Condor Performance Blog

Mental Toughness Digest (8th Edition)

2013-05-01T10:43:28+10:00

Is ‘Sledging’ a Good or Bad Idea Mentally?

By Daniel Burt (PSY0001676406)

“To sledge (verb): the tactic of talking to an opponent with the objective of destroying either their concentration or their confidence.”

The mental side of sport is undeniable. We are not simple beings that can compete purely on technical and physical abilities: your motivation, confidence, emotional state, concentration, and communication all affect your performance for the better and for the worse. So if we try to conquer an opponent’s technical and physical skills why not also overcome their mental state as well?

In Australia sledging refers to any form of verbal intimidation between opponents. Some use it to intimidate opposition, others use it to distract, and many use to keep themselves focused on the task and keep boredom away. Sure, some sports lend themselves to sledges more than others. Take cricket for example. Each team is usually faced with six hours play in a day with lots of opportunities in between action to communicate with opponents.

Now that my nephew is in his pre-teen development and is learning to compete with and against others he is often advised against sledging his opponents, as it is seen as a form of bullying. It has created a stigma around verbal intimidation and taught him to compete on the merits of executing his technical skills and desire to win. While in theory this is an admirable and gentlemanly way to compete, it will not prepare him to mentally compete against opponents that have honed the art of sledging over many years. There will come a time when he will face sledging and I can only hope that when the time comes to engage in verbal intimidation that he understands that the opposition’s comments are directed at him not as a person but as a sportsperson.

Taking a sledge personally can make us react in ways that hurt not only our performance, but those we are competing with. When Glenn McGrath tried to intimidate the young West Indian vice-captain in Ramnaresh Sarwan by asking what his much senior star teammate Brian Lara’s d—k tasted like, Sarwan responded, “I don’t know, ask your wife.” McGrath took this very personally as his wife was in ongoing cancer treatment. He immediately made very physical threats to his opponent, which is very unbecoming of a player of McGrath’s standing – a sure sign that Sarwan had broken his opponent’s mental state. When Sarwan deflected the sledge with humour he of course was unaware of her condition, however the tables had turned on McGrath. This loss of concentration became viral as other members of the team became involved in the heated exchanges, while the West Indies went on to a record breaking victory. This little piece of verbal intimidation taught me two things – firstly, when you take something personally in a competitive situation you are likely to respond in an inappropriate manner and mentally “give in” to your opposition; and secondly, you will focus on the things that you cannot control. All of which will hurt your ability to perform at your best.

Some of the greatest boxing matches have been built on verbal intimidation. When Muhammad Ali faced George Foreman in the “Rumble in the Jungle” in 1974 Ali was arguably outclassed in terms of physical capability and was losing his technical ability with age. To overcome this deficit during the fight he used verbal taunts in the ear of Foreman over three rounds to encourage Foreman to punch Ali against the ropes until Foreman fatigued and showed a lapse in his technical consistency. Ali then pounced on the open left cheek of Foreman with a clean right hook that opened up Foreman’s guard position. Ali famously won the fight from what seemed a doomed position. What is important about this example is that where Ali could not match Foreman in the physical and technical side of the fight, he used his mental toughness and tactical wisdom to overcome his opponent. The verbal taunts encouraged Foreman to act in a predictable way that could be used against him. This example highlights the mental side of performance, where if you cannot match your opponent in other areas try to break their concentration to expose a weakness that you can use against them.

Whether it is a good thing or bad thing in sport, sledging is here so you should be prepared for when it comes around. Showing a weakness to sledging in elite sport will only encourage those that cannot match your technical and physical abilities to use verbal intimidation to break your mental concentration and emotional state. So avoiding the issue will not help you. You need to learn how to cope, deflect, or beat opponents that verbally intimidate you. The easiest way to keep the mental side of your game in check is to control what is within your power: me, my effort, and now. If the verbal intimidator can take your focus away from these three things, you have let them take some of your power of control.

Whether initiating or responding to a verbal battle in competition, remember to focus on the following: understand that it is not personal and keep your emotional state calm, and have a plan so that you focus on what you want to focus on (yourself, your effort, and that moment in time).

Mental Toughness Digest (7th Edition)

2013-05-01T10:32:52+10:00

18 Mental Toughness Tips

By Gareth J. Mole (PSY0001372747)

1.Consider your competition as a celebration of your efforts with the primary goal to enjoy yourself. 2.Break your practice down into 5 separate areas; mental toughness, physical capabilities, technical consistency, tactical wisdom and lifestyle choices. 3.Make sure everyone on your team / helping you is on the same page with regards to what each of the above is designed to improve. 4.Ease off on trying to figure out what made your performance good, bad or ugly – there are too many variables involved. 5.Accept the first Law of Practice: Improvement is never ending – you will never reach the finish line and be “good enough” to then move onto something else. 6.Accept the second Law of Practice: The number of ways to improve is unlimited but the time we have in order to get better is very limited. 7.Accept the third Law of Practice: Improvement is best achieved through the focus on training and practice which basically boils down to effort. 8.Accept the forth Law of Practice: Effort is fundamentally a combination of Quality and Quantity into the areas you are targeting for improvement. 9.Rather than guessing where you are mentally at the moment, take our online Mental Toughness Questionnaire. 10.Sit down and work out what you’d like to achieve over the next 5 years - and write it down somewhere. 11.Consider what kinds of ‘performance indicators’ you could measure on a monthly basis in order to track your improvement (or lack of) both in and out of competition. 12.Plan how you’d like to spend your effort and write it down in terms of time (minutes) spent on trying. 13.Learn which aspects of your performance you can control, which you can influence and which you have no influence on at all. 14.Start recording your thoughts and use the above categories to help improve them. 15.Do something each day that embarrasses you. 16.Review which aspects of your performance you can control, which you can influence and which you have no influence on at all. 17.Start recording actual effort and compare it with intended effort 18.Consider getting a helping hand with all the above and much, much more from a genuine expert by emailing us and asking for our latest service information for athletes and coaches

Mental Toughness Digest (6th Edition)

2013-02-28T11:16:55+11:00

Australian Sport Coach Education: Advancing Mental Toughness Programs

by Abra Garfield (PSY0000989298)

