Mental Fitness | Rewire Fitness

What is Visualization in Sports?

May 30, 2023/in Mental Fitness, Science, Training Tips /by Matthew Mace

“When I train, one of the things I concentrate on is creating a mental picture of how best to deliver that ball to a team-mate, preferably leaving him alone in front of the rival goalkeeper. So what I do, always before a game, always, every night and every day, is try and think up things, imagine plays which no one else will have thought of, and to do so always bearing in mind the particular strengths of each team-mate to whom I am passing the ball. When I construct those plays in my mind, I take into account whether one team-mate likes to receive the ball at his feet, or ahead of him; if he is good with his head, and how he prefers to head the ball; if he is stronger on his right or his left foot. That is my job. That is what I do. I imagine the game.”
– Ronaldinho, Professional Football Player.

Back in 2006, Ronaldinho, who played for FC Barcelona and his home country Brazil at the time, was interviewed on how he used imagery before the world cup in a piece for the New York Times Magazine; the above quote was his response [1]. It’s an excellent — and real — example of how Elite athletes use visualization in sports.

This blog post will explain what visualization is in sports, what it’s used for, more real-life examples, and tips to get started.

What is visualization?

Visualization involves creating vivid mental images of performance. For example, that could be something as simple as a pass, a free kick, a free throw, or a successful swing in golf. Practicing visualization and mental skills can help increase self-confidence, reduce anxiety before competition, and improve overall performance [1,2].

But why is mental imagery so powerful? When done correctly, visualization activates neural pathways in the brain — the same pathways that are activated during physical performance. Regular visualization practice can help strengthen these neural pathways to improve performance and lessen anxiety (alongside many other benefits discussed below).

What are the benefits of visualization in sports?

We’ve highlighted several benefits of mental imagery and visualization already, but other benefits include:

Improve confidence & focus
Reduce anxiety
Optimize muscle memory
Build mental toughness (visualize overcoming mental obstacles)
Improve goal setting

Visualization might also prove to be an effective mental skill for injured athletes. These athletes can mentally rehearse performance (even though they can’t play) and use visualization and other mental skills to set goals to help with their recovery.

There’s a reason why the best athletes use visualization — so why shouldn’t you do the same? Add visualization exercises to your training and see how it can improve your performance and mental preparation for competition.

And once you’ve got the hang of visualization, why not move on to other mental skills?

Examples of mental imagery

“Visualization lets you concentrate on all the positive aspects of your game.” – Curtis Strange, American Professional Golfer.

Mental skills and visualization are only becoming more popular. In recent years, every sports team has invested in a psychologist — or a team of psychologists — and athletes can be found practicing a cocktail of mental skills before practice.

So we’ve gathered together other examples of mental imagery and visualization, one from an Olympic gymnast and another from Tiger Woods. Let’s hear from Makalya Stambaugh, a 6x Olympic junior gymnastics champion:

“Visualization is something I use to calm my nerves. I did something like that before, but when I came to Oregon State, they really helped me hone in on those skills of actually picturing the bar routine, the movement, and think the exact same thoughts you would be doing it. That makes me more prepared and confident when I compete.”

And now, let’s talk about how Tiger Woods uses visualization — a skill he’s practiced since the very beginning of his career, taught when he was a boy by his Father. In the below clip, you can see how Tiger describes putting like taking a series of pictures and how this helps him visualize a successful shot.

   
  
 
 
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How to get started

So, now that you know Elite athletes apply visualization techniques to their sport, how can you get started?

We’d suggest keeping it simple to begin with. Before practice, focus on a skill you want to improve, whether that’s passing, shooting, putting, cornering, or whatever it may be. Visualize successful skill performance — what technique needs to happen to produce a successful outcome?

Imagine that, and if you’re off to a great start. Then, practice often and focus on different areas of your game to improve.

Take notes on how you feel and what effect you think it had on performance, anxiety, and confidence, and adapt from there. And while we would recommend practicing with a psychologist, the beauty of visualization and other mental skills is that they can be done anywhere by everybody… whether a junior high school football player or an Elite gymnast.

