Sports Psychology: Health, Happiness and Peak Performance

As an athlete, you train hard the whole year round; putting every other aspect of your life on a backseat. You put in hours of technical training and physical conditioning; practicing your game tirelessly hour after hour. You remain undefeated in the practice arena. You maintain discipline when it comes to what you eat and when you sleep. Everybody is sure that you’re on your way to becoming a champion.

And yet, on match day, something unexpected transpires. Rather than being your usual composed self and focusing on your shots, your mind starts to play tricks on you – What if you’re not good enough? What will people say if you fail? What if you get a difficult opponent? Self-doubt creeps up on you. Suddenly your heart start pounding and you find it difficult to breath. You start remembering all the times when you’ve lost and all the things that could possibly go wrong. Concentrating on the game becomes next to impossible, and you just can’t get your shots right.

This is a story which most athletes are familiar with, or may have experienced at least once in their life – be it a penalty shoot-out in a Euro Cup, or facing the first ball of a new innings in an inter-school tournament. Experiences such as this can often lead to athletes feeling helpless and frustrated. We take the mental aspects of the game for granted. Unfortunately, in the midst hectic technical training schedules, somewhere the need to train one’s mind goes unnoticed.

The role of addressing athlete psychology though is paramount. Over the years, research has established the importance of mental training for peak performance. In fact, a pioneering studies as far back as 1988 by researchers Orlick and Partinton found that of the three major readiness factors outlined by athletes – mental, physical, technical  – only mental readiness had a statistically significant link with final Olympic ranking. 

The Champion Mindset

Are champions born or are they made? We often make a mistake by thinking that some people are just born winners, and others don’t have what it takes. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Mental strength comprises a set of psychological skills – and they’re called skills because they can be learnt with practice. In fact, when asked about being gifted with mental strength in an interview, Novak Djokovic clarified that mental strength wasn’t a gift. Instead, it was something that he trained every single day, just like every other aspect of his game. 

Sport Psychology for Performance Enhancement

At the end of the day, the way we think impacts the way we play. Sport psychology then deals with this area also known as ‘mental toughness’ – the ability to deal with one’s emotions before, during and after a game. The challenges that each player experiences are unique, and so are the methods of dealing with them. Sports psychology is not the same as giving a generic pep-talk. It’s an evidence based approach that uses techniques such as neuro-biofeedback, visualization, thought restructuring, pre-performance routines, cueing strategies, mindfulness, autonomic regulation, focus training, pattern recognition and perceptual training. Some of the areas that the principles of sports psychology can be applied to are as follows:

