Psychological Preparation for Rugby

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Psychological Preparation for Rugby

A vital factor to consider is the mental training that parallels your physical training. You must create planned mental skill workouts to develop a level where you are able to maximise training sessions and achieve peak performances consistently in competition.

You will never get to the top without developing your mental toughness

Excellence in rugby performance is a combination of your skill and total rugby fitness - physical and mental - accompanied by optimal recovery strategies, fluid and nutrition.

If all else is equal, why do your performances fluctuate?

Because you need to manage your physical abilities and potential with appropriate psychological skills. Achieving consistency and performing to your limit is heavily reliant on your mental state, which, like physical skills, can be developed through training.

Reaching the ideal performance state - physically and mentally is your ultimate goal

In this section we review the four key mental skills that contribute to mental toughness with examples of training drills to provide you with an insight to psychological skills training. If you wish to develop your skills further, consider using an accredited Sport Psychologist.

Four components of mental toughness:

• Commitment
• Confidence
• Control
• Concentration

Other areas that facilitate these skills are also considered including self-talk and imagery.
In addition to developing physical, technical and tactical skills, it is essential that players are mentally tough

Commitment

Committed players work on all aspects of their game - techniques, tactics, physical fitness and mental skills

Possessing the desire to achieve is a trait that characterises elite players, who understand what they are trying to develop and do so without constant supervision or persuasion. There are 3 phases in establishing absolute commitment:

• Determine your aims and ambitions
• Identify conflicting interests
• Convert aims into goals

If you are ambitious as a player, you probably dream about what you want to achieve in sport

Aims and Ambitions

Discussing aims and ambitions with friends and coaches, and writing them down is in itself a form of commitment. Consider all elements linked to your performance and highlight strengths and areas in need of improvement.

Identify Conflict

To have realistic aims and ambitions you need to consider other issues in your life such as work, school, family and other sports and hobbies. Competing for time and energy is not ideal so manage your interests carefully and decide what is important in the short-term.

Goals

Transferring aims and ambitions into goals is a systematic method proven to facilitate commitment

Effective goal setting relies on the SMARTER Principle:

• Specific
• Measureable
• Accepted
• Realistic
• Time phased
• Exciting
• Recorded

Goal setting has positive effects on all your performance elements.

Self-confidence

Self-confidence helps players feel good, be innovative, and overcome set-backs

Coaches in particular need to create an environment that provides players with the opportunity to feel competent. In every squad there are players who are less proficient with their skills and need to be given the chance to do things that they are good at.

Confidence is highly related to realistic and achievable goals. This may be illustrated by using what is termed the 'performance highway':

There is an optimum level of challenge to provoke successful performance. Each player has a different 'highway' and that the more success a player experiences in games, the greater the level of self-confidence in future encounters.

As well as goal setting, confidence may be enhanced by:

• Watching others perform skills successfully
• Watch yourself (video) performing successfully
• Coach encouragement and endorsement
• Positive self-talk

Focus on the positive aspects of your weekly training programme - write them down

Key Point – Watch video clips of successful performance i.e. a successful goal or big tackle. Imagine replicating the successful performance prior to games to boost confidence

Key Point - Analyse your self-talk - you'll probably find it's negative i.e. "I feel weak today", and convert it to a positive statement i.e. "I feel strong, fit and confident in my own ability."

Concentration

There are basically 3 aspects to the mental skill of concentration:

• Focusing on appropriate cues
• Staying focused
• Aware of changes as they take place

Examples of appropriate cues in sport are the ball and the opposition, while an inappropriate cue is the crowd or worrying about losing. Concentration can be improved by including drills in your overall training plan.

Get in the zone - maximise attention and minimise distractions

Application Example 1

Concentration Drill

Objective

To improve concentration when kicking for goal - consistent goal kicking technique
Instruction
During a kicking situation there are two particular cues to pay attention to in the act of kicking. Firstly, the manner in which you plant your non-kicking foot beside the ball, and secondly, striking the ball smoothly and with control. Any other cues at this moment are detrimental to concentration.

Key Points

When the foot is planted correctly, the head is down and the knee is over the ball, while focus is aimed at a firm strike. Use key words such as 'plant' and 'smooth.'

Start your kicking concentration session close to the posts, and instead of aiming between them, actually aim for one of the posts, so that it acts as a more definite target.

Focus on what you are thinking about while kicking - adjust your thinking so that the critical cues are your only concern.

From a skills and fitness coaching perspective, concentration is maintained if players are experiencing stimulation and variety in drills, meetings are short and focus on key points.
Methods to facilitate concentration and learning in your coaching:

• Skills sessions last no more than 60 minutes (and less if possible)
• Variety in sessions
• Emotional variety i.e. fun drills, physical toughness drills, encourage success, critique and provide solutions for errors
• Spend no more than 12 minutes talking to players pre-match and focus on 3 key points
• Spend no more than 3 minutes talking to players at half time and focus on no more than 3 key points
• Keep emphasising the relevant cues

Controlling the potentially disruptive emotions of stress and anxiety will have a positive effect on your playing or coaching performance

Due to the contact nature of most sports, levels of arousal are generally high although this varies between individuals depending on playing position, responsibility within the team and perceived demands i.e. opposition.