Over the past 12 months I have spoken to almost 50 Australian Sports Commission (ASC) recognised National and State Coach Education Directors and representatives to find out how mental toughness training and sport psychology are being delivered within their coach development framework. During this time I learned a great deal about current processes and wanted to share my views of some of the pros and cons of the current model, and as always, invited you to share your thoughts either directly with me our via our Facebook page. In general coach education in this great sporting nation of ours is overseen by the ASC who provide guidelines, some sport-general content and recommendations, and officially accredit a sport’s coaching education levels and coaches. Within the ASC guidelines National Sport Organisations (NSOs) have the freedom to choose how many coaching levels to develop, how professional development between levels and re-accreditation will work, and what content will be delivered at each level. The ASC and NSO coaching education model is designed to map coaching levels onto developmental stages of both age and typical development from recreational to intermediate to elite level sport. NSOs then typically work with State Sport Organisations to train course presenters and organise annual coaching calendars to educate and update coaches. Some sports give State bodies more freedom in course structure and alternative professional development opportunities, such as workshops. Sadly at the time of writing very few State sport bodies I spoke with provide coaches with information and opportunities related to the mental aspects of coaching.

The ASC and NSO governed coaching education model has several strengths beyond providing ASC quality standards and resources. With the advances in sport sciences, technology, and applied coaching research many sports have seen recent National efforts to re-develop their coaching education system to meet the new information and resources available. In theory the model is comprehensive and many sports are using this opportunity to implement or improve sport psychology content. However, in practice it may be up to two years from redevelopment to roll-out before a coach can access an updated level two or three coaching course that seeks to cover mental toughness training. In many sports coaches are coaching above their competence level due to the fact that alternative coaching education opportunities are not provided in the interim.

National and State sporting organisations generally assign representatives to oversee sport specific content beyond the ASC sport–general content. They usually apply great effort to developing technical, tactical, and strength/conditioning content and resources for their sport. However few had a strong model or service providers for attaining the same quality education in the mental side of sport. It was common that the ASC chapter on sport psychology in the back of the general principles manual (level 2 courses) was used. It is also common that coaches find it hard to apply due to no face-to-face training and a lack of sport-specificity. Many suggested it should be up to the coaches to advance their knowledge and skills in the mental side of coaching independently, and such training was outside the scope of coach education.
In general mental toughness training is perceived as something that only belongs in the later stages of coach education, as level one is aimed at novices and coaching kids. At Condor Performance we believe that exposure to mental toughness training methods from the beginning of coach education is important, as creating a fun and enjoyable context to learn sport is itself a psychological skill. I also believe that exposing young athletes to regular mental skills training primes them for long-term success in this area. It is at this age range that significant cognitive, emotional, and identity formation development occurs and when psychological flexibility to adapt new skills is at its highest. Waiting until a promising athlete has reached an elite status before this training means they may be more rigid and resistant to this skill development since it was absent and seemingly undervalued until this point.

Of the mental content that is currently being provided in most cases three major weaknesses exist. First, it was either developed and / or is being delivered by individuals without any recognised qualifications when it comes to the mental aspects of sport. Second, it’s very rare that the psychological content is consistent. In others words even when being delivered by genuine experts this information will very often contradict it. Finally, and arguably the most obstructive barrier to producing world class coaches, is that mental toughness training doesn’t have a context in terms of how it fits into the bigger picture of improving sporting performance.

It should come at no great surprise that our own sports coach improvement template (ConPerSIT) was created with solutions to these three weaknesses in mind. One of Condor Performance’s long term goals is to prove just how effective this new model can be when compared with current system.

To improve the development of mental toughness training within State and National Coach Education a new attitude towards the role and delivery of sport psychology services must be forged. Single serving seminars to coaches once or twice a year, using a sport psychologist for a ‘performance band-aide’ when an athlete is struggling, or as a ‘booster shot’ before a competition will only reinforce the belief that mental skills training may not lead to performance benefits. Mental skills should be seen like any other skill that is coached in sport, a strength that everyone can benefit from when trained correctly: Repetition, ongoing training goals and adaptation to the individual’s learning style. The National Coaching Accreditation Scheme chapter on sport psychology is a nice introduction to our broad discipline but it is not sport-specific and it is not a practical guide for how a coach might enhance performance through mental skills training.

In our view the best and most cost efficient way for NSOs or state bodies to improve the mental toughness of their sporting population is through improving coach education. We are so confident that this is the case that we’ve jumped the gun and written the entire ‘practical’ content that will allow any level of coach of any sport to become a much better mental coach.

We just need the dozen or so key decision makers in this area to do whatever needs to be done so that the ConPerSIT system can be objectively compared with what is or is not currently being done in the vital yet highly misunderstood areas of sport psychology and mental toughness.

Mental Toughness Digest (5th Edition)

2013-01-28T18:11:42+11:00

VIDEO Case Study - Sam Stosur

By Shayne Duncan (PSY0001631657)

This insightful 14 min video is produced by Shayne Duncan (one of our senior performance psychologists) and focuses on the roller coaster of Australia’s top ranked female tennis player.

View the video by clicking on the below link (which will direct you to the our You Tube channel) or simply watch it by clicking on the actual video below that.

http://youtu.be/3KmskjYmH9I

Mental Toughness Digest (4th Edition)

2013-01-28T18:09:01+11:00

The Psychology of Injury

by Michael Inglis (PSY0001320278)

Although almost every aspect of the mental side of performance is interesting, the psychology of the physical side is especially fascinating.

From a sport / performance psychologists’ point of view when an athlete or performer gets injured one of two things normally happens. One group tend to increase the amount of mental training they do – normally to fill the void left by all the other training (physical, technical) they assume they are no longer able to do. For some of these people this means going from no mental toughness training to a bit and for others it means going from some to a lot. The other side of the coin (which is probably more common without having crunched any numbers) is when all training stops under the belief “I’m injured so I can’t train” where train covers everything. So any morsel of mental conditioning that was taking place now gets put on hold until they are “fit enough” to resume physical training.

With the vast majority of those seeking to improve their performance going one of the two ways mentioned above when injured that leaves a tiny percentage who pick a third response. As with all of the ideas covered in the Digest rather than telling you which way is better we invite you to do an experiment and let us know. The third attitude / response to a physical injury is to start by relabeling it. Most experts in the physical side of performance (accredited exercise physiologists for example) agree that words like “injury, fit, not fit” are too simple to describe the massive variation that is the body’s physical state at any one time. In psychology circles the buzz term for this is black and white thinking. B&W thinking refers to when you think of something as either / or when in fact it’s a gazillion shades of grey (for example, a “good” and “bad” performance or being “fit” or “injured”).

