Interview with Dr. Gloria Balague

Transcription

1 ACA Continuing Education - Module 8 Interview with Dr. Gloria Balague 1. How can sports be used as a method of developing young people and achieving peace? 2. How can the Olympics be considered a mechanism for development and unity? 3. How are athletes able to achieve more now than they could years before? 4. What does a psychological barrier mean to athletes? 5. How important is an athlete s mental state for a good performance? 6. What is the coach s role in helping an athlete develop confidence? 7. What is a mantra? 8. How can a mantra help an athlete in anxiety?

2 9. What does a writing log do to help athletes? 10. Why should athletes have a stash of sayings or mantras to pull from? 11. Does music work the same way as a mantra? 12. Can music and mantras be combined? 13. Can the subconscious be programmed to believe something that isn t yet real? 14. How can athletes prepare for each practice in order to be focused and successful? 15. How can an athlete prepare mentally for competition? 16. What should athletes do after the competition to improve? 17. How can coaches help even the least talented athletes succeed?

3 Answers to Interview with Dr. Gloria Balague 1. Sport can be a mechanism for promoting peace because people can integrate with each other, regardless of their background. People can learn to work together in ways regular society does not allow them to. 2. Despite the commercialization, the Olympics encourage athletes to push themselves to be their best and can unite the world through stories of heroism and overcoming obstacles. 3. There has been an improvement in sports physiology and coaching standards. Coaches now have science behind them and can identify physically superior athletes. 4. A psychological barrier makes athletes think they cannot do something. As soon as a record has been broken or a new achievement made, athletes around the world are suddenly able to also achieve, because they no longer believe it is impossible. 5. Mental state is everything. Success comes from physical and technical skills, but it also comes from psychological skills, such as motivation, confidence, focus, and self-management of emotions. 6. A coach can affect motivation in an athlete by supporting the athlete. The coach cannot be motivation for the athlete. It must come from the athlete. However, coaches can help maintain and grow the motivation. 7. A mantra is a helpful, accurate thought that athletes can repeat to themselves in order to avoid anxiety. 8. Athletes should avoid getting to peak anxiety through self-awareness. Athletes need to know when they start to get nervous and avoid getting too far into a

4 negative pattern by focusing on the positive, such as a mantra. 9. A writing log helps athletes build awareness of themselves, including their emotions and outside factors that affect their performance during practice. Understanding what they do during practice and what affects them helps athletes prepare for competition and give them confidence. A writing log also shows athletes how much they have improved over time. 10. Athletes do not always feel the same way when they need motivation, so having multiple mantras will help athletes continue pushing themselves or relaxing when necessary. Mantras can also lose their power if athletes use them over and over. 11. Music can serve the same purpose as a mantra. It may be customized based on an athlete s mood, much like a mantra can be changed out according to the situation. 12. Music and mantras can be combined effectively to get even more power out of the message. This is more effective than either alone and can help athletes train themselves to feel the way they want to feel. 13. Yes, the subconscious can be programmed to help the body achieve more. The saying fake it til you make it applies here, because the body can convince the mind of a reality. 14. Athletes should have some daily practice goals. There should be something specific that athletes want to achieve during the practice. Coaches should encourage athletes to create these specific goals for each day. 15. The athlete should pay attention to their surroundings and their situation. They should also know who the competitors are and develop a plan for action, including what the athlete wants to do and achieve during the competition. By having a plan, athletes can simply perform instead of thinking of the plan and have more

5 confidence. 16. Athletes should do an evaluation after competition. The evaluation should ask what athletes did best during the competition, what they should do better next time, and how they are going to do that thing better. 17. Coaches should define success as improvement, encouraging all athletes to participate and work their hardest. This helps even untalented athletes find success and improve far more than they might otherwise.