Olympic mindset
Chris Brutnsch takes us through it.
Let's start with the basics; what are psychological skill techniques? A clinical definition is the constant practice of a specific psychological skill that can help enhance performance and achieve greater selfsatisfaction within the sport. It is rare to find a simplified definition in the sports psychology world, and simple does not mean easy.
If you rewatch, on Youtube, the 2016 Olympic men's gold medal match between Korea's Ku Bonchan and France's Jean-charles Valladont, you will see Bonchan take aim for the final arrow that sealed his first Olympic gold medal. What most people don't remember was the end before the decisive arrow. The future winner did not look as composed leading into the end, after Valladont had rallied back from two sets down. The pressure began increasing for both archers and the coaches were busy trying to calm their athletes like skittish racehorses on the track, using words to help their archers keep their focus on the shot process and not on the most significant moment in their archery lives. Finally, the horn sounds and Bonchan approaches the shooting line; taking his attention away from his coach, he closes his eyes and begins to mumble words under his breath, almost like a silent prayer. That is what it might look like to the untrained eye but, to those in the know, he is using one of the critical psychological skill techniques all the Korean team use: self-talk.
Self-talk
Self-talk is a technique that unfortunately falls victim to oversimplification. If you were to ask someone what it means to "do" self-talk, you might get a response of positive statements like "I can do it," or one of my personal favourites: "it's like me to shoot a ten."