Mindset Is Everything
Images: AFP, BBC
It was an amazing weekend for women's sport, but there was something fishy in the air...
Laura Kenny (Cycling) wins a second gold in the European Championships And Georgia Hall (Golf) wins the Women’s Open Championship
The fascinating thing that connects the two was their interviews immediately after their respective victories;
Superstitions…
Now in sport this can seem a bit of a grey area for some. Rituals, strategies or more accurately mistakenly put your belief in something you either do, say, think or feel that provides the key to outstanding performance.
So whist many may realise this is light hearted, a dead end, a rabbit hole; For others it ranges from “well what if its just remotely possible, a marginal gain as it were, all the way to this is absolutely the secret to success.
And perhaps more importantly not doing ‘it’ may well impede or be the reason behind my lack of performance.
For Kenny it began initially with insecure thinking, it had been a year since the last time (the birth of her son) then some motivated thinking kicked in, she didn’t want to go home empty handed for her baby.
Here's the quote:
"Before I came I was like, am I even going to be able to do this? As you don't know what level their at because its been a year since I actually did one. I was thinking I'm not sure how this is going to go and I was so unbelievably nervous and then to come out and win, you know it's just unbelievable I'm so happy."In the back of my head I'm just thinking I've left Albie for this. This morning, I felt kind of guilty, I had Mum guilt. He wasn't very happy, he didn't sleep very well and I was thinking I don't want to leave him for nothing you know. I want to leave him and take a medal home so he's smiling. So it just gives you that extra boost."
Psychologically speaking for the record, a gold medal doesn’t make babies or anyone smile, its the meaning we give it like any inanimate object.
Georgia Hall, for her is was smelly socks, her fathers not her own!
After shooting an excellent first round 67 a self declared superstitious golfer, to say the very least ordered her father and caddie, Wayne, not to change or wash his socks for the remainder of the Open.
"I'm quite superstitious and my dad is even worse, so he was like: I'm going to keep them on. It's going to be worth it, hopefully.”
"They weren't smelly after day one, but after four days yeah, they were.”
So the odour was the the stench of her dad's four-day-old, unwashed socks!
*This blog aims to bring you closer to the psychological truth from all of the theories out there. When the truth becomes ubiquitous the world will change and mental health, happiness and performance will have parity of understanding with physical health.
