Topics: Mindfulness in sport
Impacted domains: All athletes and performers
Researchers: Daniel Birrer, Philipp Rothlin, and Gareth Morgan
Study type: Review
Intro
You’ve seen this as a coach before. An athlete is struggling to close out a match, game, or event.
So you tell them what anyone would: “Stay positive.” “Keep your focus.” “Control your thoughts.” “Don’t be so negative with yourself.”
So they try. They try to be more positive. They try to control what’s going on in their head.
But when they do… it doesn’t work.
They get more frustrated. More tense. More reactive.
They think: “Why can’t I stay positive?!”
Now their performance really starts to drop.
What gives?
It could have to do with how they’re trying to manage their thoughts.
Trying to “force control” and “always think positive” could be the very reason they’re unable to perform well.
What’s the alternative? Mindfulness for sport and performance.
Origins of sport and performance psychology
Mental skills training grew from cognitive-behavioral therapies and were used by athletes and performers in 4–5 specific ways:
Goal setting
Self-talk
Imagery
Physical relaxation
Routines
The idea was that by controlling internal states and thoughts, athletes could improve their performance.
But this “control-based” approach backfires for some athletes.
Why does mindfulness help athletes?
Mindfulness offers a different way of dealing with the emotions and challenges that arise when performing. Instead of trying to control, change, or suppress thoughts, mindfulness encourages athletes to change their relationship to them.
Researchers have identified several “impact mechanisms” of mindfulness that directly improve performance. These include:
Attention: by training the ability to notice internal and external stimuli without immediate reaction (learning to observe thoughts and create space between them), athletes can be less distracted by task-irrelevant cues.
Non-judgmental acceptance: many athletes ruin their performance by “judging” every component of it. “This isn’t good enough.” “That should be better.” “I should do this differently.” However, mindful athletes learn to build non-judgmental acceptance of their performance, which stops them using mental resources on task-irrelevant ideas and cues.
Reduced rumination: a large part of mindfulness is connection to the present moment, and the ability for athletes to break “looping” thoughts. For example, an athlete inexperienced in mindfulness might spend 20 seconds in a negative, “what if” spiral, compared to a practiced athlete, who is able to decenter from that experience in five seconds. It all adds up.
Improved self-regulation (emotional and physiological): as a result of these processes, athletes start to regulate their emotions more efficiently, which allows them to stay task-oriented. Additionally, consistent mindfulness also tends to improve interoceptive awareness (the ability to notice sensations in your body), which usually results in athletes being able to notice tightness, tension, etc., and then manage it appropriately
What’s not to like?
✍️ Editorialized line: I want to ensure that this does not come across as traditional mental skills vs. mindfulness. Both types of approaches have shown effectiveness over decades in helping athletes improve their performance. This particular issue is simply highlighting the benefits of a mindfulness approach.
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Why coaches and program directors are cautious
Mindfulness is sometimes seen as “Eastern woo woo.” Additionally, the benefits of mindfulness practice for athletes are often not discussed and presented well to decision-makers and athletes.
Elite athletic spaces also sometimes consider ideas like “mindfulness,” and “acceptance,” as not “hard” enough for what they are trying to achieve.
As a result, those in sporting spaces are unable to decipher just how mindfulness can be helpful. While it is understandable that poor communication has not made the benefits of mindfulness clear to those in athletic spaces, this is now a blooming area of sport and performance psychology.
How you can apply this information
A large challenge for those in athletic spaces is learning how to apply mindfulness to performance.
Be clear what “acceptance” means: teach your athletes that acceptance does not mean giving up. Only that mindful-acceptance can help stop the internal battle so that athletes can refocus on what really matters. Staying task-and-execution-oriented.
Integrate mindfulness into sessions: don’t treat mindfulness as a separate “meditation thing.” Integrate it into practice and sessions. For example, during cool downs and stretching, encourage athletes to connect with bodily sensations and keep devices away.
Start with training the breath: the breath can serve as a powerful anchor to bring athletes back to the present moment. Consider introducing mindfulness to your athletes through short sessions.
Consult with mental performance consultants and sport psychologists: bring on board educated, trained, and credentialed professionals to take your athletes and teams through mindfulness concepts and introduce the practice. Some of the best athletes in the world, past and present, have spoken about mindfulness and the ways that it allows them to improve their performance. Names such as Kobe Bryant, Novak Djokovic, and Michael Jordan.
Additional research in sport and performance psychology is also drawing a connection to mindfulness dosage. In other words, one does not simply become “mindful” by wishing it to be so. An athlete must engage with, and practice to see the impacts of this philosophy on life and performance.
Read below for a case study of how mindfulness helped reduce performance anxiety and choking susceptibility of a D1 track & field athlete.
Takeaway
A lot of athletes are taught to control their thoughts under pressure.
“Always think positive. Think positive thoughts.”
The problem is… that this doesn’t always work.
Trying to force control can backfire. If an athlete is unable to “think positive,” their frustration at their inability can further ruin their performance.
Mindfulness changes that approach.
Instead of trying to “fix” and “control” every thought or feeling, athletes can learn to notice it, let it pass, and get back to the task at hand.
That’s a powerful mental skill. And it can be trained.
Reference
Birrer, D., Röthlin, P., & Morgan, G. (2012). Mindfulness to enhance athletic performance: Theoretical considerations and possible impact mechanisms. Mindfulness, (3)3, 235–246 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-012-0109-2
*A previous version of this brief used Roger Federer as an example. It has been changed.