Use Rewire to improve your mental performance

Visualization is one of many mental skills that can help improve performance, reduce anxiety, and help athletes prepare for competition.

Athletes can also use Rewire neuro-science training protocols to build other mental skills, to improve resilience and focus, and reduce anxiety and stress in the lead-up to competition.

And, if you’re a coach, you can monitor your athlete’s readiness score — an aggregate score based on cognitive, physical, and emotional wellbeing — to better tailor performance, prioritize recovery, and get the most out of each athlete.

“Rewire’s latest platform makes mental strength training more accessible to athletes everywhere with easy-to-use tools to help them reach their goals.”
– NBA All-Star, Kyle Korver

Find out how Rewire can help you

FAQs

What does visualization mean?

Visualization is all about creating mental images and imaging specific scenarios. Athletes practice visualization to improve performance and confidence, and to reduce anxiety before competition.

How does visualization improve performance in sports?

Visualization can improve confidence, reduce anxiety, and improve skill-based performance, e.g., passing or shooting the ball.

What is an example of visualization in sports?

A golfer might imagine putting the ball — the direction it will go and how much power to apply to improve putting performance.

References:

Cumming, J. and Ramsey, R., 2008. Imagery interventions in sport. In Advances in applied sport psychology (pp. 15-46). Routledge.
Halvari, H., 1996. Effects of mental practice on performance are moderated by cognitive anxiety as measured by the Sport Competition Anxiety Test. Perceptual and motor skills, 83(3_suppl), pp.1375-1383.

How to Build Mental Toughness in Athletes

May 29, 2023/in For Coaches, Mental Fitness, Science, Training Tips /by Matthew Mace

When it comes to sports, mental toughness can be just as important as physical ability.

Athletes with a strong mindset are better equipped to handle pressure, overcome obstacles, and push through fatigue to achieve their goals. But mental toughness isn’t something that comes naturally to everyone. It’s a skill that must be developed and honed over time.

In this blog post, we’ll explore key principles and provide tips for building mental toughness in athletes, this includes goal setting, visualization, and adopting a stoic mindset. So whether you’re an elite athlete looking to gain a slight advantage, or a beginner who is just learning about mental toughness, you will find this post valuable.

So, let’s dive in and discover how to build mental toughness in athletes!

What is mental toughness?

Mental toughness refers to the ability to perform under pressure, cope with challenges, and maintain focus and motivation in the face of adversity, i.e. during intense competition.

But what makes up mental toughness? It includes a mix of psychological skills, such as an unshakable self-belief, a resilient mindset, perseverance, and the ability to control emotions in real-time (e.g. not being affected by a yellow card or a decision that did not go in your favor).

It’s widely understood that the best athletes are mentally tough. They know how to persevere and dig deep when the going gets tough. But it’s not only a skill for sports; it’s a skill for life.

So how do you build mental toughness?

How to build mental toughness

Some athletes are more mentally tough than others. That’s just the way that is. However, you can train and build mental toughness. Iron doesn’t become a sword until it’s beaten in the fire — don’t expect to become mentally tough without any work.

So how do you start beating on the iron and strengthening your mind? We recommend the following:

Set goals to improve mental toughness
Use positive visualization
Be stoic
Practice discipline
Use positive self-talk
Embrace failure as an opportunity to learn and improve

Set goals to improve mental toughness

Goal setting is an essential skill and tool athletes should develop to help build mental toughness.

By now, you’re most likely familiar with SMART goals — these are specific, measurable, and achievable goals that provide you with a clear sense of direction, purpose, and intention [3].

As a general rule of thumb, you should set both long-term and short-term goals. But a big mistake many people make is not aligning their short and long-term objectives. Some people prefer to label their short-term goals as an “action plan” — it’s how you move towards those long-term goals [1].

Let’s say, for instance, that your long-term goal is to break the 15-minute 5k time. In that case, your short-term goals, or your action plan, should be to break the 15.30, then the 15.15 times, and so on.

