THE MIND BODY CONNECTION

admin September 28, 2023 0 Comments

SPORTS PSYCHOLOGY INVOLVES THE CONNECTION BETWEEN MIND AND BODY AND THE UTILIZATION OF THE CONNECTION FOR ENHANCING PERFORMANCE.

While talking to one of the cricketers, he mentioned that he gave 100% in his practice sessions. He also focused a lot on his physical fitness so as to do well in this season and get selected for India team.

However, he was unable to explain what went wrong as he did not get selected and his ultimate dreams to get selected for India team came crashing down. When asked to explain where he felt short in spite of doing so much of practice and fitness training, he said that he did everything and tried to implement all the techniques and suggestions that his coach had given while playing matches. But a very important thing that he shared with me was when he was playing matches, he was constantly worried about the opponent team being very strong and their victory last year……..

There he is and in fact all those who are into sports……

We generally think of sports as being more physical. And hence there is so much of time as well as money that we invest in getting the best facilities for any player. However, the fact that sports is also a mental game is not yet accepted by many and therefore has not been recognised as a tool to enhance sports performance.

A sport is a combination of mind and body……..

Do you play cricket or for that matter any sport without thinking about

• the opponent…..
• without thinking of what will happen if I do not perform as per my potential….
• without any anxiety or tension….
• without fear of failure….
• without getting distracted….
• without having any negative thoughts about your victory…….. and so on and so forth.

I think the answer for all these would be a big ‘NO’……

So there you are….. Our statement that it’s a connection of body and mind is absolutely true. It is next to impossible to keep your mind away while you are playing and it being your mind is going to distract you and try to have an upper hand.

Therefore, we as sportsmen need to attend to our mind as well as our body and train both of them equally to work effectively so that we will definitely be successful in any game that we play.
Once you agree to the connection of mind and body to your sport, you yourself will start getting answers to many of your failures and setbacks that you experienced in your sporting career.

So, I will surely be back with more and more articles on Sports Psychology and how it works and most importantly what you need to do to achieve the deserving success….

All the best and keep reading!!!!!!!!!

Mugdha Bavare
Sports Psychologist

BENEFITS OF SPORT PARTICIPATION IN TEENS

admin September 28, 2023 0 Comments

Image Credit – https://www.goldentriangletour.com/en/p-top-10-most-popular-sports-in-india.php

Mother: “Rahul, please stop watching TV and eating that pack of chips… you need to get down to studies… tomorrow is history paper. ”
Rahul: “Yes mom. Let me finish watching this serial and I will immediately sit to study.”
Mother: (After half hour.. boiling with anger) RAHUL…. Switch off that idiot box right away……
Rahul: (hurriedly shutting off the TV sits down to study and to himself…) why can’t I just relax.. I love playing sports but mom does not allow me.. she feels that playing sports is a waste of time and will harm my grades in school especially when I am in 8th grade.

This is a common scene in most of our homes. We come across many kids, especially teens and adolescents having a regular routine of going to school, tuitions, home work, watching TV, playing on computer and there the day ends…… We hardly watch teenagers playing some sport in the building, playgrounds or in clubs. Few years back, free time was equal to playing sport or getting engaged in any extracurricular activity that one liked and enjoyed. However, now the concept of free time gets occupied by malls, fast food centers and coffee shops where we see most of the teenagers binging on pizzas, burgers, fries and so on. We see the grounds empty where only elderly people are busy keeping themselves fit or very young kids, who are still away from the academic pressures and expectations, playing freely.

Most of the parents have certain misconceptions about their teens getting engaged in sporting activity:

• Sport tends to distract kids from their academics and it affects their concentration level.
• Engaging in sport eats up a lot of time and kids do not get time for their academics. Also, kids become poor in time management.
• Sport makes them tired and they are unable to concentrate on studies later.
• Participation in sport does not have long term benefits.

Now let’s see the facts:

• The most important psychological skill necessary for sport is concentration. Unless you are completely focused in your game, you will not get the results. Research says that kids who are involved in sports have better concentration level that those who are not.
• Kids who are in sports learn better time management skills as they are aware that they get limited time for their academics and cannot afford to procrastinate.
• All of us know that kids do not study round the clock. In fact, they tend to waste more time if more time is available. Sports offer children a change from the monotony of their daily life that has a positive impact on their academics. Sport participation improves blood circulation and physical well being which in fact makes kids more alert and high on concentration.
• Sport participation helps in overall personality development.