Terms such as injured / injury are counterproductive. They send a powerful message to the body they it can’t do a bunch of exercises that it can. For this reason at Condor Performance we don’t allow our clients to use the term. Instead, we encourage them to talk (and think) in terms of the shades of grey that make up fitness, strength and flexibility. Other than death there will always be something you can do to improve the physical parts of your performance. Having this mindset will help with your motivation, confidence and performance overall when faced with the unavoidable variations that your body experiences during its quest for peak performance.

Mental Toughness Digest (3rd Edition)

2013-01-28T18:09:16+11:00

Sport’s Biggest Furphy; “More Is Better”

by Chris Pomfret (PSY0000966671)

As applied (client rather than research focussed) performance psychologists our job is, in part, a massive mythbusting exercise. There are a number of very well established beliefs out there that are so strong and so wrong that if these obstacles are not removed then it can affect the whole mental toughness building process. Of the many crazy ideas that seem to have been around long enough now to be considered accurate there is one that would have to be the “tops of the flops”;

“More is better…”

That’s right, who would have thought three little words could be so wrong and so damaging in the minds of those striving for the upper echelons of sporting performance. Possibly originating from the old Eastern Block philosophy it’s quite normal (common in fact) for athletes, coaches and parents to believe that the more they practice the better they’ll get. One of the reasons why our version of mental toughness training (Metuf™) contains an entire chapter called “Establishing It” (PLUG ALERT; which is included free as part of our membership options; see left hand panel) is to make sure we get started on the right foot. In this prologue to the actual mental methods that follow we use the analogy of Goldilocks and her porridge temperature, bed size, chair size and other variables. Young Goldilocks learned the slow way (trial and error) that too much or too little of anything is to be avoided.

In other words from a practice point of view working for too long on various aspects of your sport is actually just as ineffective as training for far too little. In “Establishing It” we go into the benefits of maximising QUALITY only and balancing QUANTITY. As the number of ways to improve is unlimited but time is limited then one of the essential reasons of getting the right amount of practice time is so that you can work on all aspects of your performance (as well as non-performance areas such as fun and sleep).

I recently met a golfer who boasted proudly about working on his game for 40 hours a week. When I asked him what he did in that time he basically described only technical work. In other words he spent far too much time (bad) on one pillar of his performance (technical) and far too little (also bad) on the other 4 pillars (tactical, physical, lifestyle and mental). It’s no surprise to those of us with access to the latest sport science that this practice regime was not going to get him much closer to his goal of playing golf for a living.

On the flip side of this is someone like Jacques Kallis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Kallis) who, allegedly, never practices for more than an hour a day. JK is the walking, talking epitome of mental toughness and it’s no coincidence that he’ll go down in history as one of the greatest all-round cricketers of all time. It’s not the amount of training that he does that makes him one of the greats, it’s what he does during that time.

It’s not just with practice where the “more is better” myth is a potential banana skin. Many people think that we’re trying to maximise the mental aspects of motivation, confidence, emotions, concentration and communication as sport and performance psychologists.

Wrong again I’m afraid.

Think about it logically for a second. Overconfidence is just as hurtful to performance as underconfidence (a number of male Aussie swimmers learnt this the hard way in London a few months ago). Being genuinely mentally tough (not the bumper sticker version) is a giant balancing act between “not too hot nor not too cold”. As hard as this balancing act is (and it is) the good news is that there are massive performance rewards for those who try and get the balance right.

And of course, if you think you’d benefit from a professional helping hand then drop us a line on 1300 603 267 .

Mental Toughness Digest (2nd Edition)

2013-01-28T18:09:31+11:00

Drugs in Sport

By Shayne Duncan (PSY0001631657)

Ben Johnson said that he won the dirtiest race in history. Given the fallout from the investigation into Lance Armstrong’s doping the Tour de France has to be dirtiest race in history.

Doping is the most emotive issue in sport, which means it presents a banquet of psychological issues to manage. The obvious place to start is why; why does an athlete make a decision to take performance enhancing drugs?

In Armstrong’s case, it appears the public will never know the answer to this question, in light of his decision to not participate in the investigation through mounting a defence. As I have never met Lance Armstrong, like many others providing commentary on this issue, I can only speculate. Did he start doping to level the playing field following his cancer treatment? Often the reason to start doping can be different from the reasons to continue, which adds to the complexity of the issue.

Observers will automatically jump on the usual bandwagons; money and fame are the reasons. ‘Athletes only compete for money’ is a commonly held view by those outside of professional sport. Money is certainly a factor, but not often the primary motivation for elite athletes. No professional athletes got paid for the years they spent as children playing and training for their sport.

In fact, it cost them money to hire venues, buy equipment, pay for lessons, pay for entry fees, cover travel expenses and so on. Only after an athlete makes it to the professional level do they get any decent sort of income out of their sport. Some sports will never be able to pay even a part time income to its elite athletes. There are few alternative career paths with such a harsh remuneration scale, so I have no issue at all with what any athlete earns from their sport. Elite athletes know all about sacrifice and not all of them receive the financial rewards for the sacrifices they have made. These sacrifices can sometimes be part of the reason to take drugs; ‘If I don’t succeed it’s all been for nothing’.

Plenty of research has been done on the psychological make-up of elite athletes, including studies that address specific profiles or traits which may indicate an individual is more at risk of taking performance enhancing drugs. These studies often highlight the complex nature of motivations for doping and the differences in those who have been found guilty. There is no simple answer.

For Armstrong’s team mates the picture is different again. They didn’t set out to take drugs; it was something that was presented to them, much like match fixing bribes. These unsolicited offers test the character of athletes. Let’s assume the evidence collected from former teammates of Armstrong, who state that they were told that they were going to be receiving injections, is true. They still have a choice to say no. This means not riding in Armstrong’s team and possibly the issue of seeking a release from any contracts that they may have in place, which would likely be their source of income. This is a tough decision to take, especially if the prevailing view within a sport is ‘everyone is doing it’.

