like an interesting approach. Craig works on changing the mindset of people who believe that these mental blocks can be “fixed” instantly. Once this mindset has changed, he then moves on to work on the interference patterns such as performance anxiety, fear, etc. The approach used is discrete and has worked for countless athletes.
The R.A.C.E. Formula Process consists of:
Mastering emotions instead of fearing them.
Redirecting their focus away from winning and losing.
Learning the art of telling yourself better stories (reframing).
Clearing out all old mental baggage and unresolved issues.
Building confidence on internal strengths and abilities instead of external feedback.
Lastly, what one needs is new coping skills along with perspective. Once the individual trusts the process, it's only a matter of time that they are back on track!
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