In the world of competitive ball-sports, physical skills and basic coordination are a given. But with the complex and quick changing contexts, success also depends on how information is processed as the brain sees, interprets, processes and responds to information - before it becomes conscious thought. And making split-second decisions quickly and accurately draws on a variety of cognitive skills and abilities.
Elite athletes are marked out by superior skills. They seem to have better honed cognitive structures that allow them to encode, retrieve and process information in an selective yet efficient way. They rely heavily on cognitive reserve, memory channels, attention, concentration, executive functions, decision-making, mental flexibility and other core cognitive capabilities.
They also make predictive rather than reactive decisions. Think of the player who, for example, lunges in the right direction to intercept a passing ball the moment it leaves an opposition player’s hands. They have broad peripheral vision and quick scanning skills – enabling them to quickly identify best options for a winning play.
Top players seem to have ‘more time’ to execute, to assess where their opposition is, where they are moving to and where they can make their mark.
These factors all point to the brain of the elite rugby player being different. They appear to “sense” an open man out the corner of their eye, the tiny gap to burst through or a sudden lob of a long overhead pass. They are expert at taking in visual information, processing it into manageable “chunks”, making instant, accurate decisions and executing effective action –all in split seconds.
Little wonder that research has found “the key difference between winning and losing, or a good versus a bad performance, is more psychological rather than physical” (Hodge 2004).
Dump The Slump
What happens when an athlete experiences a total slump, that mysterious drop in performance that extends beyond the normal ups and downs of competition?
Have the player answer: “Am I really experiencing a slump or is this just a natural, if elongated blip in my performance cycle?”
Whatever the occasion or circumstance, always ensure an athlete (or the team) knows the following:
A slump happens to most players, but they tend to pass sooner or later.
There is a light at the end of the tunnel and getting through it is manageable.
How you react, what you do about it, what you say to yourself or even to your teammates when it happens,–it’s all a matter of choice. Your choice.
And other possible causes?
- Non-sports related (e.g., external factors, family, personal?)
- Physical (e.g., fatigue, injury, persistent illness?)
- Technical (e.g., subtle changes in your skill execution, timing or movement?)
- Equipment (e.g., a change in your kit or your footwear?)
Slump-busting principles
Set up slump-busting goals. Become task aware and stay there!
Pin down what your inner dialogue is like. Is your self-talk positive, negative, or “wishy- washy”?
If you are stimulating your slump, try to re- establish self-control.
Find the “positive” in you and believe in yourself again.
Engineer success at practice sessions. It builds back self-confidence that you may have lost and helps with perseverance.
Spend time and make the effort learning to bounce back quickly from setbacks.
Examine whether a slump could be due to physical, technical, or even tactical reasons.
Talk to your coach about taking short “time- outs” (if possible).
Block everything else out in order to keep focused on the important stuff.
Develop the capacity to mentally “see what you want to happen” before it does.
Get the player to think about whether his coping strategies are being effectively employed.
Are you?
Adding to your ongoing slump, or to its solution? Monitoring your physical state? . . . "listening to your body"
Ensuring that you rest as part of training? . . . "train hard, rest hard"
Reducing the amount but increasing the quality of your training?
Planning sensible training schedules? . . . Take a break, if possible.
Keeping all your gear up to date?
Working on a plan to fight negative psychological effects of intermittent poor performances?
Trying to take control of your own feelings and reactions?