Why would an athlete essentially punish themselves by saying ‘no’ (loss of income, loss of opportunities to ride in the future and so on)? The consequences for saying ‘no’ to doping are perhaps significantly more severe than the consequences of being caught doping. This is a piece of the doping landscape that needs to change. Perhaps clauses in contracts outlining compensation to be paid in the event that an athlete is asked or pressured to participate in a doping program is a starting point.

The clean competitors are also drawn into the psychological mess produced by doping scandals. Imagine competing against the East Germans or the Chinese female swimmers at the height of their doping programs. Medals lost, fame, sponsorships and other commercial opportunities gone. This is a tough position to be in. The sense of injustice, the feelings of being cheated, especially for retired athletes who no longer have their sport as an outlet that can be used to help manage these emotions.

Some former competitors of Armstrong have come out and said that they have had the best years of their career stolen from them. These statements can come from the emotions that the athletes feel when they find out that the riders going past them were on drugs. Interestingly, those same riders had knowledge of doping amongst their competitors, yet they did nothing about it. Again, doping comes as a character test, both for the individual seeking performance enhancing drugs and for the individual who becomes aware of others taking performance enhancing drugs.

This is the test that athletes need to be equipped to pass, irrespective of how the doping issue enters their life (solicited or unsolicited). Part of an athlete’s development involves the formation of beliefs, values and standards that apply to life as well as sport. In the pursuit of winning, the development of these beliefs, values and standards is often not the top priority. It needs to be.

The ingredients that go into making a cake combine together in a way that in many regards is a mystery. In fact this happens to such a degree that apart from hints of individual ingredients when someone is enjoying the final product (eating the cake) it’s very rare that they even think about the exact amount of flour, eggs or other ingredients that went into it’s creation. Yet, if you wanted to produce a similar cake over and over again or improve it then you would want to know and / or experiment with the quantity and quality of each of the individual ingredients. What you wouldn’t do is try and work backways from the finished product (the cake) to try and work out how you made it.

So why then is it so common in the quest for sporting improvment to try and work out “why” it [enter any type of result you want here] turned out the way it did? Whether you’re an athlete or coach trying to work out why your last performance was so [enter any adjective you want here] or an administrator conducting a review then do yourself a favour: STOP trying to unbake a cake.

The actual finished cake is like a performance or series of performances. We will never really know how the ingredients combine to produce exactly what they do so it’s best just to enjoy the end product. There is a classic example that proves this point. We think we have some scientific evidence that certain foods might assist with concentration (one of the 5 targets of mental toughness training) but rather than adding ‘better nutrition’ as a method for ‘better focus’ we work on the nutrition and the mental training separately and then let these ingredients combine to let them do their thing.

Please feel free to share your thoughts directly with the author by emailing shayne@condorperformance.com

Mental Analysis of National Rugby League (NRL); Round 26

2012-09-16T20:55:21+10:00

NRL Round 26 – Final Standings

Canterbury Bulldogs

The Bulldogs have overachieved this season to finish as minor premiers. This is on the back of Des Hasler’s coaching program, which has a deliberate mental component. Even though it is delivered by a lawyer, the fact that the players embrace the program (as did the Manly players in 2011) is reflected in the teams’ performances over this season. During the season the Bulldogs improvement in the mental element was noticeable. The challenge for next year will be enhancing the current mental program.

Melbourne Storm

Mentally the toughest team in the competition, despite their series of losses at the back end of the year. Their best will be very difficult to beat during the semi-final series. Craig Bellamy has a recipe for success that also has a deliberate mental component, which is noticeable in how his players perform each week and how they respond to the media during interviews and post-match media conferences. They have overcome the disruption of Origin and are well placed to cash in on their wonderful start to the season.

South Sydney Rabbitohs

Souths finally delivered on their potential, which is largely due to Michael Maguire’s coaching. The fact that he banned players from talking themselves up at the start of the year speaks volumes about Maguires knowledge of the mental element. Having learnt his trade under Bellamy, it is no surprise that the Bunnies are playing finals football.

Manly Sea Eagles

Just behind the Storm in the mental toughness stakes; you would have to be to have gone through the disruptions that the Eagles have had no less than 7 days after winning 2011’s premiership. Geoff Toovey has done a wonderful job in his 1st season as coach. Few rookie coaches have a World Club Challenge for their first game. Manly enhanced their mental program this season by bringing in a psychologist and a mind coach to extend the work that was done under Hasler’s watch in 2011. The results see them in the top 4.

North Queensland Cowboys

Have had a successful season and only just missed out on a top 4 spot. Mentally, the Cowboys have displayed some mental toughness, however they also have some vulnerabilities and have finished higher than I would have expected. This is largely due to a quality roster and very sound technical and tactical coaching. It was reported that their captain was unhappy, however, the performances of the team this year suggest otherwise. Improvements in the mental department will see the Cowboys back up with a similar or better performance in 2013.

Canberra Raiders

Canberra started the year with a mentally tough performance against the Storm and then fell away. If not for an end of season revival there may have been a coaching change at the Raiders for 2013. To his credit, David Furner was able to turn things around and march into 6th spot, which seemed very unlikely 8 weeks ago. The Raiders have used a ‘career coach’ this year to manage the mental element. This is better than nothing but it is certainly not in the same league as the programs at the top NRL clubs (which also can be improved). The challenge at Canberra remains the same as previous years: consistent performance.

Cronulla Sharks

The Sharks were a pleasing surprise package at the top of the ladder for a large chunk of the season, but slipped down the ladder to finish 7th. If you had offered them a spot in the semi’s at the start of the year I’m sure they would have taken it, however, given they were in the top 4 for so long finishing 7th may feel like a disappointment. Being able to win matches without Paul Gallen displayed a level of mental toughness that has been missing from the Sharks in recent years. The funding available from the club’s development would be well served by being directed towards improving their mental program.

Brisbane Broncos

Brisbane displayed plenty of mental toughness during the season. What let them down was Origin. The physical, mental and emotional toll that Origin takes on players is very difficult to manage. Even though the Broncos have become used to this challenge, it doesn’t make it any easier to overcome. Managing this requires finding a balance between rest and recovery, using additional players and sticking to the technical and tactical programs. When they needed to produce a win in the last round to secure a place in the finals they were able to stand up and deliver. The young roster at the Broncos will see them in the mix for years to come, especially as they learn how to manage the Origin period.

