by Kate F. Hays
Originally posted on Psychology Today Blogs
The Olympic torch is marching-well, running-inexorably toward Vancouver, Canada. The Winter Olympics are bearing down on us. If you’re an athlete, coach, parent, or sports fan, this countdown is well under way.
Even if you don’t have a natural affinity for sport, you’ll be drawn in by heart-wrenching up close ‘n’ personals or curious about an unfolding dramatic rivalry. You’ll hold your breath in sheer terror as you watch the careening luge sleds or beam with patriotic pride when “our” athletes medal yet again.
The biennial summer and winter Olympic events, though, have broader application than “merely” sport. These extraordinarily skilled and trained athletes provide a template for the issues and mental skills involved in optimal performance of any kind.
Experts in a recent segment of the CBC radio show “Spark” http://www.cbc.ca/spark/2010/01/spark-98-january-10-12-2010/ compared “single-purpose” with “multi-function” digital devices. Some are “purpose-built” to do a specific job very well, like Amazon’s Kindle. Others-our computers, or, more recently, smartphones with multiple apps-bundle many actions into one object.
By analogy, sport-and more specifically, the mental skills in excellent performance-is not just a “single-purpose” activity. Sport performance has relevance to a broader (multi-function) audience.
The field of sport psychology has a long-over 100 years-and interesting history, ranging from detailed attention to perceptual processes to mental skills training and broad investigations of perfectionism, injury, and eating disorders. Because there is a strong research base, hypotheses can be tested and meaningful treatments developed. Performance psychology suggests that what we know from sport psychology can be applied to the ways in which singers prepare for a recital or lawyers argue before a judge.
Over the past few years, I’ve been thinking about the shared specific characteristics of people we call “performers.” Whether “amateur” or professional, performers function in domains that expect extremely high standards. Further, performers need to:
• Excel in high-pressure contexts
• Perform in front of an (actual or implied) audience
• Bring their talents and skills into proficient action at a specific moment-that is, there is a temporal dimension
• Present a public “face” that may be different from their ordinary self
• Meet performance standards
• Respond to high external demands
• Demonstrate appropriate coping skills under pressure
• Handle judgments regarding their proficiency or excellence
• Face performance consequences.
As we watch these Olympics, let’s relish these individuals’ and teams’ skills and accomplishments. Let’s also use the events to reflect on relevant elements of our own performance. Let’s ask ourselves: Which characteristics apply to me and my work? What demands are similar? Are there some nuanced differences in my particular field? What do I want or need to do in order to excel?