Advantages of sport participation:
A lot can be learnt from games other than the obvious physical benefits..

Physical and social skills:
Sport enhances children’s physical growth. The recreational activities eliminate the unhealthy habits of the children that may lead them to diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart disease, joint pain, strokes and other serious diseases.

Research shows that physical activity, and sports in particular, can positively affect aspects of personal development among young people, such as self-esteem, goal-setting, and leadership.

Psychological skills:
Sports promote many values which can be used to mould children into better and stronger human beings. Discipline, team spirit, strategizing, crisis management and resilience are just some of the principles that can be garnered from normal sports participation.

Intellectual benefits:
Physical activity is associated with improved academic achievement, including grades and test scores. It can affect cognitive skills, attitudes and academic behavior, including enhanced concentration, attention, and improved classroom behavior.

However, in India, we as parents still ignore these benefits of sport participation and fail to tap the inherent talent in our kids. Most of the times, the kids are either stopped from participating or are made to exit sport early in life. Hence, it’s time we woke up and realized the advantages of being in sport rather than allowing our kids to turn into couch potatoes!!!!!

Mugdha Bavare
Sports Psychologist

COACH – ATHLETE RELATIONSHIP

admin September 28, 2023 0 Comments

During one of my sessions with a Table Tennis player, I realised that it was not at all anxiety, comparison, lack of motivation or negativity that caused my player lose a recent match. But to my surprise, it was the way in which the coach treated her. According to my player and her mom, the coach did not pamper her or motivate her during her game as much as he did for the other players. Taking up this matter as it had started affecting her performance, I brought up this issue with the coach. He being extremely co-operative promised me that he would keep these things in mind and actually started implementing the changes in his interaction with the player that day onwards.

A few weeks later, this same player not only won the championship in her own category but also won the title in the higher category as well. This was only due to the newly found relationship that she shared with the coach of trust, friendship, communication, cooperation, respect and dependence.

Similarly, all of us have just witnessed the recently conducted Rio Olympics. We have watched so many winners in different areas of sports and have also viewed many more who could not make it to the victory stand. However, regardless of the victory or defeat, the most common thing that we noticed was every athlete being with their respective coaches or discussing their strategy with their coach. This in itself tells us how important this relationship is of the coach and the athlete to achieve best performance in every sport.

The coach-athlete relationship is based on many aspects. A coach has tremendous influence on the physical and psychological development of their athletes.

How it works? Coach-Athlete relationship is found by the quality of understanding, respect, trust and predictability that exists between the coach and the player. Today it is recognised as a key performance factor. A research proved that players who perform well at higher level competitions, have good self-awareness about themselves such as their understanding of themselves, their strengths, their limitations etc. but the most important factor was the coach athlete relationship which is absolute non-negotiable.

If the player has a productive relationship with the coach, if the player understands the coach well and understands his/her expectations and vice versa, then both will have predictable environment to function which helps develop the performance. If either of these two parties feel that there is lack of mutual trust and respect, the relationship is usually poor and the motivation and performance is negatively impacted.

However, we also need to remember that though this coach-athlete relationship is extremely important, it does not happen instantly. Rather, it needs to get bloomed over time just as any other trusting relationship.

Mugdha Bavare
Sports Psychologist

HANDLING POST MARATHON DEPRESSION

admin September 28, 2023 0 Comments

Introduction
The most awaited day has arrived and Karan is tense as well as excited at the same time. He has been waiting for this moment for a year and a half…….. He has put in his 100% as he practiced very sincerely and put in lots of hard work in his workouts when preparing for his marathon.

Running a marathon required months of planning, preparation and participation on part of Karan. For months life only focused on getting on the running shoes and beating the roadway – sometimes for hours at a time. Then there was also diet to think about, avoiding injury, mileage, time, heart rates … the list went on. And then the big day arrived and it was time to concentrate on what time to complete the grueling race. He had actually visualized his win and the crowd roaring in joy after his win…….

And finally the day arrived when Karan completed the marathon with a big win. . Karan was excited and at the top of the world with the win…. But that lasted only for a day. What happened to Karan the next day?

Training for a marathon takes up every aspect of a person’s life. From the strenuous physical training to the rigorous mental willpower, the training places considerable stress on the body. On the other hand, continuous training also adds significant thrill to the person’s life. On the day of the big event, all the efforts of the previous weeks and months end for you. Unfortunately, this journey at times ends with post-marathon depression…… this is exactly what Karan was also going through.
The question that troubled Karan was “Oh God, Now what am I going to do?”