St George-Illawarra Dragons

The Dragons are mentally tougher than their 9th position on the ladder suggests. There were many games this year that they won on the back of their mental toughness and the Anzac Day game against the Roosters is a classic example. What let the Dragons down this year was technical and tactical – they struggled to cope with the loss of ‘a ball playing fullback’ which impaired their attack. The main mental vulnerability for the Dragons was their starts, which is a sign of poor mental preparation during their game day routine.

Wests Tigers

This is a disappointing result for the Tigers. It highlights just how much of a waste of time pre-season betting is. The Tigers are patchy at best and were mentally all over the place this season. Some weeks they turned up switched on and ready to go; other weeks they were terrible. A consequence of the flamboyant style of football they play is that it produces a large gap between their best and worst performances. This increases the mental demands on the players and if they don’t get it right, that gap continues to exist and can sometimes widen.

Gold Coast Titans

The Titans spent big in the offseason in order to boost their prospects for 2012. Whilst their roster improved, their mental toughness did not. Some clear signs of mental vulnerability were displayed during games, interviews and post-games media conferences. To my knowledge the mental program at the Titans is delivered by a former player. It goes without saying that there are significant improvements that can be made here.

Newcastle Knights

The big lesson for the Knights is that Wayne Bennett doesn’t equal a premiership in his first year. The minor premiership at St George in his first year was on the back of a technically and tactically sound team who lacked his touch in the mental area. The Knights are a different kettle of fish. Wayne understands how to bring the best out in his players and the Knights will continue to improve under him.

Sydney Roosters

The Roosters were the second worst team in the competition in 2012 from the mental perspective. They committed every mental error possible this season and the ongoing battle with coping with referee decisions was a feature of many Roosters post-match media conferences. With the departure of Anasta part of the rebuilding at the Roosters will need to be with the appointment of a captain who is better at managing his onfield emotions and the implementation of a mental program. The new captain needs to understand that referees can’t be beaten.

New Zealand Warriors

This was a disappointing season for the 2011 grand finalists. A new coach didn’t seem to help their cause as the Warriors delivered very inconsistent performances this season. A review is currently underway and the club also needs to appoint a coach for 2013. They would be well advised investing some funds into the establishment of a mental program as there are additional mental demands that the Warriors face in order to replicate their under-20’s success at the NRL level.

Penrith Panthers

Last time the Panthers replaced their coach they won the wooden spoon. This time they faired one position better off. Given the juniors that the Panthers have access to the long term plans for the club are to strengthen their coaching and development pathways so they can maximise the talent they have. For this to be achieved a quality mental program is a must.

Parramatta Eels

Mentally the worst team in the competition by a very long way. The Eels have a high-performance unit that does not include psychology and they have been mentally poor for a number of seasons now. Technically and tactically they are just as good as any other team in the competition but they have ignored the flashing lights that point to their mental deficiencies. The wins after Kearney was sacked are evidence of this. Ricky Stuart has decided to punish the squad and start pre-season early. Fatigue may become an issue for the Eels in 2013 because if they don’t have the mental skills being fitter and stronger won’t make any difference. The simple fact is this: Parramatta needs a mental program.

Summary of 2012:

It is no coincidence that the teams with the best mental programs are at the top of the competition. What scares me is just how underdeveloped most clubs are when it comes to the mental element of performance.

Most of the personnel working on the mental element at NRL clubs are not even psychologists; to my knowledge the exception is Manly, who have one psychologist and one non-psychologist delivering their mental program.

I wonder how many NRL club doctors are not qualified doctors, or how many NRL coaches don’t have the appropriate coaching accreditation.

The NRL club who invests in a quality mental program will obtain a significant edge over the competition. So far, few clubs are taking the mental element seriously.

Mental Analysis of National Rugby League (NRL); Round 25

2012-09-16T20:54:49+10:00

NRL Round 25 – ‘Keeping the season alive’

If you have been reading my blog or have spent any time with me you will no doubt have read or heard me bang on about ‘must win’ games or any other form of label that adds additional pressure to games and events.

This round there are 4 teams who are on the cusp of the top 8 and are playing for their season, hence ‘must win’. These teams are Canberra, Gold Coast, Newcastle and Wests. None of them are playing each other, so all of them have the potential to be victorious this weekend.

I bet every one of them have spoken about how important a win this week is; I bet every one of them has had a look at the draw to see who plays who next week to figure out what has be done to make the 8.

Of the 4 teams playing for their season this weekend only 1 of them won; the Raiders (who flogged the top-of-the-table-12-in-a-row-Bulldogs).

So the team playing the highest ranked opposition this weekend were the only ones to manage a win. How do you explain that?

Some will argue that the Raiders were the only team who played at home. Here’s how I explain it.

Teams on the cusp of the 8 are inconsistent because to be in that position at this time of year a team needs to have a 50/50 record. That means that they have spent all year trying to figure out how to become consistent and everything they have tried so far has not worked.

Why should this round be any different?

So, this means we have an inconsistent team going into a match that has the additional pressure of being ‘must win’ for them, whilst their opposition are not under the same amount of pressure.

If I had to pick between which team would perform the best, I choose the team under the least amount of pressure every time.

Newcastle, Gold Coast and Wests were all under pressure to win and they all failed. They all played away from home and they all did not manage to produce a win. I wonder if any of them played their best football, despite losing.

The Raiders were the exception, so let’s have a look at their situation.

Canberra were hosting the Bulldogs, who were favourites, despite stories of big betting plunges on the Raiders or suggestions that the Bulldogs were going to lie down (if you know anything about rugby league you will know that a Des Hasler coached side doesn’t lie down).

Even though the Raiders face a ‘must win’ game (which increases pressure) they are not expected to win (which reduces pressure). This situation is much more preferable to playing in a ‘must win’ game and also being expected to win, like the Titans and Tigers were because they were both playing teams in the bottom 3 of the competition.

Inconsistent teams don’t perform well under pressure, so not being expected to beat the Bulldogs would have worked favourably for the Raiders. The Knights went close against the Cowboys, but I doubt they played their best football. The Titans were out done in a game of 2nd half touch by the Panthers.

Next week it will be the Broncos and the Tigers who will be playing for the final spot in the top 8.

Both are playing at home and both a coming off a loss, although the Broncos loss to Manly (6-16) in a tough defensive encounter) is different to the flogging the Tigers got from the Roosters (20-44).

