Winning in The Mind – The Psychology of the Successful Coach

Tom Bates

As the evolution of coaching practice continues to advance, the importance of applied sport psychology will play a central role in that movement. Coaches who understand the importance of a positive mentality to achieve competitive toughness with their players will sustain competitive advantage at all levels of the game. Developing a winning mindset through fostering healthy relationships, will become a defining skill for the coach of the future. This session will be a blend of inspiration and simple actionable strategies for coaches and practitioners. It is an opportunity to study integrated practical techniques and interventions from applied experience, based on the science of psychology that will help create winning attitudes and re-define coaching excellence. In this talk, Tom will offer insights from his pitch side and changing room experiences from behind the scenes in the English Premier League and Championship divisions, to help turn optimism, energy and inspiration into positive performance outcomes and results.

Mind over muscle

Samuele Marcora

Traditionally it has been assumed that highly-motivated people terminate endurance exercise because of muscle fatigue or, more recently, because of the subconscious action of a central governor that forces humans to stop before exercise can cause serious bodily damage. This talk describes an alternative psychobiological model that integrates exercise physiology with motivation psychology and cognitive neuroscience to provide a single and testable theoretical explanation for the effects of both physiological and psychological manipulations on endurance performance. The practical applications of this psychobiological model to the preparation, monitoring, and training of endurance athletes will also be discussed.

Mental health in elite athletes: symptoms and prevention

Karin Moesch, PhD

Swedish Sports Confederation, Lund University, FEPSAC

There is an inherent assumption within the context of elite sports that athletes are mentally tough and manage the challenges of the elite sport life without any difficulty. This assumption is insofar problematic, because it impedes those athletes who are struggling with mental health problems (such as stress-related problems, sleep difficulties, and anxiety) from talking about how there are feeling and through from having a chance to get the support they would need. In recent years, more and more well-known athletes such as Michael Phelps and Lindsay Vonn publicly talked about their mental health problems, which has led to an increased focus on this topic in the world of sports.

In the first part of the presentation, I will raise awareness about some of the mental health problems that elite athletes can experience. Symptoms of different disorders, as well as their appearance in the world of sports will be discussed. Moreover, some of the sport-specific risk factors will be raised that potentially can impact the athletes´ mental health. In the second part of the presentation, I will present some ideas about how to work with prevention of mental health problems. For instance, a positive environment can lead to flourishing in athletes. Likewise, there are specific topics that athletes can work on to optimize their mental health and decrease the risk to develop mental health problems.

A new approach to doping prevention for young elite athletes

Anne-Marie Elbe

Leipzig University

Doping is a problem in elite sports and there has been an increased interest in anti-doping and prevention programs over the past years. However, current doping prevention programs that primarily involve pedagogical education in youth have not shown to be very effective. This presentation therefore focuses on a novel sport psychological approach to doping prevention which addresses moral aspects of doping and targets the individual decision-making process. The presentation will discuss if ethical training programs adapted to the field of sports and aimed at teaching ethical competencies can prevent doping and avoid deviant behavior in sports. During an ethical decision-making training, athletes are confronted with dilemma situations in which they need to evaluate and rank arguments for and against the decision to dope. Through this reflective process the athletes are supposed to learn how to cognitively resolve the doping situation, enabling them to make reflected decisions in the future. Practical implications as well as future research directions will be discussed.

Right now we’re preparing materials for the new next year – conference 2019!