Achieving these short-term goals in pursuit of your long-term goals provide motivation, confidence, and help you stay on track to achieve your goals.

Goal setting is a critical component to build mental toughness in sports, whether you’re an x-country runner, a basketball player, or a pitcher in baseball. Well-thought-out goals provide you with the blueprint for overcoming adversity and move the needle toward success.

Use positive visualization

Positive visualization is a powerful, and often underused tool in the mental toughness toolkit.

Athletes can visualize and rehearse successful skill performance (and even scenarios) to improve their confidence and reduce anxiety. In fact, visualization is thought to reinforce positive neural pathways in the brain — it’s very difficult for the brain to tell what’s real and what’s not.

It’s why Tiger Woods is a big proponent of mental training and visualization. Here’s a quote from Tiger:

“In the year 2000 I won 12 times, including 3 majors and I only remember hitting one shot I would call perfect. It was a 3 wood on #14 in the third round of the British Open at St. Andrews. As with every shot, I attempt, I visualize that ball flight and the shot turned out exactly as I had planned.”

You’re essentially creating a blueprint of success — a roadmap you can follow and apply directly to your sport or skill.

Athletes can also use positive visualization to reduce anxiety — that includes pre-game and even mid-game nerves. The result? You can create a mentally tough athlete who has the tools on hand to adjust their emotional state on the fly, resulting in peak performance whether performing well in training, or in front of a crowd of thousands.

Be stoic

Marcus Aurelius once said:

“You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”

But what does it actually mean to be stoic? Stoicism is a philosophy that emphasizes self-control, discipline, and resilience in the face of adversity, e.g. relegation, not being picked for a team, losing despite training hard, and so on.

The guiding principle of stoicism is to accept the things you can’t control. And instead, to focus on what you can control (what is in your power) to develop inner calm and tranquility.

Stoics believe that by effectively managing emotions and focusing on the present moment, that we can overcome negative emotions and harmful impulses, and face challenges head-on.

For example, let’s say it’s halftime, and you’re losing by five points. An athlete with a stoic mindset see’s the situation for what it is. But does not experience that psychological quiver. Instead, they focus on what they can control and practice discipline to do their absolute best to overcome the obstacle in front of them.

Practice Discipline

We’ve discussed this above already, but discipline is an essential aspect of building mental toughness [2].

If an athlete does not have discipline, they’ll struggle to develop mental toughness. Take a moment to think about it: discipline is needed to set healthy habits and routines (e.g. waking up early to train, following a healthy diet, and avoiding distractions). If you can’t practice discipline, then you can’t cultivate a growth mindset, i.e. you won’t embrace challenges, seek feedback, or be open to learning new skills and techniques to improve performance.

Focus on improving your discipline, and you’ll set yourself up for success.

Use positive self-talk

Athletes can use positive self-talk to shift their mindset, focus on performance, and reduce negative thoughts. Often, athletes will speak affirmations, mantras, and cues to improve performance.

Many people think that self-talk is exclusively done aloud. But a lot of athletes speak to themselves in their minds — there is no right or wrong way to do it. However, you don’t have an actual conversation with yourself to reap the benefits.

Add mantras such as “Make the play,” “I deserve to win,” and “I got this,” into your game.

You can also add cues to enforce positive behaviors, e.g. “high knees” or “eyes ahead.” You’ll need to create your own cues and mantras for your sport, but adding this self-talk can help improve your game.

Embrace failure as an opportunity to learn and improve

Instead of viewing failure as a setback or a reflection of their abilities, athletes who adopt a growth mindset see failure/a lack of success as an opportunity for improvement usually come out on top.

This, once again, relates back to stoicism and resilience in the face of adversity.

Athletes can learn from their mistakes, failures, and shortcomings and refine their techniques, improve their weaknesses, and double down on their strengths. Embracing this mindset improves mental toughness and creates a mindset shift towards welcoming difficult things.

See failure as an opportunity to improve. It’s part of beating the iron in the fire — it will only make you stronger, so long as you embrace the process.

