Can peak athletic achievement come without intense training?

There are many theories regarding the affect that positive or negative mental health state has on an athlete’s performance. Athletes, no matter the level of competition, face high levels of performance stress and anxiety. The pressures that an athlete may face from both their on-court performance as well as their off-court lives are presented in a variety of ways. Such stressors include time management, financial security, and family concerns, amongst other important issues in an athlete’s life.

In Erin Ayala’s study, she notes that athletes need to create a better work-life balance to achieve optimal success and mental well-being. The athlete has to learn how to build a balance between off-court stressors that can effect on-court performance while also being attuned to the idea that on-court performance can have an effect on off-court behaviors and relationships. Ayala and colleagues created a mixed methods study using participants in various areas of sport. The participants involved in the study included coaches, athletes and sport professionals. The participants were asked to identify their ideas and reasons that helped to create the ideal mental health and performance practices for high level athletes.

The data and responses from the participants that came from the study resulted in finding seven clusters of needs and understanding about sport mental health. Not all participants highlighted each cluster as an important strategy necessary to maintain strong mental health and performance needs. The clusters of importance that were mentioned were stress management, mental skills, intentional practice, managing setbacks, self-awareness, social support and team relationships. Each cluster discussed strategies that could be implement by athletes to improve their own mental health and create a work-sport-life balance.

The data also revealed which clusters rated most to least importance on a scale of mental health versus performance. The clusters that rated highest on the mental health axis were social support, managing setbacks, self-awareness and stress management. Intentional practice was revealed to be of least importance regarding improving mental health. On the performance axis, managing setbacks was the most important, with intentional practice just behind. Social support was the least important cluster regarding performance.

The overall research and sentiment in this study revealed that for high level athletes to reach their peak performance, they most train both their physical and mental capacities in an effort to achieve success. When either the physical or mental side of the athlete is off, the athlete could struggle to achieve their desired achievement.

__________________________________________________________

Ayala, E., Nelson, L., Bartholomew, M., & Plummer, D. (2022). A conceptual model for mental health and performance of North American athletes: A mixed methods study. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 61, 102176.

Related Research