SelfhelpMagazine

by Timothy M. Suchan

Pre-competition routines are useful in setting athletes' arousal to a level that is comfortable and also gives a sense of control and readiness when entering competition. Routines also help to maintain attentional focus and block out distractions.

In choosing a routine, athletes should recall in the twenty-four hours that preceded a past excellent performance, the pattern of activities, psychological skills, or actions that were used. This helps give them a competitive edge.

Pre-competition routines should be individualized to the athlete and the sport. Some athletes may only need to do something as simple as listen to music prior to every competition or warm up in the same manner.

Most athletes, however, need to employ a relaxation technique in order to decrease the anxiety that competition evokes.

Examples of relaxation techniques include:

• Breath Controlled Relaxation (concentrate on breathing)
• Meditation (focus the mind on one thing for a certain period of time)
• Jacobson's Progressive Relaxation Technique (alternating contracting and relaxing certain muscles in the body)
• Listening to Baroque Largo or another slow beat music

Psyching-up may be the goal of athletes who need to raise their arousal levels in order to perform well.

Examples of the psyching-up strategies include:

• Using imagery to visualize the proper technique involved in a performance
• Using positive self-talk
• Reflecting on previous successful performances
• Listening to fast music
• Bracing (intentionally contracting the muscles of certain body parts)

Positive self-talk gives the competitive edge

In using psychological skills during pre-competition routines, athletes must avoid negative imaging or self-talk. Studies have shown that imaging poor results may be detrimental to athletic performance (Woolfolk, Murphy,Gottesfeld & Aitken, 1985).

In order to avoid negative imaging or self-talk, the athlete should plan and practice a pre-competition routine in which positive imaging and self-talk are purposely employed. A combination of imagery, relaxation, and self-talk have been shown to improve athletic performance (Kendall, Hrycaiko, Martin & Kendall, 1990).

Regardless of the make-up of the pre-competition routine employed, it will help athletes enter the competitive situation in the ideal state of mind to give an optimum performance.

Athletes can experiment with routines and combinations of routines they consider to be important in the preparation for competition in their sport. It is advisable to have a routine for home and another for away competitions.

All routines should be performed the same every time and the away routine should be flexible due to unpredictable events and perhaps facilities. The key for a particular routine to be effective involves practicing the routine until it becomes automatic and the athlete feels confident and comfortable before entering competition.

Mental rehearsal and relaxation have been shown to give athletes a competitive edge. Try these techniques and optimize your performance.

References:

Woolfolk, R. L., Murphy, S. M., Gottesfeld, D., Aitken, D. (1985). Effects of mental rehearsal of task motor activity and mental depiction of task outcome on motor skill performance. Journal of Sport Psychology, 7, 191-197.

Kendall, G., Hrycaiko, D., Martin, G. L., Kendall, T. (1990). The effects of an imagery rehearsal, relaxation, and self-talk package on basketball game performance. Journal of sport and Exercise Psychology, 12, 157-166.

About the author:

Tim Suchan is currently a Master of Arts student in Physical Education with a specialization in Sport Psychology at the University of Northern Iowa and a member of the Sport Psychology Research Team. In addition, he is a former NCAA Division I track & field athlete in the high jump. He was a four-time national qualifier & placed seventh at the 1996 Olympic Team Trials.

Revised 2/1/10 by Marlene M. Maheu, Ph.D.