Use Rewire to develop mental toughness

Athletes can use Rewire to improve their mindset, manage stress, and boost mental toughness. The Athlete Platform is based on neuroscience, using brain-endurance training protocols to help you build mental toughness.

And if you’re a coach, you can use Rewire to enhance your athletes’ performance. You gain access to the readiness dashboard and can tailor sessions based on how “ready” your athletes are.

“With Rewire, you have a controlled environment and structure so that you can choose when you want to add mental training to your workouts and you can do it as often as you’d like.” – Laura Kline (Elite Ultra Runner & Endurance Athlete)

Find out how Rewire can help you

References:

Bailey, R.R., 2019. Goal setting and action planning for health behavior change. American journal of lifestyle medicine, 13(6), pp.615-618.
Fourie, S. and Potgieter, J.R., 2001. The nature of mental toughness in sport. South African Journal for Research in Sport, Physical Education and Recreation, 23(2), pp.63-72.
McCarthy, P.J. and Gupta, S., 2022. Set goals to get goals: Sowing seeds for success in sports. Frontiers for Young Minds, 10(10.3389).

Mental Training for Athletes: What is It and How to Start

May 22, 2023/in Mental Fitness, Training Tips /by Matthew Mace

If you’re an athlete looking to take your performance to the next level, chances are, you’ve heard of mental training.

All the greats do it, including Michael Phelps, Tiger Woods, Kobe Bryant, Tom Brady, and many other successful athletes.

This often overlooked aspect of training involves training the mind to improve physical performance. How, you ask? Mental training can help athletes overcome anxiety, improve focus, and build confidence.

And better yet, it’s easy to implement into your training and can be done virtually anywhere, whether in a hotel room, on the court, or even on a plane when you’ve got a few hours to sit and stare out the window.

The remainder of this blog post will explain how you can begin to use mental training (and mental training tools). We’ll explain what it is, and how to get started.

Key takeaways:

Mental training can help improve performance & increase confidence
Anyone can start mental training — it’s not just for Elite level athletes
Find the best mental skills and apply these to the weaker areas of your game

What is mental training?

Mental skills training consists of a mix of techniques and practices to help you develop mental toughness, improve skill learning, and even performance on (and off) the field, including in everyday life [1].

Examples of popular mental training exercises include:

Visualization exercises
Mindfulness
Goal setting
Deep breathing
Positive self-talk

Other mental training tools and skills exist, but these are the main ones (and easiest to start with no prior mental training experience).

But for those interested, more advanced skills include [2]:

Emotional control
Activation & Relaxation
Negative thinking
Attentional control

If you do choose to adopt the more advanced skills, we’d recommend focusing on the easier-to-learn and implement skills first. For example, positive self-talk is typically easier to learn than negative thinking (if you do negative thinking wrong, it could affect your confidence). Likewise, taking deep breaths and focusing on mindfulness is relatively easy to begin vs. activation and relaxation of the muscles.

By practicing a mix of mental skills, athletes can reduce anxiety, improve confidence, develop resilience, and ultimately improve performance.

Why is mental training important?

Let’s think of a scenario where you have two athletes — both are equally matched in physical skills, but one athlete practices mental skills such as visualization, goal setting, and positive self belief and self talk. The other athlete focuses exclusively on physical practice and performance.

Which athlete do you think will perform best?

Chances are, it’s the athlete who has a more holistic skill set — they’re essentially getting more training in without the added fatigue. Performing visualization, for example, reinforces neural pathways in the brain. It’s like training, but without lacing up your boots and heading out to practice.

Mental training can be especially useful for overcoming anxiety and weaknesses in your sport. Let’s say, for example, that you’re a cyclist, but you find descending challenging — perhaps it scares you.

You can use mental training to increase self confidence, reduce anxiety, and run through successful skill performance (in your mind) to get better at descending confidently. That also includes mental preparation before a big game or competition — you’re better prepared, and more likely to achieve athletic success.

