The psychology of competition

Mind, Body, Sports

Sport is one category where psychologyhas only recently entered. Namely, even though people madeconnections between an athlete's body and mind, science hasn'tdirectly tried to pursuit this bond and look further into it. Untilnowadays, that is. Today, psychology has discovered some prettyinteresting facts about the competitive nature of athletes and themutual bond between their bodily strength, fitness and their mentalstate.

The Connection

The first thing which can teach usabout the relationship between an athlete's body and mind is the factthat these people dedicate quite some time of their lives to physicaladvancement and the process of maintaining what they have alreadyachieved. Thus, everyone who does sports professionally must stay fitin order to be capable of giving his or her 110% during the activity he/sheis training for. A strong mental determination is necessary for thisto be possible. Therefore, athletes have to be “in the zone”.This expression bears witness of their capability to stay focused andpersistent in his/her pursuit of bodily advancement. So, we have aneed for body boosting, backed up with the strength of the mind,being a unique connection. This is a mental process very similar tomeditation, where your mental power is used to trigger your physicalcondition.

Next is the inner voice we all haveinside us. Athletes use it for encouragement and prevention ofsabotage. Namely, sometimes, when they are preparing for an importantmatch, for example, the inner voice inside their heads may demotivatethem with words of discouragement and worry. Then, the athlete needsto turn down these words and start thinking more positively if he/sheis to enter any competition successfully. Another aspect of thisinner voice is motivation. Being an athlete is hard and it is a lifefilled with constant battles. Before all competitions, especiallyduring tense moments like the night before or the last training priorto the competition, there is a necessity of self-motivation. Thus,the athlete needs to boost his/her confidence and enter thecompetition physically and mentally stronger, being in harmony ofboth of these states.

Therefore, stress and fear are to betransformed into excitement which can be used for positive adrenalineproduction which can be helpful during matches and competitions.There is a strong relationship between an athlete's mind and body,necessary for making him/her good at what he/she does.