Coaches
Corner
Marck Harrison regrouping and calming his body
and muscles and visualizing winning his next game
while in the call room immediately after a long
game in which Marck won in tie-break against
Tammy (Canada). Marck was toe to toe in the call
room at the time this picture was taken with the
number one player in the world Sousa (Brazil) who
he played minutes after getting off court from the
previous game.
Parpans 2015
I am convinced that games are often won and
lost in the call room. You have the power to let
or not let your opponent get in your head
before you even enter the court.
-Kathy Brinker; Head Coach USA Boccia
Boccia is a closed skill sport- you only have to respond to the balls that are in front
of you. There is no wind, no person with their hands waving in the air, no opponent
screaming in your face. It is you, a ball, a court and what balls are already out on
court. Nothing is moving! I pull many of my coaching strategies from other closed
skill precision sports such as golf, archery, curling, billiards… you get the idea. In
these sports as like boccia, the environment does not move. You are reacting to a
still environment…but it is up to you to remain still! What a brutal game. We are
asking individuals, many of whom have increased tone during stress and asking
them to perform under stress. Welcome to athletics- all athletes perform under
stress! It is how you handle the stress that ultimately makes you a champion or an
athlete who repeatedly looses against an opponent of equal skill.
So what happens to your body during stress- there are many physiological
responses to stress. Many individuals with CP have an increase in spasticity
(tightness) of muscles. An increase of adrenalin and sudden movements of certain
limbs can also lead to more clonus (rapid successions of muscle contractions) for
many individuals with SCI and some with CP. Some individuals also report being
cold/hot during stressful competition.
So what can you do to reduce physiological responses? By being mentally
prepared you can limit some responses to stress while keeping adrenalin down,
breathing normal and having your heart rate within normal limits. Also layering
clothing can assist in your temperature control. Knowing what your body feels like
during competitive stress does certainly help. Deliberately set up very stressful and
long practices. Write down or audio record yourself talking about your stressful
experiences. Record what your body feels like and what you were able to do to calm
your body- stretching, breathing, yawning, shifting your weight. The little things can
make a big difference in your competition- identify them and journal! Breathing
rhythmically is so very important during all sports. Proper oxygen helps reduce
many of these competing physiological responses. Yes all athletes need to practice
breathing. When do you take deep breaths on court? Practice deep/short breaths in
your routine on court. Figure out when to deep/short breaths help your game. Let’s
now talk about the specifics to a positive mental game.
Pregame and Preshot routine: Pregame and preshot routines are critical to
consistent performance. I have also observed that pregame/shot routines give you
confidence and laser focus on the game rather than your opponent. Why waste time
thinking about your opponent, be confident in your own game. You cannot control
the other players game- remember it is a closed skill sport! You can’t block their
shots, get in their face, and poke the ball away during their shots. But you can get
their attention in your own confidence and make them have self-doubt. Pregame
routines often include time in the practice courts and then a distraction prior to
going to the call room or in the call room. Some athletes use headphones, others
keep there head down and go to “another place” of rest and relaxation. Whatever
your relaxation technique, this should be the same before every game no matter
whether you are playing a novice player or the number 1 player in the world. When
you are doing this same routine you are saying to your body “all games are the
same”. As for preshot routines, again different athletes have different routines; they
should always be the same. This is one area that many athletes do not practice. If
you wipe your hand with a towel- do it every time whether you need it or not
physically, your mind needs it!! Again consistency of your preshot routine is critical
for laser focus and calming your mind and body. When you are practicing on your
home court, practice going to another room or area of the gym and practice like it is
the call room. Also when you are practicing full games, have someone play next to
you. If you do not have another athlete at your practices, have a coach sitting in a
chair next to you playing against you. There is a rhythm to this sport. You need to
feel that rhythm. You need to know what it feels like having someone next to you
when you shoot. Your preshot routine is part of that rhythm. Another preshot
routine that is very successful for high-level athletes is visualization.
Visualization- Visualization is getting a picture in your head prior to the shot. A
shot is a response to the picture in your head. Some people close their eyes prior to
a shot and “play a video in their mind”. Others have this deep stare where they close
off everything around them and play the video. It is a mental rehearsal of the perfect
shot. Let’s take the visualization a little farther. You can visualize in a reverse
chaining format (running the video backward). So you visualize what your hand
looks like immediately during release, now visualize your arm coming forward; now
visualize what the ball looks like in you hand as you are preparing for the shot. Now
visualize and play the video in your head in real time going forward. You have now
convinced your mind and body that you can make the shot- you just mentally
practiced what you have previously practiced physically- now go make the shot!!
Some athletes even put the roar of the crowd after their shot in their video. One of
the athletes who currently uses visualization effectively on every shot is the number
1 golf player in the world- Jason Day. Watch this video about visualization also here
is another video with Jason talking about his visualization routine Jason Day.
Coaches, you can help this process by videotaping your athletes regularly so they
can see themselves and know what they look like when they make a great shot. May
I suggest the app called Coach’s Eye. This app allows you to video analyze yourself
against yourself side by side and see how different body positions produce different
shots. You can literally measure the angle of the ramp with this video analysis. Very
easy to use and archive video.
Dealing with Nerves- I love reading Dr. Bob’s (Rotella) books on sport psychology.
His recent book How Champions Think is a good one! Dr. Bob talks a lot about
dealing with your nerves and using them to your advantage. Rotella writes about the
preshot setup that leads to quick decisiveness. I like the word quick, many of the US
players slow play the ball and that leads to issues in playing within the new time
frames of the BISFed rules. I also like his ideas about having self-talk about what to
do, rather than what not to do. Make a preshot routine that is clear and leaves no
decisions once you commit to the shot. Once you get the ball into your hand or in the
ramp there should be no doubt. Doubt is what cause nerves to increase. Don’t get me
wrong, nerves are good and give us hyper focus, but doubt is an enemy of the game.
Pick your line or spot during your preshot routine, be clear in your mind then make
your shot.
Marcks’ mental game was some of the best I have ever seen during my 8 years of
coaching on the international level that day at Parpans. You could see his sharp eye
focus where he blocked out everything else going on in venue. What did he do to be
that focused against Sousa? He used pregame and preshot routines that he had
routinely practiced on his home court. He knew he could win! He got out of his
own way and had fun and let the game progress –no matter the outcome (Dr. Bob
Rotella). He saw himself winning when he was within himself in the call room. He
visualized his shots and played the game of his life. There was a rhythm to
everything he did prior to the game and when he was on court. They (he and Sousa)
scored off of each other’s jacks. Marck made some amazing creative shots that had
Sousa wondering, “who is this athlete- he is to be respected”. Although Marck came
up a couple of points short, the match could have gone either way. By using all these
calming techniques Marck showed that his mental as well as physical practice
allowed him to stay in step with the best player in the world, right after coming off
an exhausting tie-break win. Marck knew and even verbalized going into the call
room that Sousa was “just a man” who had done great things as a player, but was
beatable. Next time Marck your going to come up with W- I know it and you know
it!! You have the mental game!
-Kathy Brinker