With the correct physical and mental training, you’ll quickly improve your skill-specific performance.

Mental skills in practice – what does it look like?

Creating a mental training plan will look different for every athlete. For example, some athletes may prefer certain mental skills, applying these to weaknesses in their performance. Other athletes may find other skills difficult to utilize but use 1 or 2 skills really well.

A great way to put mental training into practice is to list all the required skills of your sport, and rate these (based on how good you think you are at each skill) on a scale of 1-10 (1 being poor, 10 being excellent).

The skills which you rate the lowest are what you should seek to improve using mental skills. For example, if you’re a cyclist and you feel scared of cornering at high speeds, you could use a combination of positive self-talk and visualization to improve self confidence and reduce anxiety.

Choosing what mental skills is a little more complicated than that, but we have an entire article on how to create a mental training program for athletes — check it out if you want a more in-depth guide.

How can mental training improve athletic performance?

Mental training can improve performance by enhancing an athlete’s ability to regulate their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, and by strengthening their mental toughness. It’s also a useful tool to increase motivation!

To provide a contextual example: athletes can use visualization techniques to rehearse competition. They can use positive self-talk to increase confidence and reduce anxiety, e.g. using cues and prompts to keep them focused with minimal distractions.

Furthermore, goal setting can help athletes move with a sense of purpose and direction. This makes it a lot easier for athletes to develop healthy routines and habits that move the needle towards greater performance, both as an individual and a team.

These are just a few examples of how mental training can positively impact athletes. But these are only a few case uses — the best athletes apply these principles and skills as part of a daily practice to improve all aspects of their sport/game further.

Who can benefit from mental training?

Mental training is not just for elite athletes! And while Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods may use these powerful techniques, there’s no reason why you can’t implement them into your training, too.

Training the mind is for everyone, whether you’re in a weekend soccer league, or you play basketball in high school.

And while it’s mainly used by the professional athlete population, we can learn a lot from those who use it. Besides, there’s a reason why they do it: it’s because it’s so powerful.

But mental training is also useful for non-athletes. Coaches may also choose to engage in mental strategies to improve their performance, goal-setting ability, and communication during an important game (i.e. not letting emotions get the best of them).

There are endless avenues and possibilities for mental training. And with the field of sports psychology only getting bigger, it’s a better time than any to start mental training.

Use Rewire to increase readiness and focus to perform

Athletes looking to boost their mental toughness, manage stress, and improve their mindset can benefit from using Rewire’s athlete platform.

Based on neuro-science, athletes can employ brain training protocols and activities to build mental strength, resilience, and essential mental skills. You can also use guided sessions to improve focus, provide stress & anxiety relief, and prepare the mind for training or competition.

Coaches can also use Rewire to improve athlete performance — you can view the athlete readiness dashboard, which provides valuable insights and allows you to adjust training load accordingly to help achieve optimal performance (while avoiding injury and burnout).

“Rewire comes as a Gamechanger in the field of ‘tracking and monitoring readiness’ and provides a one-stop shop for both physical and cognitive recovery, as well as having functionality for building mental resilience.” – Pete McKnight (Human Performance Expert)

Find out how Rewire can help you

References:

Holmes, P.S. and Collins, D.J., 2001. The PETTLEP approach to motor imagery: A functional equivalence model for sport psychologists. Journal of applied sport psychology, 13(1), pp.60-83.
Röthlin, P., Horvath, S., Trösch, S., Holtforth, M.G. and Birrer, D., 2020. Differential and shared effects of psychological skills training and mindfulness training on performance-relevant psychological factors in sport: a randomized controlled trial. BMC psychology, 8, pp.1-13.

How to Build Mental Toughness in High School Athletes

May 15, 2023/in For Coaches, Mental Fitness, Science, Training Tips /by Matthew Mace

Improve mental toughness in high school athletes to boost performance on and off the field. It’s a skill that transfers to adulthood and beyond — and one that can be taught. So it’s best to teach it early and set adolescents up for success.

