FACING CHALLENGES OF FULL TIME TRAINING

by Rebecca Lee 12.11.08

When athletes enter into full-time programmes, such as the World Class Development programme, they are not only channelling a large proportion of their life towards their sport, they are also committing to a performance driven system, investing virtually everything in the hope of achieving their dream goal, which for many is competing at the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games.

Inevitably, the transition into such a programme invites unique opportunities, continual performance enhancing experiences as well as challenges. eis2win.co.uk spoke to EIS Sports Psychologist Intern Gemma Douglas about her PhD work which looked into the challenges facing athletes making the transition. 

“As supporting practitioners, we not only need to be aware of these challenges but also be able to provide athletes and coaches with the right strategies to cope with them; especially as the pressure surrounding London 2012 is likely to take typical challenges to a completely new level” says Douglas.

Some of the common challenges which athletes reported they faced in the research included moving away from home, sacrificing education and putting careers on hold, with some of the biggest challenges including insecurity, heightened accountability and sport dependency. 

“Essentially, all of these challenges stemmed from the competitive culture they had now stepped into and the uncertainties ingrained within it” explains Douglas.

“For some, the investment into their development made them feel both supported but also pressured to achieve. Similarly, some athletes reported finding it hard to ‘allow’ themselves time away from their sport (even on recovery days) for fear that others would be improving at a faster rate. As with many of the challenges these athletes discussed, it appeared the ‘2012 pressure’ was already starting to encourage irrational thoughts and behaviours” she adds.

Due to athletes at the elite level committing so much of their life to their sport, the impact on performance these challenges can have can be substantial, as Douglas explains. 

“It was evident that since athletes’ focused so much of their life on their sport, it would often dictate how they were feeling, for examples a bad training session impacting negatively on their feelings and their performance. This, along with the other challenges they faced, would often act as a distraction during critical performance moments.”

In order to combat these issues, sports psychologists and other support staff must work closely with coaching staff in order to give athletes the best coping mechanisms to reduce the impact on their performances.

“Firstly, athletes need to find a way of putting a ‘full stop’ at the end of a training session. Although this is easier said than done, a mental recovery plan can allow athletes to control the level of closure they achieve after each training session or competitive situation” explains Douglas.

“Secondly, athletes need to be setting goals related to performance culture adaptation. Because many of these challenges are inevitable, if not necessary, it’s unrealistic to try and take them away, especially as they may also provide important opportunities to develop mental toughness and resilience. Instead, athletes need to develop strategies to cope with the challenges and become accustomed to the competitive culture. For example, coaches and practitioners helping athletes set goals (in addition to performance focused goals) that can track how they are dealing with the changing and competitive climate they are now in.

“Finally it is also important that coaches and practitioners are able to recognise the early warning signs of a counterproductive sport dependency, in order to prevent problems such as burn out, injury, illness and drop out” she adds.

Douglas is now working in the Yorkshire region and will be able to implement some of her findings with those sports she works with.