Too Many Goals, Expectations Can Sideline a Player’s Success

Most of my work as a sports psychologist has been with highly skilled athletes. These men and women use psychological techniques to get the most out of their already finely tuned physical abilities.

But I’ve found that many recreational athletes--people who play golf or tennis on the weekend, say--try to use the same techniques. They read books and magazine articles by well-known athletes and coaches, purchase equipment endorsed by them and practice hard.

When they try to use a star’s psychological approach, however, their techniques are usually incomplete, unsystematic and unsophisticated. A salesman I’ll call Bill is a good example.

It was a big day for Bill--a chance to play golf with his company’s president, an important client and another salesman. He had been practicing every night for two weeks and had his best round of the year the previous Sunday.

But when he hit a few balls on the practice tee before the round, his confidence started to fade. He shanked three 7-iron shots in a row. Frustrated, he pulled out his driver and tried that. His old slice had returned.

He started to panic. “The client will think I’m a klutz.” “The boss will never give me the account.” As he tried to relax, he remembered reading how Jack Nicklaus prepares for a tournament by visualizing what he wants to do on each hole. Bill closed his eyes and saw himself scoring a birdie on the first hole.

As he teed up, his thoughts were still hectic. “I wonder how I look.” “Whatever you do, don’t slice.” “I hope I get the account.” He swung, watched the ball arch into the woods on the right and slammed his driver to the ground. He was in for a long day.

What had Bill done wrong? A lot of things, but mainly he had botched his mental rehearsal. In trying to follow Nicklaus’ example, he had visualized the result he wanted--getting a birdie--rather than concentrating on the specific steps of addressing the ball correctly, centering his weight carefully and swinging completely through the ball.

He also had too many goals and expectations. Bill was thinking about pleasing the boss, impressing the client and beating the other salesman when he should have been focusing on the real task at hand: Playing each shot as well as he could. And he forgot a cardinal rule of any sport: Relax and have fun. Instead, he became tense and didn’t know the proper techniques to relieve his tension.

Used properly, psychological techniques can help recreational athletes as well as professionals reach their full potential. Here are brief rundowns on some valuable techniques and advice on how to use them correctly.

Goal-setting: Long-term objectives, such as winning a tournament or beating some specific time for the 100-meter backstroke, are really dreams rather than goals; they don’t give you a way of achieving what you want. In contrast, setting task-specific goals such as being “loose and energetic,” concentrating on the “reach of the stroke” and periodically thinking “high in the water and fast” are steps that can really help you reach your dream.

Think in terms of simple, specific goals to improve what needs work. Use longer-range dreams as motivators to keep you going.

Relaxation training: The tranquillity and peace produced by relaxation allows athletes to concentrate fully and be better prepared to meet the demands of their sport. This is the sequence that I recommend for reaching this state:

1. Focus attention on each muscle group, starting at your forehead and moving down to your toes.

2. Tense one muscle group.

3. Maintain the tension for a period of 5 to 7 seconds.

4. Release the tension.

5. Concentrate for 20 to 30 seconds on the pleasant sensations in the muscles as they relax.

6. Repeat the sequence for each muscle group in turn.