High school coaches can add basic practices and tweak their current training style further to improve mental toughness, discipline, and performance. Continue reading for actionable tips and strategies you can implement to help your athletes become mentally tough.

Create a positive training environment

As a coach, you lead by example, especially when mentoring high school athletes. One of the best ways to teach mental toughness is to create a positive training environment that facilitates growth.

The environment says a lot about how you want your athletes to behave and learn.

Training should be fun — that doesn’t mean it can’t be challenging, but your athletes should look forward to their sessions. So how do you do this — how do you create a positive training environment?

Introduce team-building exercises, bonding activities, and fun minigames — these recommendations are also great for building team chemistry.

Also, practice what you preach. You should practice mental toughness (and be mentally tough) if that’s what you want to teach. Lead by example.

It’s all about communication

Many coaches adopt the “bully” mentality — they give drill after drill, instruction after instruction, and then wonder why their athletes aren’t improving. The issue here is that communication is a two-way street.

And yes, while these exercises may build discipline and mental toughness — to some extent, creating an open line of communication and working together may prove better. Athletes are more likely to talk to you when struggling, mentorship will become more collaborative, and performance typically improves.

In a high school environment, you can go a step further by hanging around after practice or letting them know they can talk to you about anything — not just sports.

Introduce competition and pressure to build mental toughness

A lot of high school teams and athletes deal with pressure almost exclusively in competition. This is usually a handful of times a season. But instead, why not create training scenarios that mimic competition during practice?

Doing so has many benefits. For example, you can identify (a) what’s going well and (b) what can be improved. This is an excellent way to build mental toughness. Let’s say an athlete loses motivation and then makes mistakes after a call that was not in their favor by the referee — you can practice these exact scenarios to help prevent the dip in motivation and performance.

Introducing competition is easy to do as well. For example, you can split your team into two, or if you coach multiple teams, you can have them play each other.

After the friendly competition, you can ask high school athletes (a) what they think went well and (b) what they think can be improved. Getting feedback directly from your athletes increases accountability. You can also cross-reference this feedback with your notes to implement new skills or even mental training to improve mental toughness and performance.

Teach basic mental training skills

Mental skills provide athletes with the tools to increase confidence and build mental toughness. It’s also a useful tool to improve skill, e.g., visualizing freekick technique.

Despite this, however, high school students are less likely to perform more advanced mental skills because they may seem “anecdotal.” So instead, try and teach the fundamentals so they can see how effective they are, and then build on their skills over months and years.

Basic mental skills include [3]:

Positive self-talk
Goal setting
Visualization
Mindfulness

We’ll explain each of these in more detail with examples of how to execute them with your high school athletes below.

Want more guidance on mental training? Read our blog post on how to create a mental training program for athletes.

Positive self-talk

Self-talk is one of the easier mental skills to implement. It can help increase confidence, reduce anxiety, and improve task performance. But when people think of self-talk, they often think of shouting affirmations in the mirror.

And while this is partly true, it’s not the only way to do it. For starters, most people don’t do that — if they do use self-talk, it’s usually done in their minds. It’s words, phrases, and cues that trigger an emotional response. For example, a cross-country runner might use self-talk cues such as “relax shoulders” and “high knees.”

The same runner might use self-talk during an event to break up the race into smaller bite-size chunks. Let’s say the race is 5 laps long — they might say to themselves, “1 lap left,” when there’s actually 2 or 3. You can trick your brain into perseverance, and this is a powerful way to build mental toughness.

Why not introduce your athletes to a basic self-talk script?

Goal setting

Goal setting is a tried and tested method of improving performance and mental toughness.

One study in adolescents analyzed the impacts of a 12-week core strength training program. Results found that those who combined goal setting with core strength training were more effective in improving fitness [1].

This demonstrates the impact of goals — they are a must-have.

But how do you set effective goals? We suggest using the SMART goal-setting principles [2]:

Specific: state exactly what you want to achieve or improve.
Measurable: how can you accurately measure progress?
Achievable: Is it possible? You need to be realistic.
Realistic: your goals should be challenging, but not impossible.
Time-bound: set a realistic timeframe to achieve your goals.