• Motivation – when was the last time you asked yourself “Why do I play?” Is it because you want money and fame, is it so that you get admission into a college or make a career, is it to make your parents happy? Or is it because you simply love to play? Studies have found that athletes who are motivated by the joy of playing, who have FUN while playing, who enjoy competing and pushing their limits, they’re the ones who tend to do much better in the longer run.
• Coping with competition anxiety – Very often, what players practice in the nets does not materialize on the playing field. The reason - practice sessions do not equip players to deal with stress. Often, how we play changes in the face of pressure, and getting players used to playing their level best in the face of psychological pressure is of paramount importance. Relaxation through muscle relaxation, guided imagery and breathing techniques, preparing for pressure through match simulations and staying in the present moment  all play a role in beating this competition pressure. Changing negative thought patterns around competitions, comparisons and results are important too.
• Developing a positive attitude – Winning and losing are a part of sport. The ability to bounce back from a mistake, and give the next point a 100% is the hallmark of a champion. Treating failures as opportunities to learn, developing a growth mindset and enjoying the challenge of competing and improving are all essentials of a match winning attitude.
• Strengthening focus – Competitions take place in high-stress environments. Loud noises, crowds cheering, the opponent’s actions and the scoreboard are some of the distractions an athlete may experience during an important match. Staying focused in the present moment requires athletes to train in mindfulness and develop a flexible focus. Pre-performance routines can also help athletes enter that elusive flow state where their mind and body are perfectly aligned in the present.
• Boosting Self-Confidence – What sportspersons think about themselves plays a huge role in what goes down once the game begins. Telling yourself repeatedly that you’re a failure more often than not sets off a self-fulfilling prophecy where this negative self-talk can actually set you up for failure. Athletes, just like all others, can fall prey to self-doubts and negative self-evaluations which affect how well they play their game. Changing one’s thoughts from “I can’t do this” to “I’m going to play my best game” can be the difference between winning and losing. Staying away from comparisons, positive self-talk and affirmations, practicing a more confident body language and focusing on your own strengths are strategies that can help build self-confidence.     
• Setting effective goals – Setting goals might sound like an easy task, but the way we set our goals in itself can often be the very reason we’re unable to achieve them. I once asked a player what their goal was, and the response was ‘to be famous’. While this is might be an inspiring vision to have, it does little in way of guiding them towards what they want to achieve. Rather than being a faraway destination, goals should be a road map that guides us in our journey. They need to be specific, time bound, and most of all, achievable.
• Dealing with Personal stressors – Various vectors impact an athlete’s life – their family environment, interpersonal relationships, early life experiences, financial pressures, academic or work related demands, and several others. Athletes require the right coping skills to deal with these stresses and develop strong support systems to improve their overall well-being and quality of life.
• Injury rehabilitation – For an athlete, sport forms a big part of their identity, and an injury can deal a serious blow to their psyche. Athletes may experience a sense of shock, sadness, frustration or anxiety as a result of such an injury. Rehabilitation following an injury requires resilience and commitment, developing and the ability to overcome the fears and anxieties of re-entering the game and once again creating their space in the team.
• Preparing for life transitions – Most of us have barely started feeling settled in our jobs when athletes must confront retirement from sport, and contend with starting a second career. Fears around selections, performance dips as a result of changing age categories and competing against younger athletes are all challenges one must grapple with. Supporting athletes through these transitions is therefore essential.
• Developing a self-identity – How do you define yourself? Are you a swimmer, dancer or cricketer? Or are you perhaps a person who swims dances or plays cricket. Having one’s entire identity intertwined with the sport can make every game, every point, feel like a do or die moment. What players must realize though is that no game is the be all and end all of life. Even as the sport occupies the most important position, an athlete’s life is so much more than the sport. Developing an identity that encompasses the sport along with other aspects of life such as values, relationships, and interests beyond sport can help foster a stronger, more resilient sense of self.
• Mental Health and Wellness – Just like an athlete may experience a physical illness from time to time, they may also experience a mental health illness. Depression, anxiety disorders, post traumatic disorder, eating disorders, substance use, and sleep disorders are some such mental health conditions that may athletes grapple with. Such illnesses are not a sign of weakness. Even sporting legends like Michael Phelps have spoken out about their experience with illnesses like depression. Mental illnesses are real, in sport and outside. What’s important is that we recognize a mental illness just like any other medical illness and ensure that athletes get the mental health support they need. Counselling or psychotherapy, and at times medications, are required for the treatment of such conditions – so that athletes can once more live a happy and healthy life. 

Several athletes have spoken about the specific psychological skills that have worked for them. Wayne Rooney for example, used to visualize his game down to every detail including the kit he would be wearing. Djokovic often speaks about mindfulness and breath work as central to staying present and in the moment. Kobe Bryant spoke of the Mamba Mentality to focus on the process and get better each day. Abhinav Bindra used biofeedback to learn to control his heart rate and other physical stress reactions to master the stillness required in air rifle shooting. Carolina Marin worked with two different psychologists – one for her performance and another for her mental well-being. 

Athlete Mental Health and Happiness

One of the leading advocates of mental health, who also happens to be one of the greatest gymnasts of all time – Simone Biles, has spoken extensively about the role of mental health for an athlete. After winning 4 gold and 1 bronze medal at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, Simone Biles dropped out of the Tokyo 2020 games mid-tournament because of the ‘twisties’. This was a condition where Biles felt like her body and mind weren’t connected, and she wasn’t in the right mental state to perform her moves, which could then prove to be dangerous. Many criticized her and cast her aside. Yet, in Paris 2024, she bounced back, with 3 gold medals and 1 silver medal. Even the day she won her gold medal, she talked about the therapy session that she did that Thursday morning, just like every other Thursday morning.   

Performance matters, yes. What we must remember though is that an athlete can’t perform at their peak if they are not in the right mindset.When we think of an athlete, we think of scores, medals and records. But an athlete is so much more than a number or the colour of a medal. Before and beyond everything else, an athlete is a human being – with their own thoughts, feelings, and experiences. Mental training is incomplete if it ignores this aspect of mental health. In fact, in recent years, even the Olympic movement has recognized this aspect and championed the cause of mental health psychological safety of athletes across the world.

When we talk about mental health, we aren’t just talking about removing barriers to performance. We must go beyond. We need to talk about how happy a person is. Beyond the medals, beyond the field, what are the kinds of stressors they are experiencing? What kind of support have they received to be able to cope with the challenges that come their way?

If we want to cultivate athletes who are mentally strong, we need to focus on the entire spectrum from health to happiness and peak performance. What we need is to empower the person behind the athlete – a person who is happy and healthy. A person who has the skills and support to realize their fullest potential.