Does anyone know of current or recent elite sprinters who use ‘sports psychologists’ (or any therapists), or some who have for improving their performance?
Jimbo,
I am sure I seen an article/comment on teletext or ceefax about Mark Lewis Francis, and how he had been talking to a sports psychologist to help him with this years events.
MLF is in trouble already…
that’s funny because MLF came to mind when I was writing the first post, because of what I’ve heard before about his background/childhood.
(edit - see ukathletics article 13/05/2004 )
Any others?
That stuff about no music or sunglasses is maybe interesting.
Apparantly Linford would strip to the waist and strut around which used to psyche the other guys out.
I once heard of John Smith advising his athletes to avoid looking at Linford in the holding area as he was so intimidating.
while competing against micheal johnson in the 150m showdown donovan bailey worked closely with a SPhy togive him an added edge.athletes have been using such methods for years.a boxer named steve collins from ireland worked hand in hand with a guy called tony quinn also from ireland to take on british boxer chris eubank who was undefeated.with practicing of visioning and mind games he bet eubank with some great ming games which began from the minute he walked towards the ring. an athlete will go to any lenght to enhance his or her performance and SP is one of many
Whether it’s a psych or not, the physique is there to make you run faster, and you opponants see it best if you’re in front of them.
The most amazing example of tapping into an athletes mind that I have seen (outside of what John Smith can do) was demonstrated by Roy Jones Jr.'s personal trainer/sports psychologist in preperation for Jones’s first fight moving up to Heavy weight. A special segment was showcased on ESPN leading up to the bout. Not only was Jone’s trainer preparing Jones physically (while actually performing the lifts himself) but he was there giving Jones positive affirmations during each and every moment of training. As the training focused more and more on refinement, the trainer helped define Jones as an athlete. The man who Jones would be fighting weighed in excess of 20lbs more than Jones. The trainer used the analogy of an F-16 Fighter Jet to describe what Jones had to be in order to defeat someone much larger and with good boxing technique and skill. Interestingly enough, the trainer described an opening that would occur in the fight during one of the training sessions. During the fight, the opening that was described occured and Jones was completely ready for it and the bout turned in his favor.
Was his psychologist on vacation during his last fight??
Good one …
The first Collins vs. Eubank fight was one of the most fascinating mind game experiences I’ve seen in sport …
COMPLETELY freaked Eubanks.
He had told everyone before the fight that he was going to be hypnotised for the fight and this worried Eubank … he just couldn’t understnd it and also considered it cheating.
Anyway Collins arrived into the ring with a hood over his head and sat in the corner through the whole (typically OTT) Eubank intro (on a Harley belive it or not) just staring at the floor. When they touched gloves with the ref he was spaced out and just chnating to himself.
From the start he just destroyed Eubank.
Myabe he didn’t use enough affirmations?
X-man I’m not too interested in the common mind games (edit - or the positive affirmation BS), which a psychologist is definitely not requred for, more who has used a sports psychologist/therapist for cognitive or other techniques (if any of them will admit to it). I want to know if sports psychologists do these or stick to superficial techniques.
I guess I’ll have to do some research myself eh? I can’t get much out of Google which I’m not good at. I’ll skim some biographies & old articles when I can I suppose.
Jimbo do you think many sprinters have used them?
(Like you said admitting it might be an issue also…)
I really don’t have a clue, I know it’s becoming more common for athletes to use sports psychologists in general. I don’t know what they are using them for, sort of how far the psychologists will go, or are asked to go.
I know there are examples of sportsmen (or gamesmen - snooker players come to mind) famously ‘unstable’, whose performances varied wildly with the ups and downs of their personal lives, I don’t know about any in track and field though.
hmm tennis comes to mind as well - temperamental players (guess who came to mind), and recent burnouts (e.g Hingis), turnaround of Capriati - there’s an example.
jum bo i have known many athletes whom have worked with SPhys with great success.with the ability to relax more and visualise more the athlete can stay ona one track mind whatever the task in hand might be thus leading to better effort ina more relaxed manner.i know for a fact that every SP has different techniques and approach but visualisation is behind it all and learning how to relax under pressure
Thanks that’s what I’m looking for, I know they are used for more than just help with the mind games and all that.
It’s good to see how they work in the real world away from just the textbook theory that is easy for me to look up.
I think the relaxation techniques for sports are taken straight from clinical techniques, but I’m not sure about that, something else I can look up.
This type of comment was to be expected. I’m fairly certain that Jones no longer works with that particular trainer. Anyway, you missed the point. The trainer did what he needed to do in order to train Jones to win, for that particular fight. The physical preperation was in place but Jones had to be prepared mentally as well. In fact at that point in time, there was very little that Jones could have done in the weight room or boxing ring as his physical conditioning was at its maximum…so the icing on the cake involved making sure that Jones knew he could win.
Or maybe the opponent wanted it more than Jones? Shallow statement.
If something works and you give it credence, then why would you drop it? I’ve been around some pretty serious BS in this area over the years.
One time, at a major games games, I saw one of these guys standing over one of my athletes right before a race, talking to her- never before- never after. The next fall he came up to me and introduced himself as the guy who made ***** win the gold medal. Of course, the fact that she was in shape and was a prohibative favourite didn’t enter into it.
Remember the LA Kings a few years ago when Gretzky was still around? They were winning in the early play-off rounds, and the grinning Anthony Robbins was everywhere the camera turned. Then they started to loose- hey where did Robbins go?
“I got no excuses. It happens like that sometimes,” he said. “I am having a hard time getting up to fight guys.” -Roy Jones-
Maybe he is just tired of boxing and wants to do more Rap albums.