Over the years I have worked
with professional athletes, college basketball players that started on
a nationally ranked top ten program, (UCONN
Basketball) high school athletes, and recreational athletes.
They all have the same basic goal, to be the best that they can be.
The Michael Jordans, Kobe Bryants, Tiger Woods,
and Ken Griffeys all strive to be on top of their game.
These gifted athletes all have tremendous technical skills, but as the
samurai knew, mere techniques only get you out of some jams. The
power of the mind transcends skills and allows you to move beyond technique.
Aikido provides players with a way to learn how to concentrate, direct,
and focus their attention to the task at hand, and remain composed under
trying circumstances.
"Many thanks for your excellent presentations
to our team regarding the benefits of AIKIDO training. Your demonstrated
knowledge of the psychological and physical attributes of AIKIDO and their
applications for a basketball player is most helpful."
-Paul Brazeau, Former Head Basketball Coach, University of Hartford
Numerous athletes have started to see the true benefits in learning mind and body skills, or what I would refer to as "centering". When I work with athletes I concentrate on the following areas:
l. Performance anxiety
2. Focusing/ Present moment
3. Economy of Motion
4. Relaxation
As a person who weaves
sports psychology and martial arts principles I abhor the trite phrases,
"be more intense", or "give me 110% effort." The 110%
effort idea is ridiculous. How can you give more than you have?
In actuality when you ask your players to give 110% effort you are stressing
and taxing your players. They will not be able to perform at their
maximum efficiency. There is a great story from Bob Krigel (sports psychologist)
when he was working with runners who were attempting to make the l988 Olympics.
He spoke to a group of about 8 American runners who all had 2 poor heats.
He sensed they were stressed. He told them that when they run the
last heat to give only 90% effort. All the runners thought he was
crazy. They told him that this was for the opportunity to make the
l988 Olympics for the U.S.A.. Why are you telling us not to give
110% effort? He said, "You guys haven't done well in the first two
heats, and you have nothing to lose by listening to me." They grudgingly
consented. Well, each of the runners had their best times of the
day, and one runner broke an unofficial Olympic record on that particular
heat. What can we learn from this story? Most coaches don't
know how to optimize their athletes performance. The yellers and
screamers put fear into the sensitive athlete and in reality don't allow
the players to grow and truly improve.
The words "intensity" and "concentration"
are additional misnomers in the field of sports today. Some
of the prevalent phrases in the sports world are: "We lost our intensity".
"We must be intense for the entire game", "We lost our concentration",
"We weren't able to concentrate when it counted". I believe that
the words intensity and concentration are not what players
and coaches really mean, or even desire. When you examine the word
"intense" you discover that it is derived from Latin and means "to be stretched
tight." Athletes CAN'T be stretched out if they wish to achieve peak
performance. The word "intense" really creates a mind set which is
counterproductive to what an optimum athletic performance really is.
An intense mind set is one in which the player tries so hard that in actuality
they become drained and create tunnel vision. The end result is that
the added stress tends to make them play poorly. A player who exhibits
intensity can't be totally relaxed with mind and body. These terms
are mutually exclusive.
The basic problem in sports
today is that players have been coached very well in the area of physical
skills. However they often haven't been taught the mental side of
sports. Many athletes still divide the physical and mental aspects
of sports. Coaches are really to blame for this. Many of them
have no idea how to teach this mind and body connection in order to optimize
a player's potential. At best, coaches tend to give lip service to
this very important point. Since coaches know that the mental aspect
is considered important they have coined the above stated buzz words like
"intensity" and "concentration" which is similar to using a band-aid on
a serious problem. These phrases are now euphemisms for the mental
aspect of sports.
CENTERED AWARENESS
This is when your mind and body
are in sync. Being centered is a major component of Aikido training.
In this state you're relaxed, you can respond automatically, and time slows
down. Athletes talk about being "in the zone" when the action slows
down and they are very aware of what is happening. Tony Gywnn, arguably
one of the best hitters in baseball over the last several decades, says that when he is in "the
zone" the pitched ball appears to come in so slowly that he can actually
see the seams on the ball. Numerous athletes have talked about how
the tempo of the game at certain intervals slows down and they are able
to see the entire field with clarity and total awareness.
Being in the state of centered
awareness has established parameters, can be taught, and can be empirically
tested. Therefore players and coaches alike can verify if they
are truly centered. Meanwhile intensity and concentration do not
have any known parameters, can not be taught, and furthermore can not be
tested. The use of the centered awareness mindset is a state where
the mind and body are unified so that in enhances your chances of maximizing
your potential in order to attain peak performance. By implementing
a mind body training regime coaches and players would advance beyond their
peers who ignore such thinking. However most coaches won't buy into
this because they are ignorant of it and they can't be in control of the
training. The enlightened coaches like Phil Jackson, of
the Los Angeles Lakers, realizes
this. His book Sacred Hoops: Spiritual Lessons of a Hardwood Warrior
clearly speaks to the point of the mindset I am espousing.
If we can have coaches and players
rethink some traditional sports concepts and alter their mindsets, then
athletes will be able to achieve to their fullest in the sports arena.