Being ready: the importance of mental and emotional preparation
Senior Nina Pitre, a member of the WHS girls golf team, gets ready to tee off, nervous as ever, hoping to do well. Thoughts like “Am I good enough?” or “I should’ve done more to prepare” fly around her head. Trying to squash those thoughts, Pitre takes a deep breath and thinks: “I can do this. I worked hard.”
Mental preparation is a vital aspect in sports. This often entails preparing, possessing positive thoughts and calming your nerves. The mental preparation that Pitre and other athletes execute before their matches is one of the keys to their success.
Golf is a mental sport and the only way that Pitre can keep her emotions in check is if she prepares herself before a match. “I know from experience if I calm myself down, stay positive and get ready to compete for the win, I always do my best,” she said.
Cross Country and Track Coach Christopher Tafelski is a firm believer in mental prep. In order to perform to one’s full ability, there has to be some planning. “A lot of it is establishing good, sound routines so there’s minimal decision-making and it’s like being on autopilot,” Tafelski said.
Mental prep is also a way to combat and confront doubt. “Everyone has doubt and the emotions of high school athletes are just the same as those of Olympians,” said Tafelski.
One of the most difficult aspects of preparing for your sport is recreating the emotions in practice that happen during the actual competition. Even veteran coach Tafelski has trouble doing this. “The hard part is that it’s almost impossible in a practice environment to replicate a stressful competition,” said Tafelski. “A soccer team can kick all the penalty kicks in practice, but it’s not the same thing as when you’re at the end of a playoff game.”
Varsity Volleyball Coach Beverly Torok uses her team’s practice time to prep and focus on their games. “We try to be positive in practice and with each other,” she said. “I know in volleyball I give everybody a voice. When we come together and talk about things, everybody gets to say their opinions.”
Tafelski combats uncertainty by giving his team a race plan several days in advance. This allows the runners to digest the information and implement strategies into their practices. It also allows them to ask hypothetical questions about situations that may occur during the race, which often provides comfort.
Whether you’re a coach or athlete, mental preparation affects every aspect of the game. “We don’t shoot people down,” said Torok. “I try not to allow a negative mentality, a negative aspect, because it doesn’t help in our game play or in our team as a whole. The positive mental aspect tops the list.”
Cross Country and Track Coach Christopher Tafelski is a firm believer in mental prep. In order to perform to one’s full ability, there has to be some planning. “A lot of it is establishing good, sound routines so there’s minimal decision-making and it’s like being on autopilot,” Tafelski said.
Mental prep is also a way to combat and confront doubt. “Everyone has doubt and the emotions of high school athletes are just the same as those of Olympians,” said Tafelski.
One of the most difficult aspects of preparing for your sport is recreating the emotions in practice that happen during the actual competition. Even veteran coach Tafelski has trouble doing this. “The hard part is that it’s almost impossible in a practice environment to replicate a stressful competition,” said Tafelski. “A soccer team can kick all the penalty kicks in practice, but it’s not the same thing as when you’re at the end of a playoff game.”
Varsity Volleyball Coach Beverly Torok uses her team’s practice time to prep and focus on their games. “We try to be positive in practice and with each other,” she said. “I know in volleyball I give everybody a voice. When we come together and talk about things, everybody gets to say their opinions.”
Tafelski combats uncertainty by giving his team a race plan several days in advance. This allows the runners to digest the information and implement strategies into their practices. It also allows them to ask hypothetical questions about situations that may occur during the race, which often provides comfort.
Whether you’re a coach or athlete, mental preparation affects every aspect of the game. “We don’t shoot people down,” said Torok. “I try not to allow a negative mentality, a negative aspect, because it doesn’t help in our game play or in our team as a whole. The positive mental aspect tops the list.”