Brisbane play the Panthers, who are 15th on the ladder, while the Tigers play the Storm who are currently in 2nd place. So, the Broncos are expected to win a ‘must win’ game and the Tigers are not expected to win a ‘must win’ game.

The Broncos have even less pressure on them than the Tigers because they can still make the top 8 even if they lose. The Tigers can only make it if they win and the Broncos lose.

This season the Broncos have been more consistent than the Tigers and I have written about the Broncos’ mental toughness which they displayed earlier in the year. If they can produce that mental toughness in the final round they will play finals football

Mental Analysis of National Rugby League (NRL); Round 20

2012-08-07T12:22:32+10:00

NRL Round 20 - Bulldogs, Warriors, Eels, Storm

There were too many notable events that occurred this round from the mental perspective to single out just one game, so instead I have selected 4 teams to comment on; Bulldogs, Warriors, Eels and Storm.

1 The Bulldogs travelled to Brookvale under the much publicised hype surrounding Hasler’s return to his former fortress. The post-match media conference being dominated by Toovey’s blow up about the referee’s gave Hasler’s men just the smoke screen they needed to leave the northern beaches as close to ‘under the radar’ as coach Hasler likes his teams to travel. Mentally, the Bulldogs have significantly improved under Hasler’s guidance this season.

2 The Warriors have entered this list on the back of the 18 point lead that they gave up against Newcastle. Whilst a great deal of credit needs to go to Newcastle for turning their performance around, the Warriors committed the cardinal mental sin of scoreboard watching; ‘we have this covered’. For these sort of comebacks to occur, the leading team needs to play this role, otherwise they go on with it.

3 Where do I start regarding the performance of the Eels? Hindmarsh announces his retirement early in the season and the Eels beat Manly; Kearney resigns and the Eels put on their best performance of the season to beat Melbourne. The only explanation for the Eels’ performances this season (and since 2010 when the Hayne phenomenon was falsely credited with the 2009 run into the GF) is mental. That needs to be in capitals: MENTAL. Politics aside, the players’ performance is an insult to their former coach as it begs the question ‘where was that performance for the last 2 seasons?’ Perhaps the players are happy now Kearney is leaving, or worried enough about the thought of following him out the door. They are fit enough, they are technically well drilled and well skilled, they are simply lacking in the mental department. Parramatta could employ a psychologist as their head coach and leave the support staff in place (physical and technical staff) and their results would significantly improve. Instead they are likely to find the same wrong answer to their performance problems and hire a new coach.

4 Melbourne is starting to put together a list of consecutive losses that is un-Melbourne like. The key explanation will be one word, Origin, and rightly so. Playing positions at the Storm have been shuffled around to accommodate injuries and the star players are likely experiencing some physical and mental fatigue following a very demanding Origin series. The Storm already have their great start to the year in the bank, so this will hold them in good stead. The task for the Storm is to find the balance between being well rested, to cope with the fatigue from Origin, and putting in the effort to get back into the grove from earlier in the season. Coaching always brings new challenges, so coach Bellamy will no doubt be better for this experience.

Mental Analysis of National Rugby League (NRL); Round 19

2012-08-02T17:32:04+10:00

Shayne Duncan is an expert in the mental / psychological aspects of Rugby League and is one of the Performance Psychologists at Condor Performance (www.condorperformance.com)

He can be emailed directly at shayne@condorperformance.com

Round 19: Newcastle v Manly

Click here to view or download PDF with image

This match presents an opportunity to contrast a match that heavily favoured one team on the scoreboard and the other team with the momentum chart. This highlights the difference between momentum (possession and field position) and scoreboard pressure (scoring points). Most people view scoring points as momentum, which is incorrect; scoring points is scoreboard pressure.

The Knights won this game 32-6; a comprehensive win by any standard when measuring results (scoreboard), however, the momentum chart tells a different story.

There were 7 trends in momentum during this match; 4 down trends (Newcastle have momentum) and 3 up trends (Manly have momentum).

Trend 1: Sets 4-8 favour Newcastle. Set 8 finishes with a completion (touch finder) following the Uate try in Set 7.

Trend 2: Sets 13-21 favour Manly. Momentum shifts to Manly via consecutive penalties to them (sets 13, 14). Manly earn 6 again in Set 15 and Set 16 ends with a Manly error. Cherry-Evans kicks a 40/20 to complete Set 18 and momentum ends on the back of a Manly error in Set 21.

Trend 3: Sets 36-41 favour Newcastle. After 15 sets of possession alternating between the two teams, Newcastle win the arm wrestle and build momentum that
starts with a penalty to them (Set 36). Newcastle score in Set 37 and half time occurs after Manly complete Set 39. The 2nd half starts with a penalty to Newcastle (Set 40) and this trend ends with a Newcastle pass over the sideline (Set 41).

Trend 4: Sets 44-48 favour Manly as Newcastle make an error in their own half (Set 45). Manly receive a penalty (Set 46) and end Set 47 with an error. Newcastle again turn the ball over via error (kick out on the full) before
Manly end this trend with a knock on (Set 49).

Trend 5: Sets 50-55 favour Newcastle who complete Set 50 while Manly turnover the ball in their own half (Set 51). Newcastle score in Sets 52 and 55 in this
trend.

Trend 6: Sets 56-63 favour Manly as they shift momentum by regaining possession from a short kick off. Manly earn a line drop out and score off the next set
(Set 57). Manly receive a penalty and end this trend with a completed set (touch finder).

Trend 7: Sets 64-67 favour Newcastle. Momentum shifts due to a penalty to Newcastle (Set 64) and they score in each of the next two sets (Sets 65 and
66). This trend ends with a Newcastle completion following scoring points (Set 67).

For the bulk of the match, momentum favoured Manly; they enjoyed far more possession in Newcastle’s half, especially in the first 40 minutes. Hence, Manly were successful at building and sustaining momentum. However, Manly were unable to convert their momentum into scoreboard pressure.

To Newcastle’s credit, their defence was able to hold Manly at bay and when Newcastle did get the ball in good field position they were able to score. Therefore, Newcastle found it more difficult to build and sustain momentum, but they were regularly successful at building scoreboard pressure.

This turned out to be the difference between the two teams; Newcastle had fewer point scoring opportunities but they converted most of them into points (scoreboard pressure), whereas Manly had plenty of opportunities to score points (momentum) but only converted one of them.