This condition of mind is called the after-race blues, or the post marathon depression that affects many runners. Athletes, who run these kinds of endurance races, are usually faced with a void or an empty space which previously used to be filled by training sessions.

Now let’s see as to how we would know that the runner is going through such kind of a phase.

Indicators of post marathon depression:
The symptoms of post marathon depression that runners face after a big race are more or less associated with general depression. Usually the runner’s thoughts start to become negative and the energy level, which was at the peek for so long, also starts to diminish. The runner feels very low on energy and wants to just sleep for hours. We could also call this state of mind as feeling lethargic and de-motivated to do anything. At times, the runner might also experience feelings of anxiety, irritability and also hopelessness. They also have difficulty concentrating on normal day to day tasks along with loss of appetite and irregular sleeping patterns.

These symptoms could be due to emptiness that they experience after a big race. After spending months of training hard and focusing on a goal, you feel down and detached once the race is over. The training and preparation that was such a big part of your life is now gone.

Root causes of post marathon depression:
This condition could be reviewed by separating them into 2 causes: physical and psychological.

Physical causes:
While the runner is into vigorous training for so long, the body becomes used to a high supply of endorphins that are natural chemicals created by our body. These endorphins do a wonderful work of improving the runner’s mood and give it a feeling of euphoria during exercises and practice sessions. However, after a marathon, the supply of endorphins decreases significantly, which causes feelings of depression.

Psychological causes:
All sports people start their preparation with some kind of an aim in their mind. Once this aim is finalized and fixed, they train vigorously to achieve that aim. While doing this, the sportsmen are lost in their own world of achieving success and being victorious. For them nothing exists beyond their event and the mind and the body are completely focused on a selected goal. There is no free time for them. If not physical practice, they are busy visualizing their moves and tactics.

However, after months of training and excitement, these sportsmen commonly feel let down when the big event is over. They suddenly feel empty, and usually feel unmotivated to find a new activity. Their physical condition, their sore muscles and overall fatigue, at times forces them to question if the entire process was worth the trouble.

But the good news is that there is definitely a solution for it……. Let’s see what the runners can do to prevent these post marathon blues in the first place and also overcome it.

Overcoming this phase:
There are various strategies that athletes can adopt to treat and prevent post marathon depression.

• One usually feels a real “high” after finishing the race and is enthusiastic to share experiences. However, the next morning the fatigue and discomfort starts setting in. This descent is a normal reaction to meeting your goal and not having a new one. To avoid this kind of a situation, do not plan anything new at least for a week. The best thing is to assess your performance in the recent race and analyze the good and the bad things that you did in the race. You could even pen them down as they might help you in the next season. This type of technique is called ‘Reviewing’, where you evaluate what worked best for you and what did not.
• When the burnout phase is over, think about setting some new goals that you would like to achieve over the next few months. However, these goals need not necessarily center around a marathon. They could be anything from your personal to professional life. One could also switch a sport for time being like going for a swim, playing tennis etc.
• But having post marathon racing plans do not mean starting out a workout immediately after your marathon. Instead, focus on recovery in the first week after the race so that progress in training in the succeeding weeks would be better. Another important thing is one should not force oneself if the body is still not responding.
• When the athlete was under training for so long, the family and friends have missed him. The best way to relax and overcome this depression is to mingle around with them and get completely disconnected from the racing scenario.
• Relaxation is mandatory for the athletes as the body needs to recover from the marathon. However, stopping your exercises completely might cause you more harm. Hence maintain your fitness by doing light but regular exercises. This will also help you to come back on your regular schedule easily since your body will be in good shape with regular exercises.
• Also one could consider hiring a coach or a professional to help set goals at the beginning of the season. Keeping a training plan ready for the year with training periods, rest periods and solid goals will surely help get you focused on the future and ready to move forward.
• Last but not the least….. it is extremely essential to also expect and accept the void and frustration that would follow after the marathon. If one is mentally prepared for the empty space then the journey towards post marathon would definitely be smooth and enjoyable.

So all the very best!

Mugdha Bavare
Sports Psychologist

SPORTS AND PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT IN CHILDREN

admin September 28, 2023 0 Comments

Sports, with their impact and influence, have always had a place in society. Its magnificent ability to unite people makes sport a powerful communication tool. Sports also help to strengthen connections and trust in our wider communities. The sports dynamic essentially transcends all social, political and ethnic barriers.

Let us look at some ways in which Sports contribute to a growing child’s personality.

