Got a niggle? Do something about it! Seek help, modify your training. Just don’t bury your head in the sand.

If you have a niggle, something is wrong. Perhaps your body is under recovered and will be fine, but often this is not the case and bad things develop after spotting a niggle. Act.

Consider getting some help: physio, sports masseur.
Consider modifying your training: back-off, take more rest
Don’t ignore it, or it might derail this season or your whole sporting career. (It happens.)
Don’t ignore it (for most people, this is worth me repeating)

Dr Victor Thompson
www.sportspsychologist.com

Comments

How will athletes react to the news that lifetime drug bans might be overturned by the BOA before the Olympics?

BBC website announces today: ‘Former Olympic triple jump champion Jonathan Edwards is happy the British Olympic Association's lifetime ban for drug cheats looks set to be overturned.’ http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/olympics/17818958 Without going into how we as spectators think or feel about this issue, I’m interested in the impact that this issue might have on other competitors – those competing in the sports that the previously banned athletes compete in. Athlete A: With a strong sense of right and wrong, Athlete A gets further fired-up and motivated to show the drug cheats that they are better, that they can win clean, expecting their performance to do the talking. This news of allowing, or potentially allowing, the banned athletes back in, is motivating, helping them prepare and perform. Athlete B: With a belief that the sports officials, system or the world lets them down, Athlete B becomes angry at the developments. They may either get fired-up and motiv

The psychology of big climbs: What’s going on in the mind of Tour de France cyclists and what we can learn from this?

What do professional cyclists think when they approach a climb? This depends on how they perceive their climbing ability, the challenge of the upcoming climb, the importance of their performance on this climb and their current sense of fatigue. If they perceive that they have the skills to do well on the climb, based on the gradient and length of the climb and the relative abilities of others, then they will approach with confidence. If instead, they believe that they don’t have that great an ability, then they may have some anxiety, trepidation, and worry with thoughts along the lines of: “This is going to hurt.” “I’m not good at this.” “I’ll get dropped.” So, how would a good climber approach a climb? A confident rider approaches feeling calmer, more ready for the challenge, perhaps even welcoming and relishing it. They see it as a good test or a good part of the course. They may be thinking along the lines of: “Yeah, here it comes. Bring it on. This is my terrain. I’m

Exercise can be good for stress-relief: Why? Why not share this good news?

Sport and exercise – but not competition for most of us – can be a good way to de-stress. This works for several reasons: It takes us away from stressful situations (home or work) We focus on what we are doing (e.g, chasing a football, hitting the tennis ball, running drills…) and therefore not on life’s problems We have endogenous opiates (‘happy hormones’) released into our bloodstream which feel good We might be exercising or playing sport with positive, encouraging people Those of us who exercise know this already. Perhaps we can share the good news to those who don’t exercise or engage in sport? Dr Victor Thompson www.sportspsychologist.com

SportsPsychologist.com Blog by Dr Victor Thompson

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