Summer rest for athletes
Summer rest for athletes
The summer vacation period is a period that athletes expect, need and at the same time are called upon to make the most of. For athletes, the period of “vacation” varies depending on their level, their competitive obligations, and the demands of each sport.
During the period in which the athlete will “rest”, he needs to invest in different types of rest. Describing the most important types for athletes, we refer to the following types of rest:
Physical: It is ensured with more sleep and reduced mobility in general. Even fun activities require attention as for athletes the body needs to be inactive for a period of time. This period helps the body to heal possible injuries, regain energy and prevent exhaustion.
Mental: Refers to the state in which the person occupies his mind with anything that does not require much thought, anything that does not constitute a complex activity.
Emotional: The person is called upon to avoid anything that is intense or creates strong emotions, especially “psycho-stressful”. Throughout the competitive season, athletes activate their emotions either to manage training or for the needs of the competitions. They experience the “demand” of the environment on themselves and need a period in which they will not try to satisfy the demands of the environment.
Sensory: It would be helpful to avoid screens and anything that stimulates the sensory system for a long period of time. The body also needs to rest the senses! Less mobile and television!
Social: Contacts with friends and in general with people with whom he feels pleasant and comfortable, will help the athlete both to rest and to receive a lot of emotional energy through the pleasant feeling. It will help if he has fun, as long as it does not harm his physical condition.
Different forms of rest will help athletes to “make the most of” the time they have for their rest. This time is important and necessary, as much as it requires a demarcation for its duration. For professional athletes or athletes at a high level, the period of general rest cannot exceed 15-20 days. After that, rest becomes inactivity and it will be very difficult to return to the high level to which he is called upon to respond.
The period of “vacation” is necessary and necessary, it requires focus on all areas of rest, is formed based on the level of the athletes and is also served by their immediate environment! Athletes’ vacations are part of the sport!
Giannis Zarotis MSc-PhD
Psychologist-Sports Psychologist
Is there a “my day” in sports?
Is there a “my day” in sports?
In the sports environment, the expression “it’s my day” is often used, with the aim of referring to an athlete’s very good result, a top performance, his best possible performance. In order to “analyze” the cause of his performance, he adopts this particular expression, considering that he was helped by “his day” to achieve his goal.
While waiting for the match, he thinks “if it will be my day”, whether he will be in the best possible competitive condition, in order to fulfill his desire. After the match, he evaluates the performance, emphasizing the importance of “my day”, as a key factor for his top performance.
Is “my day” ultimately some undefined factor with a specific “role” in the athlete’s performance?
Does it refer to his psychological state, to the way he faced the match before it started, to how he experienced the competitive condition? Did the training process that followed give him enormous potential, physically and technically, to achieve his goal? Did he manage his mental and emotional state on the day of the competition, so as to “bring out his best self”?
If he prepares for four years for the Olympic Games, will he simply wish that it was “my day”?
The physical, mental, emotional state of the athlete, factors that influence his overall performance, are elements that begin and end with the athlete himself. He will determine “his day”, he will prepare himself and focus on those factors that influence the ability to achieve the maximum possible performance. That is why he prepares!
“My day” is like Elytis’ spring: To find it, you make it!
Yiannis Zarotis MSc-PhD
Psychologist-Sports Psychologist
High-level athletes: What differentiates them from other athletes?
High-level athletes: What differentiates them from other athletes?
In all sports, perhaps in every field of human activity, there are protagonists, those who are considered the “elite” of the sport, those referred to as “high-level athletes”.
They are those who have characteristics that differentiate them from other athletes, those who have managed to develop to a great extent some elements that help them “stand out”. These elements refer either to technical issues, or to physical characteristics, or to psychological and spiritual factors.
For tennis, Federer was technically perfect, for track and field Bolt was physically excellent, for football Messi has high technical training, for basketball Jordan had a balance of technical and physical elements. In every sport there is at least one who stands out and many others who belong to the “high level”.
For these athletes, the quality of effort and training is at a high level, combining both the frequency and the quality of the activity they perform.