When working with a team, consider setting shared goals and actually setting these together. Don’t just make them your goals — sit down together and collectively come up with goals to work towards. This will also help accountability and improve mental toughness.

Visualization

Visualization is one of the more difficult mental skills to implement with high school athletes.

Instead of diving into the deep end, we recommend trying a simple exercise before practice: ask your athletes to visualize a skill they want to improve, imagining successful skill performance. For example, this could be taking a free kick, diving to save a shot in the top left corner, or successfully dribbling around a player.

This should improve focus within the training session, and add more intention and goal-directed behavior to get better at the skill they have identified.

Use worksheets or other written feedback methods, such as surveys or questionnaires, to track progress, i.e., if your athletes find these mental exercises valuable.

Mindfulness

When people hear mindfulness, they often think of meditation. And while this is one of the components, mindfulness also comprises other exercises such as deep breathing, relaxation, and even journaling to provide clarity.

While you can use visualization at the start of practice, you can use mindfulness at the end of practice. For instance, you can ask your athletes to jot down what they think went well and want them to improve in the next session. This is a simple way to increase accountability and allows your athletes to become intentional.

Improve mental toughness with Rewire

“Our coaches can see every night to stay on top of fatigue and readiness. So incredibly useful.” – Jez Cox, Head Cycling Coach, Oaklands Wolves

Coaches can use Rewire to help prime their athletes for performance, increasing mental toughness, focus, and readiness to perform at their best. You also receive insights into athlete readiness to help you make smarter training and recovery decisions.

Your athletes get access to the athlete platform — a science-backed toolkit that contains neuro-training exercises to improve mental resilience and mindset, and promotes mind and body recovery.

Find out more about Rewire for teams

References:

Lu, Y., Yu, K. and Gan, X., 2022. Effects of a SMART Goal Setting and 12-Week Core Strength Training Intervention on Physical Fitness and Exercise Attitudes in Adolescents: A Randomized Controlled Trial. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(13), p.7715.
McCarthy, P.J. and Gupta, S., 2022. Set goals to get goals: Sowing seeds for success in sports. Frontiers for Young Minds, 10(10.3389).
Röthlin, P., Horvath, S., Trösch, S., Holtforth, M.G. and Birrer, D., 2020. Differential and shared effects of psychological skills training and mindfulness training on performance-relevant psychological factors in sport: a randomized controlled trial. BMC psychology, 8, pp.1-13.

What is Arousal in Sport?

April 26, 2023/in Mental Fitness, Science, Training Tips /by Matthew Mace

Picture this: it’s 1-1 in extra time, and the away team is on the attack. Our players can’t get to the opposition in time, they shoot, and the keeper catches it. Or at least that’s what it looks like — he actually drops the ball because of the pressure, and it counts as an own goal.

This is an example of over arousal in sports.

The goalkeeper was in a high pressure situation, was likely feeling some anxiety, and the pressure was too much. It caused him to choke, drop the ball, and the other team won.

But that’s only one side of the coin — there’s also what’s known as under arousal or low arousal levels. This is the opposite — the keeper feels less motivated, potentially bored, tired, and doesn’t want to be there. As a result, he’s likely to give a poor performance.

A lot of people would describe this as their “head not being in the game.”

Ideally, an athlete would not be under or over aroused. Instead, they’d be somewhere in the middle — the sweet spot for peak performance.

What is arousal in sport?

This blog post will explain arousal in sport in more detail, highlighting the inverted U theory and actionable tips to help increase or decrease arousal as needed to achieve optimal performance.

Arousal in sport is the level of activation, alertness, and anxiety experienced by an athlete. If arousal is too low, they might not feel up to the task, but if it’s too high, they may choke or make crucial mistakes. A balance is needed for optimal performance.

Think of an under aroused athlete as the player who doesn’t want to be on the pitch and doesn’t care whether they win or lose, while an over aroused athlete is uncoordinated, jerky with their movements, and more likely to drop the ball or make a mistake.