The above analysis leads to a different interpretation to the performance of both teams as reflected by the comments at the media conference. From Manly came statements about not turning up to play or playing poorly, which the above analysis shows was not entirely correct. Specifically, Manly were let down by an inability to convert momentum (possession and field position) into points; they just couldn’t get across the line and as the match wore on this lead to frustration and poor decisions in defence.

Newcastle’s attitude in defence was outstanding as they continually turned Manly away. On the back of this, Newcastle were able to score points every time they built momentum (4 out of 4) and during Trends 5 and 7 Newcastle scored twice.

This demonstrates a comprehensive performance in both attack and defence for Newcastle, which will relieve some pressure on the team (and coach). It will also build some genuine confidence, not just because of the win, but rather, because of how they went about producing it.

Some other statistics that show how close the teams were during this match are listed below:

21m difference in total run metres (Newcastle 1449 to Manly 1428)
122m difference in total kick metres (Newcastle 723 to Manly 599)
Manly had 11 off loads after 19 minutes (22 for the match; 7 were just from Tony Williams) to Newcastle’s 1 (7 for the match)

The content of Shayne’s Round-by-Round Analysis is the property of Condor Performance and can only be reused by getting permission from the author. He can be emailed at shayne@condorperformance.com

Mental Analysis of National Rugby League (NRL); Round 18

2012-07-16T13:41:55+10:00

NRL Round 18 – Titans v Warriors

To borrow from the media to create some hype, this round is a ‘World Exclusive’ as I reveal a chart that I have developed to demonstrate the concept of momentum in a game of rugby league.

Momentum is a term often used by commentators and up until now has been purely based on gut feel or instinct.

Below is a chart that has been created to statistically reflect the momentum of a match via the two components that produce momentum in rugby league; possession and field position.

The chart below resembles the chart of a stock on the sharemarket and hence, can be read in a similar way. In economics its bulls (buyers) v bears (sellers) as they battle over price. In rugby league we have two teams battling for the ball, so in effect, the momentum chart reflects the movement of the ball up and down the field.

For example, uptrends and downtrends can be identified, which indicate momentum shifting in favour of one team or the other. Upward movements in the chart below reflect momentum in favour of the Titans, while downward movements reflect momentum in favour of the Warriors.

Sideways movement in the chart reflect no clear direction in momentum as the teams are engaged in the ‘arm wrestle’ in an effort to build momentum.

The benefits provided by the Condor Momentum Chart include:

• Having a clear picture of who the momentum is with at any stage during the game, which can influence tactical decisions and messages sent out to the team • Being able to identify trends in momentum • Being able to accurately identify events that lead to a shift in momentum • Having data that can be used to help players with decision making and goal setting within the match to assist them create momentum and stop opposition momentum.

Here’s the analysis of the Condor Momentum Chart for the Titans v Warriors match.

• Set’s 1-10 show a sideways movement in the chart indicating no clear direction in momentum, despite the early try from the Warriors in set 2. • Set’s 11-20 show a clear uptrend, indicating momentum is heavily in favour of the Titans before it peaks around sets 22-24. • A reversal in momentum then occurs and a strong downtrend develops, indicating momentum has turned and is now in favour of the Warriors. • The Warriors momentum continues through to set 40, where the Titans start to consolidate. This sees momentum go sideways until set 51 at which point the Warriors create another burst in momentum (pushing towards the -65 line). • Sets 55 through to 70 show mainly sideways movement which the Titans start to get the better of, before conceding momentum in the final 3 sets.

TO VIEW THE CHART COPY AND PASTE THE BELOW URL INTO A NEW BROWSER http://info.condorperformance.com/Round 18.pdf

Within psychology, statistics are used to demonstrate the effectiveness of treatments and to measure certain things. Most people are familiar with the type questionnaires that psychologists use.

The Condor Momentum Chart is a step in the direction of being able to use statistics that are already gathered in rugby league in order to develop measurements of mental toughness in rugby league teams and players.

Watch this space as we reveal more of our work in this area.

Feel free to post comments or thoughts on the Condor Momentum Chart (RL).

RLCM Coach Talk (July 2012) Case Studies by Shayne Duncan

2012-07-07T10:22:40+10:00

RLCM Coach Talk (July 2012) Case Studies:

1 A player in your team has set a goal to play rep footy. He is so focused on achieving this that he gets too involved during games and plays for himself rather than the team. How do you use goal setting to help this player achieve his goals while at the same time helping the team?

A player as described above is often very motivated to achieve their own personal goals, sometimes even at the expense of the team. These players don’t often ‘buy-in’ to the team goals, unless it suits them, despite saying that they understand the teams’ goals and are ‘on board’. In fact, this type of player is unlikely to respond positively to any form of goal that is given to unless they find a reason to (KPI’s, minimum standards = Assigned Goals).

So, the way to manage them is to have them set their own goals, and then you can help them outline the things they need to do in order to achieve their goals. Here is where you align the individuals’ goals with the teams’ goals. By performing their role and completing the tasks necessary for them to do so, they are indirectly helping the team achieve the team goals. This can be reinforced by using an outline of what their role would be once they are selected in rep football and let them know that you are supporting them in their efforts for selection. The player is happy because you are not trying to turn them into something they are not (a ‘team player’) and you, the coach, are happy because they will now be working in the same direction as the team, despite getting there a different way.

This player often wants to feel special and recognised as being an important member of the team. They like to think that their needs and ambitions are a priority and the teams’ goals and needs are secondary. Often this view has been created during junior football if they were the best player in their team, or used to getting their own way. You can choose to try and change them, or you can choose to work with them.

A survey recently conducted by SKINS found that 10% of players would prefer to be man-of-the-match rather than have his team win; this is the sort of player we are dealing with here. Their high level of motivation is self-centred, but this is not an issue if it is directed properly via the goal setting process. When done properly, both the individual and the team can win.

[Please note, there are consequences for the group if the above suggestion is followed; for example, others may view this as ‘special treatment’ and it may upset the group, thereby creating other issues to manage. This highlights the importance of getting goal setting right because there are ripple effects and consequences if it is done poorly.]

2 Your team train very well but don’t play as well as you know they can on game day, especially when there is pressure on them to win. How do you use goal setting to turn this around or at least rule out goal setting as a possible cause of this issue?

