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Waveney Canary

Sports psychology

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One of the areas where I think the team has been struggling under Hapless this season has been our away form.

I have been to all except one of the away league games. We lack confidence when we go away. Is this down to how hapless sets up the team or are the clubs psychologists not doing their job.

Clearly when we were in league 1 we couldn''t afford professional psychological staff but I know they are in place currently. The then Manager had to do that part himself but our current situation is not just caused by the abject failure of Hapless but also the support staff around him.

For which McNasty has also to take the blame for. He sacked the sports science staff and almost immediately we have an explosion of injuries.

When the come to review this season on a few years time it is much more than Hapless that is wrong with the club.

Hughton needs to go. Mcnasty needs to go and we need to start afresh with a new inspirational leader. But who? That is the question. Any one got any ideas?

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Thorpe end,

The club does not have psychologists, so there is no-one not doing their job.

There has been a guy come on a couple of occasions but as you say, he aint cutting the mustard, but maybe this is because you can take a horse to water but you can''t force it to drink, or is it because the person responsible for engaging him (he''s an old contact of CH) doesn''t walk the talk so the players then become confused and possibly end up in a worse mental state than before.

MO, we''re not doomed but it will take all the self discipline of our on field leaders to grab this by the scruff of the neck and sort it, a job that is easier said than done.

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[quote user="Ray"]The club does not have psychologists, so there is no-one not doing their job. [/quote]

I find this a bit hard to believe. Sports psychology is something that in most sports is seen as a necessary part of getting the best out of yourself or the team.  Why football should still be in the dark ages is something of a mystery, when there is so much money involved.  There are tried and tested methods of enabling or helping people to deal with their thoughts so they can focus on their performance and produce their best form when it is needed. Not just hocus pocus, simple and effective techniques can be learned that help the mind to be clear and through that,  relaxed concentration can be brought to bear on the job at hand.   

As part of  sports psychology, yoga, meditation, visualisation, and other methods to help performance through quieting the mind, removing stress and tension, are also effective.   It is a growing area in sport and football ignores it at it''s peril.   Hoddle we all know about in his alternative views and psychology - and he didn''t handle it very well to be honest, as you can''t force this down people''s throats.   But not to have sports psychology at all will be seen as being negligent in the not too distant future.   Personally, I think its negligent now, as every possible thing that may help get top performance from players/team should be utilised and investigated.   

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Many players at clubs will see their own personal psycologists rather than the club employing one person to work with everyone. It is impossible to find one psycologist who will work effectively with 30 odd different players, who all have different personalities and some of whom don''t speak English as a first language.

 

You only need to follow a few players on Twitter to see them mention sessions with people who are psycologists or motivational type people - many of whom are not employed by the club.

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[quote user="Bethnal Yellow and Green"]

Many players at clubs will see their own personal psycologists rather than the club employing one person to work with everyone. It is impossible to find one psycologist who will work effectively with 30 odd different players, who all have different personalities and some of whom don''t speak English as a first language.

 You only need to follow a few players on Twitter to see them mention sessions with people who are psycologists or motivational type people - many of whom are not employed by the club.[/quote]

That''s fair enough I suppose, but it still seems a bit odd not to have a club psychologist available to help with group sessions.    Yoga is a prime example of an activity that can be beneficial in group situations.  If it was down to me I would include yoga sessions as part of a training schedule. It may not be seen as macho enough to some, but top male sportsmen and athletes use it as part of their training to get the utmost from their potential.   I''ve been going to yoga for several years and have found it incredibly helpful in my work and life generally.  Suprisingly, in the group I go to I am not the only male - its about a 50/50 mix which would indicate that in the world at large, yoga is becoming more and more recognised as something everyone can benefit from.  Football needs to move with the times.

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[quote user="Bethnal Yellow and Green"]

Many players at clubs will see their own personal psycologists rather than the club employing one person to work with everyone. It is impossible to find one psycologist who will work effectively with 30 odd different players, who all have different personalities and some of whom don''t speak English as a first language.

 

You only need to follow a few players on Twitter to see them mention sessions with people who are psycologists or motivational type people - many of whom are not employed by the club.

[/quote]Redmond uses his own guy[Y]

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if you cant get "motivated" to earn 20 grand a week for an hour and a halfs work running around infront of 30,000 people I strongly suggest you give up your job with immediate effect and find something you can motivate yourself to do...

some sports men/women really need to have a look at themselves...

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[quote user="jas the barclay king"]

if you cant get "motivated" to earn 20 grand a week for an hour and a halfs work running around infront of 30,000 people I strongly suggest you give up your job with immediate effect and find something you can motivate yourself to do...

some sports men/women really need to have a look at themselves...

[/quote]

 

The motivational effect of money soon wears off, especially once you have acheived it.

 

Large salaries are often demotivating, as can playing in the Premier League be, for many players this is what they have dreamed of achieving all of their lives and once getting there it can be hard to set new goals.

 

A large part of psycology is obviously nothing to do with motivation either, but to do with handling the incredible stress and pressure footballers find themselves under. Some prefer to have a more analytical style, whilst others like someone who builds up their confidence and self belief.

 

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Jas,

It''s not all about motivation, you can motivate an idiot, it''s about truly understanding the part your brain plays in performance and how it deals with events beyond its control.

Players are human beings just like all of us and where do you draw the line on how much you earn before it''s enough to immunise you from the outside world. Some would say you earn £200 perday so why are you having an off day?

As people they have emotions and it is emotiomns which run our lives unfortunately many of these can be negative and it''s the lack of understanding of how do deal with these that stops you from getting what you want.

Players suffer from all the slings and arrows thrown anyone, death in the family, divorce, etc. etc. so unless they are ''trained'' on how to deal with these scenarios their performance/motivation/attitude will suffer

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motivation, drive and the opposites of depression and mental illness have nothing to do with earnings or perceived hours of work (travelling, training;   its as much about non work issues (relationships,  contentment, self worth) as work (feeling valued,  sense of purpose,  acheivement,  pleasure in what you are doing, fear of failure, injury, aceptance).    

 

Finances always creates a stress, whether your are perceived to be well off or not, and too muc can actually be a negative if you cant cope with having money for the first time,   the tempations of drink, drugs,  women,  status items creates its own pressures most of us can never appreciate.  

 

All of those things can be aided by a psychologist in managing negative thoughts,  dealing with fans reactions (expectation and adulation as well as criticism) and building on self confidence in a sustainable manner. 

 

 

 

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