Your challenge is to maximise the positive effects of stress and anxiety and prevent the disruptive effects.

The first step in addressing the stress element of your performance is to identify and recognise an experience that was particularly stressful:

• Recall a particularly stressful experience while playing/coaching
• What did you think during this event?
• What emotions and physical reactions did you feel?
• How did you react to the situation?

Some players thrive when 'the going gets tough' while others will shy away
The 'thinking' outcome often controls the 'feeling' and 'reaction' outcomes. You have control over what you think so you are potentially capable of managing your feelings and actions. The continuum along which the positive and negative outcomes run is determined by arousal.

Arousal is a level of intensity and includes responses such as muscle tension, a racing heartbeat and butterflies

Application Example 2

Ideal Performance State pre-game for sports people

Objective

To improve awareness of physical and mental arousal levels
Instruction
Monitor the following aspects of behaviour the night before a game, the morning before, during the warm-up and post match:

• Heart rate
• Butterflies
• Negative self-talk
• Sense of lack of control
• Muscle tension
• Breathing rate
• Sweating rate

Monitor these characteristics over a period of weeks and include training sessions. Compare and contrast arousal symptoms between successful performances and poor performances. Then manipulate your arousal levels.

Outcomes of over-arousal may lead to:

• Poor communication on the pitch
• Over-eager - going for the 'big hit' or tackling high
• Arguing with fellow players and officials
• Committing penalties
• Dirty play
• Loss of concentration
• Technical and tactical mistakes

Coaches are also guilty of suffering from stress and exhibiting negative signs of anxiety

This may lead to the following behaviour:

• Negative comments during pre-match talk
• Too much talking to players
• Continually changing game plan
• Lack of trust in players
• Appearing stressed
• Attempting to arouse players

Strategies to deal with over-arousal:

• Stretch to relax muscle
• Focus on slow technical drills
• Slow breathing with deep breaths
• Focus on the task
• Stop negative thoughts and discuss issues unrelated to performance
• Play relaxing music
• Consider your own strengths
• Relaxed pre-match talk, focusing on fun and enjoyment

Strategies to deal with under-arousal:

• Introduce cheering and yelling!
• Increase breathing rate - short and deep
• Play loud 'pumping' music
• Increase exercise tempo
• Cold shower
• Consider strengths of opposition
• Set a goal
• Emotional pre-match talk

Performance profiling

Performance profiling offers a way of rating qualities necessary to achieve top performance in rugby
Players and coaches can use this method with great effect, and assess their own performance in relation to the qualities selected. These qualities may include fitness, tactical, technical and psychological skills.
The profile provides the player and coach with a picture of training priorities

If a discrepancy is 2 or more, the player and coach must discuss why they disagree
For example, the player rates his tackling as 4 while the coach rates it as 6 out 10. The coach may justify his rating by referring to tackle counts that have been recorded over a period of time. Conversely, if the player has rated confidence as 5 while the coach rates it as 7, the player can admit that he is not as confident as he appears.

The benefits of profiling include:

• Training progress can be measured with periodic profiles
• Profiles illustrate any differences between player and coach ratings
• Ratings help highlight areas of strength and weakness
• Priorities (lowest ratings) are established for training
• Profiles create a visual display
• Profile acts a relatively reliable fitness test

You may use a Mental Skills Performance Profile to prioritise which areas are most important to you.

Goal setting

Goal setting is a vital tool for players and coaches - it gives them direction and a pathway to success. A well designed goal setting programme helps players and coaches to:

• Improve motivation
• Build self-confidence
• Develop an action plan
• Focus effort
• Helps control anxiety
• Improves concentration
• Make training more challenging
• Become measurable

The way goals are set is based on the Smarter Principle.

Goals can be separated into short-term, intermediate and long-term goals and labelled outcome, performance or process goals.

Outcome goals focus on results and are not always conducive to performance enhancement - simply focusing on winning is an ineffective goal because there are so many things we are unable to control.

Although a focus on a long-term goal such as a league position is worthwhile, players and coaches should focus on the performance and process goals that are readily controlling.

Examples of process goals for a performance goal such as keeping possession in rugby may include:

• Low body position going into contact
• Use squeeze ball when isolated
• Work for the 'hard yard' by pumping legs
• Hit don't be hit
• Run between not at defenders

From a rugby fitness perspective, process goals may be added to facilitate the process goals of low body position or working for the hard yard. Core stability will directly influence your ability to stay low and while power drills will develop dynamic leg strength for working for that 'hard yard.' Hence, to fulfil match day process goals you may also need to set goals for your total rugby fitness programme.