In competitive conditions, one of the key mental elements that differentiates them is the focus on the appropriate elements during the match. They know where to focus their attention, what to pay special attention to, what to “look for” as an element that will enable them to make the best possible choice. In the marathon, high-level athletes know what to focus on during the match, whether in themselves or in the environment. In football, the focus is placed on the opponent and on what is happening on the field and can be useful information for the athlete: where he is, where his teammates are, where the opponents are, where there is empty space, what options I have, so that I can make the best possible choice. In taekwondo, the focus is on the opponent: where he has gaps, what he is trying to do, how I can exploit his gaps.
What the athlete “deals with” in competitive conditions is also one of the basic elements that will determine his “integration” into high-level athletes.
It is clear in sports in the era we are living in that the physical and technical training of athletes, with the enormous help of technology and the evolution of training programs, is more feasible. There is “know-how” in all sports as well as the appropriate coaches.
The element that is most difficult to train is the mental factor, and in particular the athlete’s focus in the competition, an element that will continue to be the distinguishing difference between athletes and will “place” some at the highest possible level. For now…..
Yiannis Zarotis MSc-Phd
Psychologist-Sports Psychologist
www.psychology.org.gr
Anxiety and Self-Confidence How do they affect sport performance?
Anxiety and Self-Confidence
How do they affect sport performance?
The performance in the competition depends to a large extent on the preparation of the athletes, their training, their daily life and the general “protection” of themselves. The factors affecting performance are analyzed in many categories, whether they are physical, technical, tactical or even emotional-psychological.
The most ‘over-reported’ emotional factors for competitive sport are stress and lack of confidence.
Anxiety, as a negative emotion, comes from the word “angho” which means “to press tightly in the throat”. What everyone feels when experiencing the feeling of stress. Based on the word itself there is no such thing as “positive” stress, instead we seek alertness and psychological preparedness.
Anxiety is the feeling that “heavy body” causes in athletes. Their legs feel heavy, in sports such as taekwondo and karate it will often be reported that “the legs don’t go”, in sports that require movement such as football or tennis, athletes feel that they “can’t move”, in some situations creates hypervigilance to the point where athletes “don’t have control of their movements”. In swimming and in sports with a specific technique, due to stress, the athletes will feel the body tight, to the point that it spoils their technique, while at the same time there is the feeling that “I can’t catch water!”.
Mentally, anxiety is related to “confusion and fatigue” to the point that the athletes cannot “listen” to the coach’s instructions, think about their plan, look for solutions in the match, make quick and correct decisions.
Lack of confidence has a different effect on the match and sometimes acts as a counterweight to one side’s anxiety. “The more confidence, the less stress!”
The athlete without self-confidence shows no dynamism, lacks physical and mental energy and clearly lacks “momentum”, a concept very important for competitive performance. In taekwondo, karate, judo, athletes will not show aggression, their movements will look procedural, “done to be done”, they will not chase the opponent, they will play rather passively. In basketball or football they will not claim the ball, they will not take initiatives, as there is a feeling that “I can’t”. In tennis the strokes of the ball will be without power, in ping-pong the initiative will be lacking, in swimming the movements of the hands will appear without tension. Athletes with a lack of confidence look “like they’re not trying.” But it is not their choice! When you don’t believe you can achieve a goal, what you will lack is the effort. How much will the athlete try for something he doesn’t believe he can achieve?
The two concepts, anxiety and self-confidence, have a central role in the competitive performance of athletes. Athletes are asked to manage them long before the race, so that they are also psychologically ready, without simply waiting for “it’s my day!”. In sports “the day” is determined by the athletes themselves….
Yannis Zarotis MSc-PhD
Psychologist-Sports Psychologist
Can I defeat any opponent? The way of thinking of high-level athletes!
Can I defeat any opponent?
The way of thinking of high-level athletes!
Ulugbek Rasitov from Uzbekistan participated in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics in the 68 kg category. At the age of 18 at the time, it was his first participation in Olympic games. He had some accolades as a teenager as in 2018 he won the silver medal in 48kg at the Argentina Youth Olympics and in 2019 he won the 55kg gold medal in the Asian Junior Taekwondo Championships.
In Tokyo, having won the first match, he faced the 29-year-old South Korean Lee Dae-Hoon, who was already a two-time Olympic champion, in the quarterfinals.
