from strong lungs to good swim technique. But it does not depend on these alone. Tri- athlon performance is also supported by mental skills, which are the psychological attributes that help you make the most of physical skills you develop in training. Preparing the mind for excellent perfor-


mance helps all athletes. Athletes spend countless hours preparing their bodies for race day but often leave the mind out of the training equation. Most elite athletes will tell you that mental preparation plays a huge role in determining success or fail- ure. No matter how ready the body is for an event, without mental resolve, perfor- mance is going to suffer. When the mind quits, the body soon follows. Likewise, when an athlete’s body is trashed near the end of a race, he or she can help overcome some of the physical pain with mental training techniques. It is important to have an open line of


communication with your athletes. Men- tal training is very individualized. You’ll want to experiment until you find mental training methods that work best for your athletes. Those that handle the stress of competition easily may need little more than a smile on race day to deliver peak performances, while others require elabo- rate routines that may be complex and time consuming. But everyone benefits from some degree of mental preparation. Mental training lends itself well to a


philosophy aimed at athletes’ growth and development — physical, mental, social, moral and emotional. In fact, mental train- ing is training in life skills such as learning how to set goals, how to handle pressure and criticism and how to say focused on the task at hand. There are four major mental training tools to develop your ath- letes’ mental skills: goal setting, imagery, relaxation and self talk.


GOAL SETTING The good thing for most athletes is that goal setting is as natural and inevitable as breathing. Virtually all athletes are intui- tively goal driven. Setting realistic but chal- lenging short-term goals provides a sense of direction, thereby increasing motiva- tion as reflected in increased effort and persistence. Challenging, realistic goals


help athletes get into their optimal energy zone and direct that energy to the task at hand. Although striving to win is impor- tant, focusing on winning can create ex- cessive stress. When athletes perceive the challenge not as winning but as achieving their realistically set performance goals, the challenge will always be near the ath- lete’s present skill level and will create an optimal skill-challenge balance.


IMAGERY Imagery is structured daydreaming. It in- volves creating or recreating an experi- ence in the mind’s eye, incorporating a variety of senses in the absence of exter- nal stimuli. Teaching athletes to imagine themselves attaining their goals can help raise their motivation. By imagining pre- vious strong performances, athletes can identify their optimal energy levels and strategies for getting into an effective en- ergy zone prior to performing. Using imag- ery effectively requires the ability to focus on desired images and thus can be used to develop additional skills. Imagery can be used to help athletes manage competitive stress. Athletes are less likely to experi- ence elevated stress if they have imagined themselves dealing with obstacles and un- anticipated events that create stress.


RELAXATION Learning to energize when feeling flat and developing the ability to relax when energy levels are high can help build mo- tivation. Relaxation and energization tech- niques can help athletes consistently en- ter and stay in their optimal energy zone, which is crucial to performing consistently at their peak, while being too energetic or not energetic enough hurts athletes’ abil- ity to direct their attention to the task on hand. Relaxation and energization tech- niques help athletes improve their con- centration skills, learning to purposefully relax when experiencing stress can help athletes manage their emotions. Energiz- ing techniques can be used when athletes feel that low-level stress is preventing them from getting into their ideal mental state for performing. By learning to con- trol their energy levels through relaxation and energizing, athletes will develop a


sense of control and enhance self-confi- dence.


SELF-TALK The key question for a coach: can you afford to ignore your athlete’s internal language that impacts strategy, tactics, motivation, emotions, drive, confidence, anxiety, sense of expectations, pressure and trust in the coaching plan? Despite the critical role of language


for an athlete, most athletes leave their self-talk to chance. This is frequently why athletes are inconsistent. Good self-talk by itself cannot create world-class ath- letes, but poor self-talk by itself can undo months of hard work. A coach who under- stands and shapes an athlete’s self-talk can help insure that years of effort work- ing on technique won’t be wasted. Athletes can use self-talk to help moti-


vate themselves. Self-talk can either raise or lower energy. Athletes can use effec- tive self-talk strategies to reach their ideal mental state before competing. Stress is strongly influenced by athletes’ percep- tions and interpretations of events that happen before and during competition. Athletes can use self-talk to develop a positive outlook on events that normally result in elevated stress. An athlete’s ultimate key to success is a


focus on mental skills training, and that is your job as a coach. You must not only be- lieve in the value of this training but also understand it thoroughly, just as you must understand the skills and tactics of swim, bike and run in order to teach them. You, as a coach, must be willing to make mental skills training a regular part of your formal training program. Ideally, you will teach and refine the mental skills that on a daily basis can help your athletes become more successful.


Hector Torres is a USA Triathlon Level II certified coach, and is also a certified coach with USA Cycling, USA Track and Field and USA Swimming. Hector is a tri-bike fit pro- fessional, and is the regional chair for USA Triathlon’s Florida Region.


PERFORMANCECOACHING | page 13


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