In sports, there are feel-good moments that simply stand out. For example, David Hauss’ recent performance at the Rio Test Event was nothing short of sensational, both on a physical and a psychological level. Entering T2 way back in the 50th position would spell the end of the race – or at least the hopes of a high ranked finish – in the case of a lot of athletes.
In a recent interview ( A Look Back At Rio With David Hauss) Hauss enlightened us on his approach to racing :
…what I’m doing and everything I accomplish, I’m doing it for myself in total happiness. It gives me the feeling that I have nothing to lose and that everything that gets sent my way is just a bonus.
Rio’s Test Event is particularly interesting because we’ve found that very few of the elites performed to their potential. In a race that was synonymous with Olympic Games qualification, the athletes proved to race not to lose and were consequently unable to answer the bell.
Consider this business/commerce analogy. Racing not to lose would be a lot like working to not declare bankruptcy rather than working to find new markets to expand in. Which working environment do you think would be more prosperous?
In the end, what we see is that the athletes that obtained their ticket to Rio had some type of experience to work with stemming from the previous Olympiads.
Racing to win, or not to lose?
In the last decade, we’ve noticed a shift to a mentality where athletes are sent to the start line to win medals. The competition is thus becoming stiffer race after race. In this performance oriented environment, we come to question if sport is actually still beneficial to the development of the athlete as an individual.
Stepping stones to success, or a ‘Hunger Games’ type development process?
While we acknowledge that a performance oriented philosophy has produced results in the past, it creates a pressure filled environment that very few athletes can handle. Consequently, a sound psychological preparation and mental approach to sport now has the utmost importance.
During the recent FINA world championships in Kazan, Russia, the French squad had less than desirable results and felt short of expectations. The answer? Seemingly to impose harder criteria for the team qualification process. There is no mention of the necessity of supplying the athletes with the proper tools to handle the pressures and rigours of international competition on a psychological point of view.
It has seemed non-proportionally difficult for women to breakthrough in endurance disciplines. This may possibly have something to do with a still existing sexist vision of high level sports, but we don’t believe that to be the case. It is more likely the fact that we constantly push to treat women as we treat the men without necessarily considering the physiological differences between men and women.
Where’s the frame of mind?
The young american phenom swimmer Ledecky (18 yrs old) has re-written the record books. Her performances in Kazan were quite simply outstanding. In a time when doping in elite sports is a hotter topic than ever, it’s hard to consider her exploits without a hint of scepticism. In today’s world, you can’t help be believe that someone who is breaking records can’t possibly be doing it clean.
We would however prefer to believe in an other scenario. Swimming is particular because it has a very technical dimension to it. Physical attributes only become a factor if the athlete is efficient with his/her swimming technique.
The New York Times has explored the reasons of Ledecky’s success. How can these performances be explained? How is an athlete able to set new records in preliminaries? An elite athlete should know to conserve their energy for the finals. Obviously, Ledecky isn’t approaching competition in the same way. Her reasoning goes along the lines of not being afraid to fail and having nothing to lose.
No fear of failure, nothing to lose…
All of this may seem trivial to some, but for many athletes, it’s a constant struggle to apply this mentality successfully. Why? Because the performance oriented system demands too much too quickly from the athletes.
In the cases of Ledecky and Hauss, their success is without doubt the result of a strong mental makeup. They were able to obtain this particular strength because of the way they’ve been surrounded, allowed to perform without having to worry about the consequences of failure. Imagine that, just go out there and do your thing with worrying about the outcome. What athlete wouldn’t want this pre-race pep talk from their coach?
Behind every athlete, there are coaches, parents, friends etc. Good coaches know that developing strong individuals is the first step in the development of a strong athlete. The individual that can successfully function in the incredibly competitive world we live in will have a much better chance of ceasing opportunities presented to them in world of racing.
Additionally, with young athletes, the coach’s work has to be supported by parents that are on the same page. They must support both coach and athlete without creating unrealistic expectations for their children.
The parents – front of line support.
I am always amused when I hear talk of an athletes genetic makeup explaining their success. At Trimes, we believe first and foremost in the the environment the athlete has evolved in. This leads straight to the important role of parents. Their expectations can have an equally positive or negative impact on their children.
In many cases, the parents live their unfulfilled athletic dreams vicariously through their children. In these types of situations, the child often participate in sport with the fear of disappointing their parents. This is a very difficult, or even impossible obstacle to overcome for most children.
In the case of Ledecky, we’ve learnt that her parents have absolutely no expectations when it comes to their daughter’s swimming. Their way of thinking is quite simple – they’re there to support her no matter the result. They refuse to be an additional source of pressure for her.
As Ledecky’s coach explains, Sport should be reassuring. You do something that you love and you try to do it to the best of your abilities. At the end of the day, (Ledecky’s) mom and dad will always lover her, her coach will keep coaching her and her friends will remain her friends. Ironically, it’s sometimes hard to explain this to children..
Constantly meeting expectations is a very hard thing to do. Nearly impossible. Parents should first and foremost be there to play down expectations and not to amplify their child’s emotions.