Learning new psychological skills to improve the performances is not difficult indeed it is quite easy. Despite more and more athletes embark on the road of mental training, many drop out after a short period, while continuing to think they’d like to be more confident, more focused, more tough and so on. This is because many think that the psychological preparation is something that it could be learn in a few months (a few anyway) and then in a spontaneous manner when you go in competition you will be mentally ready. In fact, many athletes have difficulty understanding the psychological preparation to the race is a real form of training and as with the physical and technical training who continue for ever the same applies to the mental. It means the athlete should strive to improve mentally every day that is dedicated to the sport, there can be no shortcuts.
Tag Archive for 'preparazione psicologica'
The Republic of Korea has enjoyed its best Olympic Games results since 1988, finishing 5th in the medal table in London, with a total of 28 medals including 13 golds. Two of its most successful teams, archery and shooting, both benefited from psychological support programmes.
Support for the Korean archery team was provided by Young Sook Kim, from the Korea Institute of Sport Science, during an 11-month period preceding the Games. Support was provided in 1-2 hr sessions, 2-3 times per week, and included psychological profiling and psychological skills training that was progressively individualiszd in training and tailored towards the Olympic competition. The archery team won 3 gold medals and 1 bronze medal in London.
The Korean shooting team was even more successful in London, winning 3 golds and 2 silvers. Support was provided in the two years preceding the Olympic Games by ByungHyun Kim, also from the Korea Institute of Sport Science, an applied practitioner of 20 years’ experience. Support emphasized anxiety control, concentration, confidence, and coping with the high expectations of the Korean public.
Psychological support to Iranian athletes for the Olympics and other major games is planned and supervised by the Center for Counseling and Mental Skills Training, located at the National Olympic Academy in Tehran. For the 2012 Olympic Games, personnel were Mohammad Khabiri, Yadollah Farhadi, Khosro Hamzeh, and Ali Reza Farsi, who were appointed almost a year ahead of the Games. They met with all national federations whose athletes had qualified for the Games to assess their needs. The federations of Boxing, Taekwondo, Weightlifting, Archery and Canoeing each had a sport psychologist appointed to the team, who organized workshops, individual and group counseling, and profiling. No psychologist accompanied the Iranian delegation to the Games.
The Iranian Paralympic team returned home with several medals and lots of memories. A group of certified sport psychologists, led by Mohammad Vaez Mousavi , supported the paralympians in the preparation for the Games. In training camps there was a daily program to assess and develop mental skills. Clinical issues were also addressed with the help of clinical sport psychologists. Dr. Mousavi accompanied athletes during events in London. According to medalists who were interviewed after the games, proper psychological preparations was one of the major reasons for their achievements. Iran ranked 11th among more than 140 countries taking part in the Games.
