Importance of Mental Strength in Sport

Bradley Wiggins Tour de France Winner, Seven Olympic Medals, World Time Trial Title.

"Very little is given to the mental side of things and in preparing yourself for when you get into the arena, whether that’s track cycling or road cycling. It has been under-played for many years."

the brief

If amateur sport athletes are not mentally strong, they will not reach their physical capabilities.

"The bodies are roughly equal, the training is similar, the techniques can be copied, what separates the achievers is nothing as tangible as split times or kilograms. It is iron in the mind."

- Sir Steve Redgrave Only the UK’s elite teams and athletes have access and time to be coached on the importance of mental strength. These elite athletes with proven natural mental strength will be the only ones that achieve this world class status.

This is therefore limiting the potential of so many more physically capable athletes achieving their maximum potential and elite calibre. Primarily because they have not been made aware of the importance of mental strength in sport.

Here are three potential platforms proposed to UK Sport, reaching 15.5 million sport participants over sixteen years of age; any of these three routes would provide the opportunity for them to enhance their knowledge of mental training in sport. Increasing their opportunity to significantly improve overall performance.

research Quotes by famous athletes & Sport Psychologists on the importance of mental strength.

Matthew Syed English No.1 Table Tennis, Sports Psychologist "What is certain, is that, the minute difference between victory and defeat on the biggest stage of all, is not in skill, or effort, but in the recesses of the mind."

Tom Bates Sports Psychologist "Champion athletes. Top athletes. Gold medal athletes. Have the gold medal mindset, if you like. That athlete will not see pressure as a problem, they will see it as a privilege."

Bruce Jenner Olympic Gold Decathlon "I always felt that my greatest asset was not my physical ability, it was my mental ability."

Arthur Ashe Three Grand Slam Titles "The ideal attitude is to be physically loose and mentally tight."

Jonathan Edwards Olympic Gold Medallist "Any belief, can have astonishingly powerful effects, providing it is held with sufficient conviction."

Chris Boardman Olympic Gold Medallist "I can only be as good as I can be. And when I’ve crossed the line, Ill see what that got me. That's a very calming, focusing and quite inspiring thought."

research 1 on 1 interviews with coaches and former athletes on the importance of mental strength.

Stewart Clamp Coach City of Chester Swimming Club, Former GB swimmer "Being mentally strong is very important, however with the limited time we have with the swimmers we would rather physical training. The swimmers that do well in big competitions are the ones who are usually more confident and already have strong mental abilities."

11.11.14 Gordon Reay Sport Development, Performance and Coaching Manager at the University of Chester "Mental strength and mental toughness are what makes a great athlete ‘great’. It’s that innate ability to push when you are hurting, the ability to keep going when everyone else can’t and the ability to continue to train through all adversities. From my perspective mental toughness is the key to a great athlete."

11.12.14 John Amaechi OBE Coach and Performance Enhancer, Former NBA Star "Don’t cut corners, mentally and physically.

Not just a metaphor, implement it into your training."

14.12.14

research 1 on 1 interviews with 8 amateur athletes, 16 - 30.

I conducted a series of interviews with successful amateur athletes within their discipline.

This helped me gain an understanding of my audience and their knowledge in regards to the importance of mental strength.

8/8 know you need to have mental strength to succeed. "... develop over time through your own experiences"

- Simon Mitchell 24, Swimmer. 02.01.15

7/8 don’t know of mind management techniques. "...there isn’t much to educate you on mental strength" - William Alexander 20, Athletics & Rowing. 03.01.15

6/8 believe training is the best time to improve mental strength.

My research now gives me a greater insight to begin developing solutions to increase awareness of knowledge provide the opportunity to sports participants to achieve their maximum potential.

research An overview visualisation of 'The Chimp Paradox' Theory by Prof. Steve Peters.

research An overview of Prof. Steve Peters 'Dream Machine' theory a 'Model for Success'.

1 Application

Idea One - Application. Based on Prof Steve Peters ‘Dream Machine’ model for success, this application will allow a platform for an organisation to assist sports participants set out their audacious dreams and goals.

