SportsPsychologist.com Blog by Dr Victor Thompson

It has been ages since I posted on my blog. This is something that I would like to remedy. Rest assured, this is not because I've been out of action in the world of Sports Psychology or simply idle. I've been busy seeing clients and helping them to bounce back or develop their psychological armoury. I've also provided plenty of sport psychology comment to journalists who have been seeking an psychological understanding in relation to an athlete. With Wimbledon tennis tournament on, I provided some comment on how players perform under pressure and manage the big occasion. The journalist was interested in what the rest of us can learn from the Wimbledon players on how to perform in our own sports and non-sports settings. Plus, how playing tennis can be a good thing for developing psychological skills for life. One of the less usual requests came from the world of eSports - computer gaming. It was very interesting to be interviewed by one of the UK's eSports ...

Football World Cup 2014, 8 th June 2014, semi-final Germany 7 – Brazil 1 What a match! As a sports psychologist, who's worked with footballers at different levels, I really enjoyed the match. Here's what I saw: 0-0  The beginning. For Brazil there was such hope. When they had possession of the ball, the crowd cheered, and most of the stadium was a sea of Brazilian yellow and green. For Germany, they played equally well as Brazil, but the crowd was not willing them to do well or win. 1-0 Germany scored, Brazil looked surprised, their supporters looked surprised, the pressure increased for Brazil.  The Germans gained momentum after the first goal and looked more in control. 2-0    When Germany scored the second goal, the Brazilian players and fans looked shocked. How could this be happening? Is this really happening? What do we do? For Germany, their momentum and confidence grew. 3-0    After the 3 rd German goal, the Germans played w...

Encouragement in the media and sporting contexts to show mental toughness, hanging in there, show grit, dogged determination...is common. But is this always a good thing? Sure, being determined and remaining undeterred in pursuit of your goals is a good thing - especially if you are susceptible to being knocked-off track, or find it difficult to get going in the first place. However, I believe that there is a flip-side to this emphasis of rising to all challenges, quitting being for wimps... Take the example of the runner who runs twice a day according to the schedule they have from their coach. They run no matter what. When they are shattered they don't do less or run at a lower intensity, they push it even more on these days because they fret that if they don't they are somehow a lesser athlete or not mentally tough enough, perhaps reminding themselves that "Winners never quit, quitters never win." They don't ease off on easier weeks, for fear of losing fitness....