The two classic causes of this are under developed mental skills or poor technical preparation, or both.

Under developed mental skills can lead to a team who has a focus on winning that is greater than their capacity to manage the pressure of delivering the technical skills that produce the result. Not performing as well on game day as they do at training is a sign of players not managing their nerves due to the pressure to perform on game day. The outcome goal (winning) increases their nerves to a point that they cannot manage and a poor performance is produced.

At the NRL level, teams often refer to themselves as being in a ‘re-building phase’ which is designed to reduce expectations of the fans and hence reduce the pressure on the players to win. Teams will also try to adopt the underdog tag in an effort to reduce pressure on players (like the Bulldogs did against Melbourne recently, despite being a top-of-the-table clash which the Bulldogs went onto win comfortably).

If you, or your players, have no expectations to win and you have not got any outcome based goals in place, then you can rule out goal setting as a significant contributor to the stress that produces poor performance on game day. The likely cause is the practice environment where the skill level of the players is being developed, which refers to their technical preparation.

Skill breakdown under the pressure of competition commonly occurs when skills are practiced in a situation that is different from the competition environment. Basically, the practice drills that the players do so well at training are not doing their job in preparing the players for the pressure of competition. If your players rate competing as more mentally demanding than practice (not necessarily more physically demanding), then this is likely to be the reason why your team practices well and plays poorly on game day.

To have players perform well on game day, they must be spending some time practicing their skills under more pressure than they will get on game day. Coaches often won’t do this because errors will occur, but that is the whole point of practicing under pressure – so you can make your errors at training while you are learning to perform under pressure. Then game day isn’t as stressful, because your players have handled more stress at practice during the week.

If your team does prepare under pressure and they still perform poorly on game day, then they need to get better at mental skills such as managing their nerves, controlling their attention, managing emotions, building confidence and so on.

Goal setting then needs to be used to achieve this.

Mental Analysis of National Rugby League (NRL); Round 17

2012-07-07T10:27:44+10:00

NRL Round 17 – Canberra v St George

This match up was selected due to the media beat up of the ‘Hoodoo’ that the Dragons have when travelling to Canberra. The concept of a ‘hoodoo’ is a classic media strategy to generate interest and emotion in the contest. In relation to performance, ‘hoodoos’ are simply garbage and are only traps for the mentally vulnerable.

Canberra Mental Strengths:

• Used their weight of possession at the start of the match to secure consecutive line drop outs before posting first points for a 6-0 lead. A composed and well executed opening 10 minutes from the Raiders. • Great awareness from an individual on the back of great field position enables a one-on-one strip to give the Raiders possession only 10 metres out. The composure from the opening exchanges is again on display and another drop-out is forced. • Consecutive tries in two minutes are the reward for the Raiders not only completing their sets, but forcing the Dragons to repeatedly bring the ball back off their own line. • Managed to come up with a match winning try with 2 minutes remaining.

Canberra Mental Vulnerabilities:

• Conceded their first try on the back of a penalty despite having the advantage with field position. • Two soft tries from dummy-half when defending their own line cost the Raiders the lead. • A missed penalty conversion to level the scores with 6 minutes to play – the kick missed by plenty and looked like an attempt to ‘guide’ the ball rather than kick it.

St George Mental Strengths:

• They were starved of possession (60-40) in the first half by a Raiders team who completed 95% of their first half sets and enjoyed much better field position but the Dragons still managed to take the lead after 68 minutes of play. A very gutsy performance. • Individual efforts form Soward (40/20), Rein (2 dummy half tries), Nightingale (head clash plus cleaning up numerous kicks) kept the Dragons in the contest and gave them a lift when they needed it.

St George Mental Vulnerabilities:

• This was a game that lesser sides would have lost by plenty, so there is little in the way of mental vulnerabilities showed by the Dragons. In fact, their mental toughness was on display and it kept them in this contest right up to the 78th minute. They were beaten by a technically better team (possession, completions, field position) on this occasion.

Both sides have a chance of making the finals, however, if either of them do they are too inconsistent to threaten for the title. Especially given the change to the McIntyre system that has sudden death games for teams 5-8 in the 1st week of the semi’s.

Mental Analysis of National Rugby League (NRL); Round 16

2012-06-29T10:42:32+10:00

NRL Round 16 – Brisbane v South Sydney

These two sides are both displaying signs of mental toughness and have already met in round 4 this season. On that occasion Souths raced to a 12-0 lead and got done by a well composed Brisbane team, despite losing a player (Yow Yeh) to a horrific injury. This round Souths didn’t get out to such a good start and had to fight to stay in the contest.

Brisbane Mental Strengths:

• Used their weight of possession in the first half to build pressure and put the Rabbits through a mountain of defence. By the end of the match Souths had made 126 more tackles than the Broncos (422 v 296). • Despite having more possession in the 1st half and better field position, Brisbane actually went in at half time trailing by 6-4. Lesser teams may have been rattled by this, however, the Broncos went on with the job in the 2nd half to secure a well deserved win. • An early try in the 2nd half put them in front 10-6, showing that they managed the half-time break well and got straight back to work. Despite conceding an intercept try and surrendering the lead, the Broncos lifted and finished well on top of the Rabbits.

Brisbane Mental Vulnerabilities:

• Other than the errors to start the match and a completion rate of 73% this was a solid performance from the Broncos who showed little in the way of mental vulnerabilities.

South Sydney Mental Strengths:

• They toughed it out and stayed competitive for the entire match. In the past Souths would have turned their toes up and conceded plenty more points, but to their credit, they stayed in the arm wrestle with great defence and even managed to lead at half time. • They have key players who are playing well; some of the shots that Inglis put on were great, especially when he saved a try (2 on 1 in defence) with his ability to read the play. • Whilst they lost the match in the last 20 minutes as the Broncos skipped away, the performance that the Bunnies put in showed a great deal of character and a willingness to compete. This is what title contenders need and the Bunnies are starting to warm to the task of being contenders.

South Sydney Mental Vulnerabilities:

• They butchered a try in the first half and made some errors that contributed to the weight of possession the Broncos enjoyed. Other than that, this is a team that has finally started to fulfil its potential, largely due to some quality coaching.

The Broncos look like mounting a strong challenge for the title and the Bunnies are still on track for a visit to finals football.