Video analysis provides measurable feedback of possession keeping processes, and highlights processes that need improvement during practices.
From a total fitness perspective, players should have goals for each element based on their Fitness Performance Profile

Self-Talk

Talking to one's self can be a form of persuasion that promotes confidence and triggers successful processes

How often do you find that you are talking to yourself?

The mental skill of self talk aims to reduce negative talk with positive statements such as replacing, "I can't do it!" with "I can do it!" This prevents you 'doubting' your abilities and can help prevent anxiety.

Coach's should be very careful when talking to teams before a game - it's easy to include negative statements which then become negative self-talk amongst players

As well as promoting confidence, trigger words are also great for promoting correct technique, thus triggering actions.

Don't think of jelly or custard during core stability exercises!

Just as positive words promote technique, opposite words can be destructive. The trigger word 'steel girder' associates with solidity, while a word such as 'jelly' creates the opposite association.

Your body language is another way of persuading yourself to be energetic or lethargic - never slouch or lean on a piece of equipment in the gym.

Don't bend over too often with hands on knees during a game - don't show the opposition that you are tired!

Try not to show the opposition that you are hurt unless it’s something serious!

Key Point - Use trigger words to support your training tasks

E.G.

Tackling – Smash
Kicking – Smooth
Catching – Soft Hands

Key Point – Eliminate negative thoughts by replacing them with positive mental statements

Negative – I can’t do this!
Positive – I can do this!
Negative – This weight is too heavy for me to lift
Positive – I can lift this, just one more rep
Negative – The weather is awful, I can’t play well in this
Positive – The weather is the same for the opposition, I can do well

Imagery skills

Creating an image in your 'mind's eye' has both physical and mental benefits to performance
By simply creating or recreating an experience in your mind, you are able to practice and reinforce correct processes.

External imagery is when you visualise yourself performing i.e. from the outside. An example of external imagery is a goal kicker recollecting a successful kick, as if watching him or herself on a video.

Internal imagery is when you view a situation through your own eyes. You are seeing it from within. Internal imagery is, for example, when a striker imagines the feel of the ball and the movement of ball, seeing it in the back of the net.

Imagery should be used to reinforce positive experiences

Application Drill 3

Objective

Visualisation of defensive pattern for forthcoming fixture

Instruction

During the warm down following a defensive training session, instruct players to lie flat and close their eyes. As players relax, ask them to visualise the drills they have just performed, and focus on watching themselves (external imagery) running to positions that fulfil the defensive pattern i.e. the 'guard' at rucks and mauls and getting to the far side of rucks and mauls during phases of play.

After 2 minutes, ask them what feelings they experienced during the visualisation. Ask them to repeat the drill but to focus more on feelings and sounds as well as viewing themselves moving.
After 2 minutes, get feedback from players on their ability to visualise and tell them to be patient and practice at least 5 times per week for 10 minutes.

Finally, ask them to imagine they are playing the forthcoming fixture, preferably in colour, and visualise performing the defensive process successfully, including making a step-up tackle.
Players should be encouraged to use all their senses when visualising, including the sounds and feelings associated with the task. Key words will also trigger reactions and reinforce techniques.
Focusing on trigger words such as 'steel girder' when performing core stability drills will help you 'feel' strong and stable

More information on trigger words is provided in the self-talk section.

Pre-match Mental warm-up

Allocate time for a 'mental warm-up' pre-match to help optimise your arousal level, initiate positive self-talk and visualise your process goals

The routine followed prior to a match, including the evening before, needs to include individual preferences - some players enjoy a visit to the cinema, while others prefer to stay indoors and relax totally. Either way, coaches must allow players to follow their own routine outside of scheduled group sessions.

The routine a player follows is a personal preference and helps them manage their arousal levels.
Some players appear totally relaxed and smiling before big games while others are very serious and focused - each to their own. Players generally prefer to stick to a consistent routine during the 24 hours prior to a game.

For example:

Night before:

• Watch a brief video of the opposition and analyse opposite number
• Perform a few relaxation drills including static stretches post video to relieve tension
• Eat a high carbohydrate, medium protein meal with plenty of fluid
• Go to the cinema or watch an absorbing video
• Warm bath followed by a small protein shake
• Early night

Morning of event:

• Wake at usual time and have normal breakfast
• Spend 15 minutes visualising process goals for the game and select 3 trigger words
• Relaxation stretch

At the ground:

• Team meeting - focus on the key points highlighted by the coach
• Monitor weight to assess hyper-hydration
• Individual warm-up - strict routine including positive self talk
• Group warm-up
• 15 minutes prior to kick-off - assess arousal level and stimulate/relax accordingly
• 5 minutes before kick-off - imagine performing 3 key tasks successfully, including making the first tackle

Key Point - Establish a pre-match routine that works for you and is suited to the team / individuals preparation