Sir,
“The self-actualisation of an athlete can no longer be limited to just physical, technical and tactical training without addressing the mind of the athlete in order to adequately deal with the demands of the modern game.
Such an approach is not only inadequate but also akin to engaging in a journey without a destination or a plan to get there.” (Zimbabwe Open University PES Module 402-2004).
In reality, the modern game is decided more often than not by the athletes’ mental preparedness and psychological strength. We have often heard professional coaches say, ‘winning is 90 per cent mental and 10 per cent physical.
Reaffirms
This position is also reinforced by Arnold Palmer (the former world Golf Champion) who once remarked that “it’s all in the mind...and confidence is everything...golf is 90 per cent from the shoulder up...the game is played on a six inch course - between the ears.”
The above reaffirms my conviction that proper conditioning of the mind in readiness for ‘battle’ must be central to the preparation of all athletes’ subjected to stiff competition out there.
Instead of overemphasising physical factors, coaches should instead emphasise the psychological factors demanded by the modern game.
Performance
In other words, the way forward in contemporary sport is adopting a holistic (total) approach in order to achieve elite performance as well as guiding your athletes towards self-actualisation.
Sport psychology is defined as the scientific study of people and their behaviour in sport or simply psychology applied to sport. In essence, it pertains to the mental preparedness of athletes with particular emphasis, but not limited to, elements such as self-confidence as opposed to diffidence (self-doubt and fear of failure under challenge) as well as mental toughness – the ‘never say die spirit’, among a plethora of others.
Psychology
Seeing that our own Mbabane Swallows is going up against Nkana FC of Zambia at Somhlolo on 16 February 2014 in our own backyard, honourable coach Nyanga Hlophe needs to pay particular attention to the psychology of the game (psyching them up) as he fine-tunes his charges for the epochal but surmountable battle.
We are all behind you ‘cochara’ -there is national pride at stake here.
While the incorporation of sport psychology has long been embraced overseas, the concept is slowly but surely setting down roots in mother Africa, with the lasting impact of turning around our continental fortunes at sporting arenas such as international youth soccer championships, the World Cup, Commonwealth games and the Olympics, to mention a few.
Faced by ever-increasing levels of competition in the sub-region and globally, we are left with no choice but to hire highly qualified coaches and sport administrators endowed with a comprehensive sport psychology background. For the record, good coaches ought to be exceptional psychologists, per se.
Importantly
Allow me to digress a bit and express my great appreciation, first to the PLS for the milestone launch of the Under-20 League; the recent completion of the Level 1 Sport Administration course under the auspices of SOCGA (the Swaziland Olympic and Commonwealth Games); the recent attachment of a physical trainer to Sihlangu, Musa Mthunjwa, and most importantly the engagement of the Canadian athletes database expert.
Such monumental strides act as building blocks upon which future sporting excellence shall be rooted. The challenge now is ensuring that this critical human resource base gets to practise what they have learnt.
One efficient way of achieving this is by demanding a certain qualification in order to administer sport or coach anywhere in the country. That way, we will surely leave a lingering sporting legacy for our great-grandchildren!
Chikake Dunira