• Enhances Self Esteem
• Reduce anxiety
• Builds a positive outlook towards life
• Builds team work and collaboration
• Inculcates healthy sense of competition
• Better body image

• Builds ability to handle setback and failures
• Builds better social skills
• Promotes many values such as discipline, team spirit, time management, crisis management, resilience etc.
• Improves cognitive function, academic performance and behaviour in school.
• Athletes have higher levels of academic achievement than non-athletes.

Facts about sport participation:

• Research proves that kids who are involved in sports have better concentration level that those who are not.
• Sport participation improves blood circulation in the brain and physical well being which in fact makes kids more alert and high on concentration.
• They have better time management skills as they have less time to complete things.

• Sports offer children a change from the monotony of their daily life that has a positive impact on their academics.
• Sport participation helps in overall personality development and helps improve self-esteem.
• Sport is a good way to relieve stress and handle disappointments.

Mugdha Bavare
Sports Psychologist

ITS OK TO NOT BE OK

admin September 23, 2023 0 Comments

Recently read about Glenn Maxwell, the Australian cricketing all-rounder, taking indefinite break due to mental health issues. And this news has been taken so well by all in the fraternity. It is seen that the number of players especially elite players going through mental health issues is on rise and more so before important events such as Olympics, World Cups, World Championships, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games etc. One study of 50 swimmers competing for positions in Canada’s Olympic and World Championship teams found that before competition 68% of them met the criteria for a major depressive episode.

Mental Health is not really well accepted by our society as yet. Ignorance or lack of education regarding mental health and its causes and treatment could be claimed as the main reason.

Mental health includes emotional, psychological and social well being. It affects how people think, feel and act. It also helps determine how people handle stress, how they relate to others and make choices (mentalhealth.gov). When people experience emotional upheaval, it impacts their mental health and social life. Almost all people experience this at some point of time in their life.

However, mental health (illness) in sports is considered to be a taboo. One of the myths surrounding this is players are considered to be strong and untouched by mental health issues. Secondly, elite players are financially so well paid that they should always be happy. But these are exactly the reasons and many more which cause mental health issues in players. Though mental health issues are experienced by almost all, in sports these could be a little more due to pressure of internal / external expectations, fear of damaging their own social image, fear of failure, maintenance of their status, lack of alternative option to fall back on, lack of hobbies or other interest areas, lack of awareness in terms of rest and recovery (mental as well as physical) during their sporting days etc.

Why players refuse to come to terms with mental health issues:
Many players ignore the early signs of stress, pressure and force themselves to play which could be to avoid criticism from coaches, co-players, families etc. The players may also feel that seeking help for mental health problems could make them appear ‘weak’ and this could result in end of their career. Sometimes, even their self-perception as superior can prevent them from seeking help.

But whatever, may be the reason, the stigma around mental health issues needs to be addressed and corrected from both a general societal perspective and from the perspective of the player themselves.

Prevention better than cure:
Following interventions would help reduce the percentage of mental health issues in players to a great extent.

• Sensitize/ educate players, coaches, support staff regarding mental health from the grassroot level. Awareness of it will reduce stigmatization and increase acceptance. Creating manuals regarding mental health for sports is a good idea to spread the message about mental health and how it could be prevented and treated.
• Recognising early signs or symptoms could help in dealing with the issue.
• Conducting standardised screening tests to identify at-risk players as well as conducting needs analysis, personality assessments etc. by professionals. This could be done to identify underlying mild subclinical issues before they become mental illnesses.
• Promote communication skills, group activities within the teams to avoid phone addiction and social media addiction amongst players.
• Bottled up emotions and frustrations may later lead to mental health issues. Hence discussing and resolving the issues with the help of a psychologist or therapist is recommended.
• Sensitizing parents about the negative impact on the players in case of parents who are high-achievers or over bearing.
• Encouraging players to take breaks for rest and recovery will avoid burn out stage to occur at an early stage.
• Pursue hobbies / interests as and when players get time to help them increase focus and concentration on their primary sport.
• Scrapping the formula of performance = only winning and converting it to performance = reaching one’s own level of potential.

As a sports psychologist, I truly appreciate the way Australian coach, players and support staff have shown great support and understanding towards Glenn Maxwell which in itself is a good enough start for him to take necessary steps towards handling his mental health and to make a remarkable comeback.

