Mindful Training by Mike Hughes
From American Rower's Almanac 2000-2001
The mental aspect of training is very often misunderstood. Many coaches, even those who think mental training is "a bunch of smoke and mirrors” are practicing sound mental training techniques, but don't think about what they do in that light. They just DO IT! How many times have you seen a coach pump up a demoralized athlete by encouraging that athlete to find some positive piece to a failed workout or poor race performance? Something as simple as that can be an important component to any performance enhancement program. Most of what we know about mental training comes from studying those people who are natural practitioners of performance enhancement (or mental) training. Probably the best natural practitioner that I've ever seen in action is Stan Bergman, men's coach at the University of Pennsylvania. Stan often gets the "most from his athletes by mixing his knowledge of physical training with his seemingly natural ability to get athletes mentally prepared. Like Stan, some of these natural practitioners may not even call what they do "performance enhancement training" because they've just always done it that way. I recently read an article about Arnold Schwarznegger in the Personal Glimpses section of Reader's Digest. The author was reflecting on an interview he had with Arnold before he became a superstar. The author asked Arnold, whose biggest accomplishment to that point was 'Conan The Barbarian," what he planned to do next. Arnold answered, "I'm going to be the number one box office star in all of Hollywood." The author had to hold his laughter because Arnold's first attempt at movie making hadn't shown much promise. Arnold went on to talk about his strategy for achieving: "It's the same process as I used in body building. What you do is create a vision of where you want to be, and then live into that picture, as if it were already true. Coaches often do the same thing for their athletes that Arnold was doing for himself. They hold images of success in front of their athletes until they live into them. It is the highest form of mentoring a basic performance enhancement technique. Arnold may not call it that, but what he practices is a form of visualization; holding an image of future success so strongly that a person naturally lives into it. Good coaches are good mentors, seeing more in their athletes than their athletes see in themselves. So if coaches are already using good performance enhancement techniques, why bother thinking about it? Why not just let it happen naturally? Although performance enhancement may happen naturally for some coaches, it doesn't happen at all for some coaches and even the ones that come by it naturally may benefit from putting it into a proactive systematic program. In this article we explore a systematic approach to performance enhancement training. We will look at how self-talk, affirmations, and visualization can improve performance. Before we look into this program, however, we must first look at a major roadblock successful to implementation. Perception of truth is the roadblock most often standing in the way of success. It's what stops some athletes from even trying. The truth we are talking about here isn't the truth as it really is, or empirical truth. Rather, it is the truth as we perceive it. Its, "The truth about my golf game is that I hit about an 85, or I usually bowl in the 150s, or I'll never break seven minutes on a 2k erg." Once we have a perception to our ability, performance will be greatly influenced by that perception. If that belief is below actual potential, then performance will follow at sub-potential levels. For example, a baseball player believes in himself to be a .300 hitter, but goes hitless for a few games. If he really believes that he is a .300 hitter, he may find himself hitting .350 or even .400 for the next few games until he averages .300 again. Conversely, if that same hitter were to bat .400 or .450 for a game or two, it is likely that he would go a few games hitting quite a bit less than .300 so his average would return to around .300. Research shows that we self regulate performance to stay in line with what we believe about ourselves. So the question is; if we are stuck performing at the highest level we believe we are capable of, what's the use of trying to improve. The good news is that we can change our beliefs and therefore change our performance. We do it all the time. Sometimes it is just a matter of toughing it out; holding ourselves to a higher standard, being tough, and demanding more until belief in ourselves rises. But that is only one dimensional. What if there was a way to make it happen faster? What if there were a way to employ multi-dimensional techniques that could positively alter beliefs more quickly?
It all starts with the things that we say and think to ourselves; better known as self talk. In most cases when I ask athletes to first write down three negative things they say or think about themselves, and then to write down three positive things they say or think about themselves, it takes them a much shorter time to come up with the negative than the positive. The reason for this is simple; most people have more practice bashing themselves both in thought and talk than they do pumping themselves up. How many times have you called yourself an idiot, or thought your self to be stupid just because you made a simple mistake? Sometimes we don't even wait to do it to our selves; we let other people do it for us. The coach says you are really doing a good job. He or she has credibility with you, so you naturally buy into it and think: "Hey, I must be getting better. Coach says so." Or the coach says you really suck. Again, if he or she has credibility with you, you may buy into that and think, "Hey, I must really suck. Coach says so." Each time we say or think positively or negatively about ourselves, or buy into what someone else says to us. We positively or negatively enhance our beliefs and therefore our performance. Although as human beings it is practically impossible to totally eliminate negative self talk and thought, there are some things that can be done to reduce it:
1. Notice when you are thinking or talking negatively, then stop. People often don't
even realize when they're being negative because they've gotten so good at it.
2. Notice when you're thinking or talking positively, and do it again.
One of the most effective ways to positively tweak a belief is to make repetitive statements about a goal as if it's already been achieved. These statements are called affirmations. Affirmations can cement the picture of the goal so solidly in one's mind that self perceptions can be altered and performance enhanced. For affirmations to be most effective they must be written in a personal, positive, and emotional for- mat. For example: I feel proud of breaking seven minutes in my 2,000-meter erg test. This affirmation states the goal as if it had al- ready been accomplished. To make affirmations most effectively, make yourself comfortable with your eyes closed, and;
(1) Say the words;
(2) Picture the goal, as if it were happening;
(3) Feel the emotional charge from accomplishing the goal. Spending 30 seconds with each affirmation twice each day can start to make a difference in just a week or two, and can make a significant difference in four to six weeks. Affirmations can be written by individual athletes for themselves, or by coaches for their entire team. Another way for athletes to enhance performance by positively altering beliefs is to visualize accomplishing the goal. Visualizations can be both active and passive. Active visualizations are usually done just before a competition or a workout. During active visualizations the athletes' eyes are closed but they are actively running a race or practice scenario in their minds with their bodies simulating the activity as close as possible. We've all seen the downhill Olympic skiers going over their run in their minds at the top of the hill just moments before they leave the gate. Active visualization allows the athlete to slip in a mental practice just prior to a competition or practice. Passive visualizations are usually done in a quiet place, eyes closed, individually or as a team. Start by relaxing the body and mind, breathing deeply. When relaxed, see the goal accomplished and feel the emotion attached to it. These passive visualizations can be either self run or guided by a coach or coxswain. They can be completed in about five minutes and are very effective if done at least once a day. Controlling negative self talk, affirmations, and visualization can be the icing on the cake of a great physical training program. The combination can be very effective in producing that all important result -speed. But the combination will never gel without the most important ingredient, the coach's support. If the coach doesn't feel that training the mind has significant value, and doesn't make time for it in the training schedule, it will never happen.