For Rasitov, the data for the match were as follows: “I am 18 years old, without experience in corresponding events, without distinctions in the past at the men’s level, representing a country without distinctions at the Olympic Games in Taekwondo.” And “my opponent is the 29-year-old Lee Dae-Hoon, two-time Olympic champion, top of the World ranking, with countless awards and vast experience, representing the country with perhaps the longest tradition in the sport.”
The data was clearly against Rasitov, at this point the “mindset” gives the opponent a huge advantage, based on real data! But not for Rasitov…..
Without thinking about the past, without dealing with the “history” of the opponent, without analyzing the data, his thought “turned” only to “what I will do in the match!”. Looking for ways to win….
Since then he has won seven consecutive races, two Olympic gold medals in two events (Tokyo and Paris)! He also beat Lee Dae-Hoon…And for his country in Tokyo it was the first medal in the Olympic Games!
Same ability – different performance from match to match!
Same ability – different performance from match to match!
For each field of human activity, the “necessary” elements-characteristics vary, depending on the requirements of the conditions. In the sports environment, the adaptation and success of athletes depends on factors that mainly concern physical and technical elements, as those that are “projected” more. Athletes train to develop their sport-specific components with greater emphasis on how to improve in terms of their physical condition as well as their technical knowledge.
Why, however, are they not in the same mood every day? What are the factors that determine their tolerance to exercise fatigue? Why do some understand better the instructions given and develop correspondingly better perception and speed of thought? Why do some athletes become “better” than others, while following the same training? And if someone is talented in technical or physical elements, will they necessarily reach the top? Because for many athletes, training is a high-performance environment, while in competition they find it difficult to “bring out” their best selves. Why are there shifts in performance while ability is either maintained or improved?
Research data and daily experience show that the athlete’s success “depends” on many Psychological and Spiritual factors. Psychological includes motivation, self-confidence, stress management, emotion management, self-control, and other factors that “regulate” the athlete’s emotional state.
Corresponding to the Mental factors, skills such as concentration, the ability to analyze information, speed of thought, decision-making, information selection, understanding of the environment and all the elements that make up the intellectual dimension of the person are included.
The ability obtained as a result of training concerns technical and tactical features of the sport. The ability of the athlete to perform in each match based on his ability, his consistent performance from match to match depends on psycho-spiritual factors.
It shows that it is necessary for athletes, especially at a high level, to focus on the consistency of performance, as a factor that “distinguishes” them and “places” them at the high level. For this purpose, psycho-spiritual factors are for many athletes a field of focus in their daily sports activity.
Otherwise, while the athlete is at a high level he will not perform in every competition, sometimes because he has not managed his emotions and sometimes because he did not “read” the demands of the competition correctly.
Both Psychological and Spiritual elements are the result of corresponding “training”, each athlete has the possibility to “work” on them and based on his effort to acquire them. Athletes choose to focus on technical elements and physical condition, as these are what “show” the most. For the optimal physical condition, it will be necessary to have the corresponding psycho-spiritual condition as well.
Anxiety before and during the competition
Anxiety is for athletes, at any level, a key factor in competition performance. It is described as an emotion, which changes the smooth functioning of the organism, in each of its individual systems, however, it is experienced by each person in a special way. For some stress creates gastrointestinal disturbances, for others mental confusion, all report a feeling of discomfort and dysthymia.
In sports, anxiety “appears” perhaps several days before the competition. It creates over-intensity or even loss of energy, disrupts sleep, “accompanying” athletes in their daily life as an unpleasant feeling.
As they get closer to the race, the symptoms usually intensify, helping to develop further anxiety about the ability to perform. Athletes now have an additional thought: “How can I perform when I feel so uncomfortable?”.
The body becomes heavy, they lose the sense of mobility, the athlete becomes static, with great difficulty in doing anything that is asked of him or “demanded” by the competitive condition. “The body does not follow!” At the second level, the athlete’s cognitive function decreases, the plan he developed is not followed and the coach’s instructions are not listened to, not because he does not pay attention but because he is not able to control the specific mental function: “I lost it my mind, I can’t think or hear anything!’
