The mental training for volleyball: it was 1984

“Women athletes must have a calm head. That is your goal.” Bu Quinxia of China, coach of the junior national volleyball team, made no other recommendations to the team of psychologists who have been following championship and international events for some time. Volleyball is a “situational” sport, requiring very rapid adaptations as the game changes. A sport that creates constant tension. “Playing volleyball,” says Pittera, national team coordinator, “is like playing a game of chess at 120 kilometers per hour. In soccer it is easier to breathe. This partly explains the massive intervention of psychologists. “However, we must clarify our role,” says Alberto Cei, “we did not work on the pathology of the ‘athlete. No one was sick…. In the formation of a team group, emotional control, concentration are fundamental and must be followed. Results? “Very good at the competitive level, but of course the credit is not ours. Italy finished second at the junior Europeans behind the USSR, but only by set difference. The two “under 17s” won important international tournaments. However, we are interested in delving into another issue: the introduction of relaxation techniques immediately before the match has had excellent effects. It’s a long job; these athletes need to be followed all the way to the national team. They grow up playing volleyball.” An almost Russian method… “Maybe so, if our work means following the ‘evolution of a boy step by step. There are, for example, as is clear, fundamental differences between men and women. Boys already start out more motivated to sporting success. Girls are more focused instead on interpersonal relationships. They talk to each other more, they defend themselves from an environment that is still too masculine: they certainly have a harder time feeling good.” What about the coaches? “The coaches,” says Davide Ceridono, “have received us well. The figure of the sole coach responsible for leading has now disappeared. Even among themselves they tend to complement each other. Not to mention that communication often does not go through words. Bu Quinxia will know in all thirty words of ‘Italian.” In general, is it possible to talk about discomfort for certain athletes? “These are athletes who have many gratifications. Apart from the financial ones, they are often little provincial heroes, traveling the world in their twenties.” How could your intervention be summarized? “There are four goals: 1) emotional control, 2) concentration; 3) energy recovery; 4) group intervention. Need to emphasize the ‘importance of cohesion: the team is made up of six who play and four who are on the bench. Motivating even those who stay out is not easy. Especially if you play thirty international matches in four months. After all, even Liedholm once said that Superchi had great merit in Roma’s Scudetto. Yet Superchi had never entered.” Ceridono and Cei also carried out, together with Prof. Scilligo, Chiara Bergerone and Franca Formica, research on the “relationships between intrapsychic and interpersonal processes and sports performance.” The behaviors of 255 athletes, belonging to 30 A/1 and A/2 teams, were studied. The results are interesting. “High-ranked players-for example-demonstrated a remarkable ability to protect themselves, look after their own interests, gather information and realistically examine themselves. A lower degree of neglect and self-rejection was identified in them. The same outlook on life comes out in their relationships with the team. Towards them it is liberal, welcoming, caring and directive.” In contrast, low and mid-ranking players most often perceive the team as punitive, hostile or absent.” One question: what if it is the results that influence such behaviors? “That is partly the case: however, the reaction in front of defeat changes. You are never first by accident.”