Mugdha Bavare
Sr. Sports Psychologist

LIFE LESSONS FROM SPORTS

admin September 22, 2023 1 Comments

Image Copyright: Chanut Is Industries | Dreamstime.com

The movie Sachin – A Billon Dreams opens with Sachin echoing his father’s words, “Cricket is going to be just one chapter in your life, what will stay with you forever is the human in you, when people will tell me, more than a cricketer, you are a good human being, I will be happier as a father.”

The God of Cricket turned 50 this year with 24 long sporting years behind him, and in these years, the man has stood out to the world for his attributes that go beyond cricket and the world of sports. His down to earth nature, his discipline, his dedication and his respect for the people, the game and country are unrivalled, and for everything the man gives the entire credit to two things – his upbringing and to the sport.

Why out of the blue speak about Sachin? What is it that always makes us think of that golden era? They say change is the only constant in life. All of us have seen huge changes in our lives in the past few years owing to the Pandemic, changes that will have long echoing effects on our lives, especially of the younger generation. For almost two years, with their schools closed, these younger ones were locked in their homes, forced to sit in front of talking screens, without any contact with the outer world. The effects of such a detachment are seen widely today. Learned experiences from the environment shape children’s lifetime behaviour and go a long in determining their success. School is the primary place to develop social competencies and life skills, such as self-confidence, friendships, empathy, participation, respect, gratitude, compassion, and responsibility, and this generation, nevertheless the smartest till date, is somewhere lacking these essential life skills.

But why are these life skills being talked about now? Why are they so important?

Any skill is an ability to carry out a particular activity, which can also be learnt. For example, the skill to bat or bowl in cricket or the skill to play a guitar. In our lives too, all of us need certain skills to live with as less difficulty as possible. By that logic, Life Skills are abilities that we can develop to live a good and fruitful life. Every moment during our lives, at times without even realizing it, we rely on things we’ve learned to help us manage our daily life and have an impact on our physical and emotional health. Be it going to school every day or giving exams or simply going on a vacation. Respect, Perseverance, Self-Esteem, Decision-Making are some examples of life skills we require in our day-to-day lives. Life Skills help us gain confidence in communication as well as in cooperative and teamwork skills, they also help us discover innovative ways of thinking and problem-solving, and teach us how to socialize, make new friends, and recognize the effect of one’s actions and behaviours. They give us the courage to face the struggle in order to achieve our goals and the strength to deal with any kind of circumstance that comes our way.

All said and done, how do we really inculcate these skills in our kids? The kids today are busier than the adults. A lot of schools include a life skills education module, but can we really learn these hands-on skills from reading the texts? Life Skills are not learnt from textbooks, they are learnt on the field. So, what do we do? There is a simple answer…Sports. Having been an athlete myself and as a psychologist, I feel Sports are one of the best ways to teach children Life Skills. Sport need not always mean competition. Sports, at times, can just be fun and games. They are a good opportunity to teach children numerous abilities and soft skills. Through sports children are not only equipped to deal with challenges that might come their way, but also become prepared cognitively to learn, solve problems creatively and make decisions. The structure of sports is such that it inherently teaches children values that are essential throughout life. For instance, attending regular practice sessions, following the drills, keeping up with your training routines, habituates children to managing their time appropriately and builds a foundation for self-discipline. Another excellent example is the rule of shaking hands with your opponents at the end of every match, no matter the result. This simple gesture, so subtly and aptly, instils the value of respect in these young minds that it is bound to reflect in their lives outside of sport too. The best lesson I learned from sports was of resilience, no matter how bad the failure was, there is always a new day which you can make the best of, and it has helped me keep going in toughest of the times throughout my life.

Learning can happen at any age, however, Late Childhood or the Pre-teen years of a child are considered to be very crucial for their overall development. This is a phase of their Physical, Cognitive and Social growth. It’s the beginning of them becoming independent individuals, for e.g., They start dressing up by themselves, can use different objects independently, understand time and other events in context. This is a time when they need to be provided with the right direction and guidance as they begin to move away from the protective shells of home, to help them grow into better and well-adjusted individuals of the society, and as they gradually excel in the sport of their choice, they also build a positive sense of self, and ultimately a positive and resilient approach to life.

Sachin, a naughty, mischievous boy grows up to be called the God of Cricket. The Master Blaster while telling the anecdotes of his coaching days under Achrekar Sir, says that it was cricket that molded him into the focused and determined individual that he is today. Sachin is just one but the most apt example of how sports can shape your life beyond the competitive experiences. In a game sometimes you may win, sometimes may lose, but with sports you always win…at life.

Rasika Kalgutkar,

Sports Psychologist, Mindsports