Mastering arousal equals better sports performance. But it’s a hard thing to perfect — let’s explain it in more detail using the inverted U model.

The inverted U theory

The inverted U theory perfectly describes the necessary level of arousal to achieve successful task performance.

Image Credit: Inverted- U of the Yerkes-Dodson’s law.

For example, if someone is under aroused (e.g., feels unmotivated and fatigued), they will likely underperform. The same applies to over-arousal — feeling intense pressure, stress, and anxiety will also result in poor performance.

Think of the inverted U theory in the application of an exam.

You want to be well rested, motivated, and feel some pressure so you can focus, but you don’t want to feel too stressed and anxious that you can’t concentrate.

Now let’s apply it to sports.

Athletes should aim to find a sweet spot between the two extremes. Just like in the exam example above, the athlete should feel some stress to perform, but not crippling anxiety and a lack of recovery that may cause vital mistakes.

This is the sweet spot athletes should aim to achieve.

Arousal and performance are directly linked — find your ideal arousal to help lessen anxiety and improve sporting performance.

How to control arousal levels in sport

Learning how to control arousal levels directly impacts sports performance.

The very best athletes know how to find the perfect balance — it’s what defines those game-changing moments.

Want to see an example of perfect arousal? Watch David Beckham’s free-kick against Greece during the 2002 semi-finals — three minutes into injury time, Beckham scores the goal that takes England to the world cup finals.

If Beckham were over aroused, the pressure and anxiety would likely get to him, and he would miss the shot. And if he was under-aroused, he wouldn’t have the concentration to put it in the top left corner.

How to increase arousal levels in sport

If athletes feel under-aroused, they can try:

Prioritizing rest and deep sleep
Listen to music or binaural beats
Have a pre-competition routine that “gets you in the zone”
Perform reaction tests
Light exercise (such as jogging)
Team talks before a game or during half time

No two athletes are the same. For example, one athlete may struggle with under arousal, while another experiences too high an arousal, causing them to choke or underperform due to the intense pressures.

Athletes should find what works for them and adjust their arousal levels accordingly. You need to come up with your own pre-game rituals and routines to facilitate the correct level of arousal.

How to decrease arousal levels in sport

If athletes feel too aroused, they can:

Use imagery
Use positive self-talk to decrease stress and calm nerves
Progressive muscle relaxation
Perform deep breathing exercises to reduce stress

Coaches and arousal

Sports coaches are heavily invested in their athletes and competition.

This can also cause an increase in arousal. If a coach experiences too high arousal, for example, during the final of a football game, they make poor decisions that can impact the outcome of the game.

Many people forget just how involved coaches are in sports. If you’re a coach, ensure to prioritize sleep and rest and practice some of the advice in this blog post so you can perform your best for your athletes.

Prime your athletes for optimal performance with Rewire

Reaching the optimal arousal state for sports performance is difficult, but Rewire for teams can help.

Rewire athletes gain an average of 30% increase in focus and readiness to perform with just 5-10 minutes of daily use.

Athletes can use the Readiness Assessment to better understand their cognitive, emotional, and physical readiness. They also gain access to a mix of mindset recovery sessions to reduce stress and prepare athletes for training to reach the right level of arousal for peak performance.

“The combination of an integrated Training, Recovery and Readiness system means that I can take a holistic approach to improving my athletic performance.” – Laura Kline (Elite Ultra Runner & Endurance Athlete).

Find out more about Rewire for Teams

FAQs

What is the definition of arousal in sport?

Arousal is often defined as the cumulation of both physiological and psychological factors that can affect performance, including sleep, excitement, anxiousness, and others.

What is under arousal in sport?

Under arousal in sport is when an athlete does not feel the drive or need to compete at a high level. For example, the athlete could be in too low a pressure environment, or they could feel boredom.

References

Kerr, J.H., 2021. Anxiety, arousal, and sport performance: An application of reversal theory. In Anxiety in sports (pp. 137-151). Taylor & Francis.