Each athlete experiences the race differently, some feel anxiety which still affects them during the competition (even if they don’t realize it), some others not to the extent that it will create a problem for them to perform, many athletes feel anxiety, a pleasant feeling in anticipation of the competition.
The difference sometimes lies in the emotional state before the match: is it waiting or anticipation?
Anxiety is an extremely influential factor both in how athletes experience the competitive condition and in how they ultimately perform. At younger ages reducing anxiety improves athletes’ competitive experience, at older ages reducing or controlling anxiety helps achieve dramatically better performance.
Differentiating the way they see the performance process!
Yannis Zarotis MSc-Phd
Psychologist-Sports Psychologist
www.psychology.org.gr
Λείπει η Αυτοπεποίθηση ή η Ικανότητα;
Αναζητώντας τις αιτίες της μειωμένης απόδοσης στο περιβάλλον του αθλητισμού, είτε πρόκειται για προπόνηση είτε για αγώνα, οι αθλητές και οι προπονητές στρέφονται σε παράγοντες που αφορούν στη σωματική, ψυχολογική ή και την τεχνική/τακτική διάσταση του εκάστοτε αθλήματος.
Ο ψυχολογικός παράγοντας, ο πιο σύνθετος και «απρόβλεπτος», συνδέεται συχνά με την έλλειψη αυτοπεποίθησης, την εμπιστοσύνη που νιώθει ο αθλητής προς τον εαυτό του, ώστε να αποδώσει με βάση την ικανότητά του. Σε κάθε άθλημα η αυτοπεποίθηση «εκδηλώνεται» στην προπόνηση και τον αγώνα με ποικίλους τρόπους.
Σε αθλήματα όπως το ταε κβο ντο και το καράτε ο αθλητής δηλώνει την αυτοπεποίθησή του με την ενέργεια που απελευθερώνει, την κινητικότητά του, την αποφασιστικότητα με την οποία πραγματοποιεί τις κινήσεις του, την πρωτοβουλία που λαμβάνει για να κερδίσει πόντους. Στο τένις και το πινγκ πονγκ δηλώνει αυτοπεποίθηση έχοντας κινητικότητα, ξεκάθαρο αγωνιστικό πλάνο, επιθετικότητα στα χτυπήματά του και την αίσθηση ότι ελέγχει τον αγώνα. Στα ομαδικά αθλήματα, η ενέργεια που μεταφράζεται σε κινητικότητα, διεκδικήσεις, αποφασιστικότητα σε κάθε προσπάθεια και ανάληψη πρωτοβουλίας είναι ορισμένα από τα στοιχεία που θα δηλώσουν την αυτοπεποίθηση του αθλητή.
Όταν η αγωνιστική συμπεριφορά του αθλητή δεν δηλώνει αυτοπεποίθηση τότε είναι σημαντικό να αναζητηθεί εάν αυτό οφείλεται στον ίδιο και την αδυναμία του να «βγάλει» ό,τι διαθέτει ή στην έλλειψη ικανότητας εξαιτίας της ελλιπούς προετοιμασίας ή και του ανάλογου αγωνιστικού επιπέδου του αθλητή. Είναι συχνό φαινόμενο για έναν αθλητή να αδυνατεί να ανταπεξέλθει στις απαιτήσεις του αγώνα και να αναζητά την αιτία στην έλλειψη αυτοπεποίθησης.
Μήπως είναι έλλειψη ικανότητας; Μήπως η προετοιμασία του αθλητή δεν είναι σε επίπεδο αντίστοιχο των απαιτήσεων του αγώνα;
Αν έχω την ικανότητα αλλά δεν τη βγάζω πρακτικά στον αγώνα, λείπει αυτοπεποίθηση. Αν δεν έχω δουλέψει αρκετά, λείπει η ικανότητα!
Κομβικός παράγοντας στην όλη διαδικασία είναι ο προπονητής καθώς είναι ίσως ο μόνος αρμόδιος να κρίνει αν ο αθλητής θα χρειαστεί υποστήριξη σε θέματα εμπιστοσύνης του εαυτού, ώστε να «βγάλει» στην προπόνηση και στον αγώνα τα στοιχεία που διαθέτει, ή έλλειψη ικανότητας ώστε να δουλέψει περισσότερο.
