Thread by @docbhooshan

Thread
#Mentalhealth
#Sports
#performance

For the first time in history Tokyo Olympics has taken mantal health issues to the podium.
Indian team has been no exception.
Here is my attempt to give you a glimpse of what affects a champion's mind.

I have worked as mental health coach for many sportspersons over last 2 decades.
Chess, TT, Lawn Tennis, Golf and occasional shuttler too.
Some of those have played at international level too.

So I have some insider information for you.

Read on -

For most people mental health is about anxiety, depression, suicide and the big names like bipolar and schizophrenia.
For performance most people are happy to believe that self confidence and persistence is all that is needed.

It is far from truth.

Mental coaching for performance is dictated by sports (even by role in the team), temperament of sportsperson, team behaviour, coach's methods, family & friends and most importantly - intimate relationships.

It changes dramatically at different levels of competitive success.

There is nothing "normative" about life of a sportsperson. From very early age they live a double if not triple life.
One in their mind.
One on court/ground
And
One for rest of the world.

Loneliness is one of the greatest fallouts of dedication and success.
It is difficult to have "normal" friends. Relationships with coach and even family are stressed.

A trusted small inner circle is all you have IF you are lucky.

It gets lonelier with success.

Another real enemy is what is going on in your mind.
Being able to switch modes from training, coaching, planning and competing is vital. Not many can do this easily.

Being able to change plans on the fly and execute them flawlessly is a rare gift of intelligence that very few have.

Competing at school, district even state and regional level is child's play for a decently gifted sportsperson in India (except cricket and chess).

Game changes exponentially as you move to national & international level.
Being able to see yourself at your best all the time, that best being good enough at international level and struggling to get real life performance to match that super-image in your mind is sheer torture.

Who to trust?
How much?
What part of the performance is under my control?
What needs to let go? For how long?

Not easy questions when each microsecond counts.

Many times this is what makes sportspersons superstitious and devoted to some guru. It is difficult to completely trust living people around you

Preparation for this needs to start very early. Some are gifted with fabulous temperament, many can be trained.

In early days, parents are main support. Most parents learn sports with their children and also try to "counsel" them.
Most early coaches also have serious limitations

As any sportsperson knows that early habits are important. Wrong habits can harm seriously.

For mental part of the game, habits need to change as one rises and faced more able opponents. This is something most parents miss completely.

Ability to listen to your mind and also to silence it when needed is important skill.

I suspect a beloved gymnast and an indian TT player got affected by what happened in their mind. They couldn't see themselves fitting their own very high standards and walked away.

There is no one size fits all solution.
Mental fitness is also a TEAM effort. Parents, coaches, support staff and team-mates all need to be on same page for that sportsman. It is hive-mind (ref - Indian Jones and crystal skulls :)).

Till few years ago battling with power obsessed sports bosses and pathetic training facilities was main deterrent.
Now it is getting better consistently with @Ra_THORe

I am sure that with each successive international championship, India's performance will continue to get better.
#JaiHind

There are many complex issues that I left out in this thread.
Aim is to spread awareness that mental coaching for performance is NOT common sense and many times it is counter intuitive.

Pl unroll @threadreaderapp