With this Application, you not only have the opportunity to set out your own dreams and goals, but the opportunity to connect with friends within your club and other teams or clubs.

An important part of staying mentally strong is being able to reflect on your achievements, by measuring and monitoring your performance against your goals. This application also facilitates visualisation of success, which is a powerful motivating tool for any athlete.

"Training and competing with good friends is also very motivational" - Imi Stokes 20, Athletics & Cross Country. 06.01.15

"It is good to have something to aim for when training, seeing progress over time etc."

- Daniel Stanton 21, Cyclist & Rower. 02.01.15

I believe there is potential to further develop this application and become an essential part of any athletes lifestyle.

Professional athletes will join as the momentum grows, allowing athletes the opportunity to connect with their sporting heroes on a more personal level.

Tom Robinson

Sport

GB Qualification

Visual Progress

MY ACCOUNT

Goal Complete

FRIENDS

Be Unnatural

Surfing Swimming Synchronized Swimming

Dreams, Goals, Friends.

This app will take you on a journey to success.

FEED GOALS

9/14

ACHIEVEMENTS UOC SWIMMING TEAM MESS MESSAGES LOGOUT

Personal Goals

GET STARTED

Initial imagery is very important. A mountain and reaching its summit is metaphorically relatable to any athlete.

Selecting your sport and following this team selection is an important part of building a community within this app.

Always being able to see your dreams and aspirations is a powerful visual motivator to remind the athlete of their desired achievement to date against target.

This visual shows the athletes progress and accomplishments, with the coloured rings representing how close they are to meeting their goals.

2 Guerilla Advertising

Idea Two - Guerilla Advertising. This style of marketing catches consumers by surprise, making an indelible impression.

Targeting athletes at a more personal and memorable level.

Guerilla visuals in training environments that relate to the sport will raise awareness of the importance of mental strength for enhanced performance.

My research has taught me that 6 out of 8 athletes believe a training session is the best time to also improve their mental conditioning.

Guerilla advertising is a starting platform to further environmental designs. These will be strategically located in training environments, changing rooms, car parks etc. the athletes will connect with the visuals, reinforcing the importance of mental strength.

The potential for this idea has the opportunity for UK Sport to lead the athlete to a range of multi-media platforms presenting developed visuals of 'The Chimp Paradox' and 'The Dream Machine' as seen earlier, in a visual and interactive format. Further engaging and educating the sports participant.

"... training is the best time to teach mental strength."

- Michael Gaddas 21, Cyclist & Rower. 02.01.15

Winn ing is in the mind .

This Guerilla design places a medal on the athlete as they look into the mirror; typically found in changing rooms or toilets. The image would also have an aspirational quote to reinforce the sense of success in achievement the sports participants dreams and goals.

3 Paralax Film & The Chimp Paradox

Idea Three - Paralax Film & The Chimp Paradox. This technique manipulates still photos creating stunning slow motion shots combined with moving Infographic visuals of ‘The Chimp Paradox’.

This film creates a vast range of opportunities for further development.

Choosing powerful eye catching imagery presents the potential for interaction in different environments in a more static format.

Creating a dramatic montage, delivering Prof. Steve Peters’ theory. This eye catching film will draw in athletes leaving them intrigued by the information portrayed and encouraging them to explore the ideas more extensively.

This could be promoted at key sporting events, on television and via multi-media platforms. This will ensure the target audience is reached and maximum impact is achieved as most sport participants will be engaged with the current high performing athletes of their discipline as they try to emulate their heroes.

Emotive Judgement Catastrophic Irrational

Automatic Function Machine

CHIMP MIND HUMAN MIND

The PROCESS The FACTS The LOGIC

Prof. Steve Peters is a leading psychiatrist working alongside the Team GB cycling squad, working with the most successful British Olympian, Sir Chris Hoy. This film will briefly explore the key factors of the Peters’ theory, raising the potential value and importance of mental strength to any athlete of any level.

Sir Chris Hoy Most successful British Olympian Photography by Olivier Morin

"The mind programme that helped me win my Olympic Golds."

Tom Robinson The Importance of Mental Strength and raising awareness amongst amateur athletes.