SportsPsychologist.com Blog by Dr Victor Thompson

Italian football match-fixing inquiry story on the BBC today (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18000848 ): 52 active players to answer questions on their behaviour. This got me wondering, some athletes make the decision to take performance enhancing drugs to perform better (by cheating), but how much money would it take for athletes (footballers and others) to perform worse? What would it take for us in their shoes to: to miss a or every shot on goal? to foul another player? to false start in a sprint race? to fail at each attempt at a triple jump? to not finish a hurdle race? to finish outside the top 10 in a sprint in a cycling road race? ... Would we never be tempted? Even by a few hundred thousand pounds? Would our price be high, average, or not so high? Would it be lower if we are more towards the end of our sporting careers, to earn a bit extra, or because it 'doesn't matter'? How would we justify the decision? Dr Victor Thompson www.sportsps...

Just as a training plan gives you confidence that you are taking steps towards good fitness and a good competitive performance, so does a rehab program where your physio/sports massage sessions and rehab exercises can give you confidence that you are doing what is required to recover, to get back to usual training, and to be better than before. Plan your rehab recovery. Look out for progress. Celebrate your efforts and achievements. And don’t ditch your rehab exercises too early. Dr Victor Thompson www.sportspsychologist.com

An important element of self-management is the ability to manage attention, focus or concentration. Skilful performers can shift focus when the situation requires it and at will. One dimension is internal-external: Internal: this is your body, how it feels, your perceived exertion, your heart-rate, tension, but also your emotions and thoughts External: that which is outside your body, the competitive arena, your opponent(s), the weather Practice in training to shift your attention from internal to external and back again, plus to learn when it is helpful to have an internal or external focus. Dr Victor Thompson www.sportspsychologist.com

With all the time energy, effort, hope, worry and expectation that goes into our marathon campaign, once we cross the finish line and the dust has settled, we can experience a post-marathon dip.  For some this dip is mild and not-too-significant and others, the post-marathon blues are more significant. There are many reasons why we can have this experience. One of the main ones, which is often overlooked, is that when the body is physically tired, along with this can come at dip in mood. Another reason is that the marathon is such a big goal in our lives and when it passes we can feel somewhat lost without another goal to pursue. If we don't have another event planned, training can seem quite pointless. Or, if we have another goal, it can be difficult to get up for it. So how do we remedy this and bounce-back after a spring marathon? If you feel the post-marathon blues, and recognise it as a common and normal experience. Rest up and recover, take it easy for a whil...

It’s what we regular exercisers know based on our experience: exercise boosts mood and missing exercise makes things worse mood-wise. As a Clinical Psychologist who works in the NHS in London, it is great to see that the NHS and DoH is now including exercise as an important component of treatment programmes for people struggling with anxiety or depression. Last month I was at the launch of the new NHS IAPT initiative called Brain Train , which aims to inform NHS staff about the benefits so they can give guidance to their clients. The evidence behind exercise boosting mood and psychological wellbeing is compelling. And, as we know, not everyone wants to have a sit-down therapeutic consultation with someone like me, so I really welcome this NHS initiative. So when the week at work is starting to drag you down, don’t give in to the temptation to take it easy and go home and hit the sofa. Instead, make sure you get some physical stimulation: walk, jog, run, swim, cycle, hit ...

I worked with a swimmer a while ago who surprised me. When I asked him what he thought of during swim sets, including the drill sets, where he was supposed to focus on aspects of technique (e.g. hand entry, body rotation etc), he said that he sang songs in his head. Sounds fine, right? Well, no!  If your attention is not where it is supposed to be (i.e. on the aspects of the drills in this swimmer’s case) you’ll get less from your training, less improvement, less good competitive performance, less satisfaction, and achieve less in sporting. So, attend to what needs your attention , and leave your daydreaming for when it really doesn’t matter. Dr Victor Thompson www.sportspsychologist.com