Preparing athletes and teams for the Olympic Games: Experiences and lessons learned from the world's best sport psychologists

Abstract

As part of an increased effort to understand the most effective ways to psychologically prepare athletes and teams for Olympic competition, a number of sport psychology consultants have offered best-practice insights into working in this context. These individual reports have typically comprised anecdotal reflections of working with particular sports or countries; therefore, a more holistic approach is needed so that developing practitioners can have access to -and utilise -a comprehensive evidence-base. The purpose of this paper is to provide a panel-type article, which offers lessons and advice for the next generation of aspiring practitioners on preparing athletes and teams for the Olympic Games from some of the world's most recognised and experienced sport psychologists. The sample comprised 15 sport psychology practitioners who, collectively, have accumulated over 200 years of firsthand experience preparing athletes and/or teams from a range of nations for six summer and five winter Olympic Games. Interviews with the participants revealed 28 main themes and 5 categories: Olympic stressors, success and failure lessons, top tips for neophyte practitioners, differences within one's own consulting work, and multidisciplinary consulting. It is hoped that the findings of this study can help the next generation of sport psychologists better face the realities of Olympic consultancy and plan their own professional development so that, ultimately, their aspirations to be the world's best can become a reality. Winning an Olympic gold medal is typically recognised as the ultimate accolade of a successful athletic career and arguably the most demanding challenge an athlete can pursue (Fletcher & Sarkar, 2012;Gould, Dieffenbach, & Moffett, 2002). This is, in part, due to the unique occurrence of the Olympics which takes place only once every four years. It is this infrequency of the event, combined with its magnitude and the globalisation of the sport industry, that ensures worldwide interest in and fascination with athletes' performances. This intense scrutiny, however, brings with it enormous pressure and only those who can manage the stress that accompanies sport at this level will be successful. It is no surprise, then, that there has been an increased effort to understand the most effective ways to psychologically prepare athletes and teams for Olympic competition (see e.g. Gould & Maynard, 2009).Over the past three decades, there has been a growth in the number of sport psychologists helping athletes and teams prepare for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Furthermore, research on the individual consultants has provided insight into different philosophies when working with Olympic athletes and teams, including an educational mental skills approach (Halliwell, 1989), a broad spectrum systems theory approach (May & Brown, 1989), and a preventative medicine model approach (Murphy & Ferrante, 1989).Although the sport psychology literature has greatly increased our best-practice knowledge of the most effective w...

A Strengths-Based Consultancy Approach in Elite Sport: Exploring Super-Strengths

“…The sample for this study comprised of sport psychology practitioners (n=7) and coaches (n=8) who had adopted a particular strengths-based approach in their practice (i.e., super-strengths). Participants were purposively sampled (Patton, 2002) for the most appropriate persons to be identified for the question being explored (Arnold & Sarkar, 2015;Sharp & Hodge, 2013;Tracy, 2010). The criteria for inclusion of coaches were that they had co-facilitated a super-strengths approach with a sport psychology practitioner, with the same intention (see practitioner criteria), in an elite sport environment.…”

The P7approach to the Olympic challenge: Sharing a practical framework for mission preparation and execution

“…Highlighting its potential for multi-level impact, comfort and confidence may also be promoted in the group surrounding the specific individual as they deliver on their plans; something which may, for example, help to reduce stress in a support staff that also has a significant stake in an athlete's performance (cf. Arnold & Sarkar, 2014).…”

Super-strengths in elite sport

“…It is suggested that using the team around the athlete (e.g., other coaches or staff within the Multi-Disciplinary Support team) to ensure this is happening would be beneficial, which is something that has been referred to in sport psychology (Arnold & Sarkar, 2015). In addition, in the present study, the athletes themselves identified the need for consistent reinforcement and suggested -154 -this to be key for continuing to see positive results with super-strengths.…”

“…It is proposed that the benefits and outcomes associated with super-strengths may not be achieved if this monitoring is not conducted, thus indicating a necessary consideration for practitioners looking to adopt the approach. Additionally, it is suggested that using the team around the athlete (e.g., other coaches or staff within the MultiDisciplinary Team) to reinforce the need to review progress would be beneficial, which is something that has been referred to in sport and organisational psychology (Arnold & Sarkar, 2015). Thus, it is important for applied practitioners employing similar approaches to consider how best to ensure the concept and processes will be continually reinforced and who might be the drivers/key people for this to keep happening.…”

“…The sample for this study comprised of sport psychology practitioners (n=7) and coaches (n=8) who had adopted a particular strengths-based approach in their practice (i.e., super-strengths). Participants were purposively sampled (Patton, 2002) for the most appropriate persons to be identified for the question being explored (Arnold & Sarkar, 2015;Sharp & Hodge, 2013;Tracy, 2010). The criteria for inclusion of sport psychology practitioners were that they had delivered a superstrengths approach to an elite athlete within the last 12 months, with the intention of enhancing performance.…”