Positive Power
The power of positive thinking
by Robert Schinke
I will never forget how I encountered sport psychology for
the first time. I was short-listed to
Some people say that sport psychology is “hokey” They have a
belief that sport psychology is all about guided meditation, imagining what is
positive and goal-setting. Because the link between mental skills and improved
performance is not always clear, many athletes and coaches have retained their
skepticism of sport psychology and sport psychologists.
I must confess that in order to reinvent myself as a sport
psychology consultant, I pursued work with some of the most skeptical and
consequential of elite and professional sports, the most pivotal being boxing.
I knew, intuitively, that any sort of credibility for the domain in general,
and for me as one of its advocates, would have to be hinged on bottom line
results. My journey into elite consulting began in 1997, and since, I have
assisted numerous amateur and professional World Champions and Olympic medallists in individual and team settings. Last year
alone, I worked with 15 world championship medallists
and the results were fascinating enough to whet the interests of the Discovery
Channel, HBO, ESPN, and CBC.
After reading to this point, you are probably wondering what
I do as a sport psychology consultant and how it relates to the sport of
equestrian. Positive thinking, also known as optimism, is a topic with clear
directives and far reaching implications. First, I will describe what optimism
is and how it works in regards to equestrian. Then, I will provide you with a
few suggestions on how best to use it as a personal skill and as a skill to
help others, be they students, teammates, or friends.
So, what is optimism? Optimism is a way of seeing the world
as a cup that is half full as opposed to half empty. If you listen to
optimistic international calibre equestrians as they
give their post-performance evaluations to journalists, you will find that they
explain optimal and sub-par performance in a unique way. The optimal
performance such as the clear and smoothly executed show jumping round is
explained as typical and as a reflection of the rider’s personal
characteristics including his or her talent and ability. This sort of
explanation is regarded as optimistic and facilitative of future optimal
performances. In terms of behavior, the optimistic responses for success are
satisfaction, contentment, and persistence.
When optimistic riders have a setback such as a blow-up in
the dressage arena, their sub-par performance is typically explained either to
a lack of effort, which is controllable, or bad luck, which is unlikely to
repeat too often. If the mishap is caused by someone else, it is typically regarded
as unintentional and unlikely to reoccur in the future. So, the optimistic
rider always approaches upcoming performances/ rides with healthy goals, high
expectations, a fair amount of persistence and conviction.
At the other end of the continuum are pessimistic
equestrians. These riders are equally talented, but their explanations of
success and failure deviate. After success, pessimistic riders might explain
their performance as lucky, as a reflection of an overly easy riding test and
as a result of factors unlikely to repeat themselves consistently in the
future. In terms of how pessimistic riders respond to success, facial
expressions, which reflect emotions, indicate a level of relief or surprise as
opposed to confidence and certainty.
You might wonder where optimism and pessimism is learned.
Among riders and coaches alike, as my own empirical research indicates from
numerous elite and professional sport disciplines, perceptions are learned from
those around us including coaches and peers. Perhaps this is why I spend much
of my time during formalized coaching seminars as a National Coaching
Certification Program course conductor for Level Four and Five coaching
aspirants.
As part of my job, I encourage coaches to become self-aware
of their perceptions and then teach participants how their perceptions in turn
are passed on to the athletes they work with. I then spend a fair amount of
time teaching the coaching candidates how to refine their own perceptions with
the knowledge that a change in their coaching behaviors translates into a
change in their athletes’ perceptions, behaviors and results. Rest assured that
the sort of skills that foster persistence in developing riders and Olympians
alike are learned from those around them.
It is not solely a matter of coaching knowledge that
exemplifies the competent coach. Rather, great coaches teach perception and
technique at the same time.
The next logical question is how to teach optimism to
coaches and riders. I have already tested an optimism skills intervention along
with a few colleagues from their respective departments of Psychology at the
In terms of the skills themselves, the first has often been
referred to by motivational psychologists as “de-catastrophizing”. As a rider, a coach, or a parent, have you
ever predicted situations as a worst-case-scenario? Pessimistic riders will
tend to think in a catastrophic way more often than will optimistic riders.
Examples will include the three-day rider who fears falling on the
cross-country course, and even worse, predicts serious injury. Another example
would be the show jumper who sees himself as landing in the middle of a soon to
be jumped large spread fence. A third example could be the dressage rider who
predicts being misjudged, ostracized, or humiliated by a specific dressage
judge during a forthcoming ride. These are the sorts of catastrophic thoughts
that tend to undermine the sorts of possibilities that in turn facilitate
persistence, confidence and optimal performance in a reciprocal way over time.
The key to de-catstrophizing is to
encourage the rider to consider best and most likely case scenarios instead of
focusing solely on the worst of possible outcomes. I always ask fatalistic
athletes whether there are other more favorable possibilities than the ones
they are currently considering. Once discussions broaden to include a wider and
more positive number of possibilities, they progress into considerations
regarding how to produce and manage oneself in relation to three options as
opposed to one. These options are the best scenario, the worst scenario and the
most likely scenario.
You would be astounded how often Olympians are surprised by
an amazing first day performance only to blow it on the following day. Why?
Because best possible outcomes and how to self-manage in relation to them are
not considered by many athletes, including riders. Then again, there are other
riders who produce surprising victories, in part because they are prepared and
better able to manage themselves during moments of outstanding success. The
key, then, is to be prepared for a number of possibilities, not only one.
Disputing skills are also worthy of the rider’s and coach’s
attention, especially for those who tend to think critically of self and
others. Disputing is merely a matter of learning more positive evaluative
skills when appraising oneself, another person or another situation unfairly.
You would be surprised to know how many elite equestrians consider the
unintentional mistakes of their support-systems as deliberate and ill meaning.
When riders and coaches learn to evaluate setbacks or their perceptions of
others in a more positive manner, the obvious consequence is a synergistic
increase in trust, hope, positive emotions, persistence and success in the
short- and long-term.
Disputing happens in steps starting with an identification
of one’s negative interpretation. Afterward, the negative interpretation is
considered for potential inaccuracies such as whether the error of a
support-staff member was truly intentional. I always encourage athletes to
challenge their own negative assumptions by developing as many counter
arguments as they can. More often than not, countering your own negative
interpretations leads to a more even handed understanding of previous
experiences. Next, I encourage the athletes and their personal coaches to watch
for negative interpretations for a minimum of six months. After all, the way we
learn to interpret things, for better and for worse, is a habit. Eventually new
interpretational strategies can replace bad interpretational strategies and, in
so doing, become better automatic responses to events.
So where do we go from here? Optimism and pessimism are
habits that we learn over time. Just as we have learned them, we can also
improve upon them with daily practice. When interpretations of success are
constructive, the logical question becomes how to repeat success time and
again. In terms of setbacks, causes need to be regarded as controllable in the
future. The key, then, is to embark on behaviors and strategies that foster
future control and an ongoing search for excellence. This process requires a
high level of commitment, a personal logbook, at least one helpful and
supporting peer, a deliberate attention to detail and a willingness to persist
as a positive interpreter of events. In all instances, diligence is the order
of the day.