The stress involved in a Rugby game can cause players to react both physically and mentally in a manner, which can negatively affect their performance.
They may become tense, their heart rates rise, they think negative thoughts, they worry about the outcome of the game, and they find it hard to concentrate on the task at hand. This has led coaches to take an increasing interest in the field of sport psychology and in particular in the area of stress control. That interest has focused on techniques which players can use in the game situation to maintain control and optimize their performance. Once learned, these techniques allow the player to relax and focus their attention in a positive manner on the task of preparing for and participation in the game.
Mental preparation is one technique that will help improve performance.
What is Mental Preparation?
Mental preparation involves the player imagining themselves in a specific environment or performing a specific activity, for example kicking at goal. These images should have the player performing these items very well and successfully seeing themselves enjoying the activity and feeling satisfied with their performance. They should attempt to enter fully into the image with all their senses. See, hear, feel, touch, smell and perform as they would like to perform in real life. A player in a fully relaxed state, is particularly receptive to mental imagery/preparation.
When Should Mental preparation Be Used?
To become highly proficient at the constructive use of imagery, you have to use it every day, on your way to training, during training, after training, and in the evenings before sleeping. If you want to perfect and use mental imagery to your fullest advantage you can start by doing two things. In every training session, before you execute any skill or combination of skills, first do it in imagery as perfectly and precisely as possible. See, feel, and experience yourself moving through the sections in your mind as you would like them actually to unfold. In competitions, before the game starts, mentally recall the game plan, significant plays, skills, movements, reactions, or feelings that you want to carry into the event.
What Can Mental Preparation Be Used For?
Mental Preparation can be used:
To see success. Many players “see” themselves achieving their goals on a regular basis, both performing skills at a high level and seeing the desired performance outcomes.
To motivate. Before or during training sessions, calling up images of your goals for that session, or of a past or future competition or opposition player can serve a motivational purpose. It can vividly remind you of your objective, which can result in increased intensity in training.
To perfect skills. Mental preparation is often used to facilitate the learning and refinement of skills or skill sequences. The best players “see” and “feel” themselves performing perfect skills, programs, routines, or plays on a very regular basis.
To familiarise. Mental preparation can be effectively used to familiarize yourself with all kinds of things, such as a football ground or stadium, the weather, complex play or routine, a game plan.
To set the stage for performance.Mental preparation is often an integral part of the pre-game plan, which helps set the mental stage for a good performance. Players do a complete mental run through of the key elements of their performance. This helps draw out their desired pre-game feeling and focus. It also helps keep negative thoughts from interfering with a positive pre-game focus.
To focus. Mental preparation can be useful in helping you to re-focus when the need arises. For example, if a warm up is feeling sluggish, imagery of a previous best performance or previous best game focus can help get things back on track. You can also use imagery as a means of refocusing within the game by imagining what you should focus on and feeling that focus.
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