BUILDING RESILIENCE
THE PRESSURES OF AN ATHLETE: BUILDING RESILIENCE It’s easy to criticise athletes when they crumble under pressure, yet no one really knows what effect that has on their mental health both short term and long term and how much work it takes to surpass it. A penalty kick. A free throw. Putting for a birdie on the 18th. These are probably some of the most intense moments in sport and we often witness them from the comfort of our living rooms, possibly giving advice having never played the sport professionally and then muttering ‘I could have scored that’ if the player in question does end up missing. I’m sure we’re all guilty of being an armchair coach at least one time in our lives but how does a professional athlete shake off that miss and not let it affect them for the next game? How do they block out the negativity both in their heads and online? Are they able to reframe the negative situation into a positive one? This is all entirely possible and it’s a skill everyone can learn.
24 | OTFF ISSUE 19 ★ APRIL 2022
As a kid, do you remember being absolutely fearless? Nothing could ever stand in our way, and we’d be up for anything but somewhere down the line, we let the world in a little bit at a time and start to second guess ourselves. Every decision we make needs to be thought through and while this process can be beneficial, we can often let those negative voices dictate and override a simple decision. For some of us, this could be a one-off experience, a slight
blip that doesn’t fluster us and we’re able to carry on as normal. But what if for some of us, this becomes a common occurrence and anxiety starts to creep in and starts to affect daily life? Resilience isn’t just a character trait that you’re born with, it’s something that we can all learn and it’s easily one of the best life skills to acquire. Former England player and manager Terry Venables believed taking a penalty kick in football is
one of the most difficult parts of a player’s job; ‘“Penalties put too much strain on one player. It could ruin his career if he’s not a strong character.” In all sports at a top level, there is now recognition that all players need to be a strong character, to have the resilience to be an athlete at the highest level. Some top tier teams and clubs across various sports around the world are now employing psychologists or mental health experts to create better environments to help encourage better mental health and in turn, better resilience across all players. Some top athletes are even hiring experts on a more one to one level and factoring it into their wider development plan. While this is an encouraging step for all of those in sports, not all sports and clubs within those sports are created equally. The hiring of psychologists doesn’t come cheap as you’d expect so it can create