Η αυτοπεποίθηση ως έννοια έχει ψυχολογική «προέλευση» αλλά για να αναπτυχθεί χρειάζεται την ικανότητα!
Γιάννης Ζαρώτης MSc-PhD
Ψυχολόγος- Αθλητικός Ψυχολόγος www.psychology.org.gr
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The important “first coach”
The important “first coach” in the path of athletes
Research at the global level is looking for factors that sometimes have a positive and sometimes negative effect on the development and evolution of athletes. The effects of the family environment, the social data related to sports and the other factors that appear both in the introduction and in the course of the athlete are studied.
In the same context, the influence of coaches throughout the sports career is studied. Research focuses largely on the first coach the child will meet in his introduction to sports, thus highlighting his defining role.
The first coach is “responsible” to present the first image to the young athlete about the content of sports. It shows him how pleasant the sports environment can be (or the opposite), builds a framework that develops pleasant feelings, which will determine whether the child will stay both immediately and in the long term in the sports environment. If the first coach has a positive effect on the athlete, it is very likely that he will continue and stay in sports. The more positive the coach’s image, the more profound an effect it will have on the child’s emotional dimension.
A coach who presents himself as friendly and positive, with mobility and attitude, which shows his appetite to work with children (this element is strongly appreciated by children), inclined to help any child who needs it, with an interest in the child as a person and then as a future athlete, declaring acceptance for each child (avoiding to investigate “having it” or “not having it”), an element that will contribute to the development of the child’s self-esteem.
The behavior of the first coach seems decisive in basic concepts with which the child will structure the sports environment. He will cultivate respect, cooperation, consistency, the willingness to try, trust as he will identify with a role model who exhibits similar behavior. If he trusts the first coach, he is more likely to stay in the sport and at the same time the child himself will develop confidence in himself in the future.
If the athlete in the future continues in sports, if he receives useful information from sports, if he develops into a high-level athlete and if he finally exercises as an adult adopting exercise in his daily life, the first coach will have a decisive role. To develop one needs motivation and desire and the first coach is the one who shapes the environment to develop children’s desire for sports at an early age. If the athlete stars, he will owe a lot to the first coach. It helped him develop as a child a second very important quality, that of an athlete!
Yannis Zarotis
Psychologist-Sports Psychologist
Success: Want, Must or Can?
Success: Want, Must or Can?
Human nature often pushes him to set goals, to seek new experiences and different conditions through which he manifests his desires and fulfills his “wants”.
Both daily activity and sports are fields in which every person seeks success. Whether it is the exams at school, or the participation in a competition, or even in adult life the development in the working environment.
The individual’s involvement in each field includes success as a goal, with each pursuing it as a “want”, “must” or “can”.
Often in sports it is heard that success is a person’s big “dream”, the satisfaction of his desires, his ambition that will satisfy his emotional side. “I want” expresses what could satisfy the person, what would bring him joy and pleasure. “I want” alone does not ensure success. It will need to be transformed into effort!
In many cases, success takes the form of “must”, making it “must”, without any alternative in case of failure. The athlete’s preparation towards the goal he “must” achieve will be accompanied by intense anxiety, while the failure to achieve it will be accompanied by guilt and a more general deconstruction of the whole effort: “I didn’t do what I should have”.
Even if I had to, the basis of success is “I can”. It states the individual’s abilities, the effort he has made, his improvement through his preparation and to achieve the “I can” goal meets the requirements of success.
“I want” is important as it indicates the motivation of the individual, it is the activating factor towards success, without it any effort would not start. “Must” appears to be an inhibitor to success, it creates a sense of obligation, success (if it comes) will bring more relief than pleasure as it is a stressful condition. Ultimately we are looking for the “I can”, this will reveal the desire of the person, as it comes with effort and a lot of work! It will fill the person with self-confidence and optimism and give him the corresponding physical and mental energy to achieve the goal.
It is important for the athlete not to dwell on “I want”, to see success as something pleasant and not obligatory, while developing his individual ability.
To achieve success “you must be able!”
