COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The American focus on "winning at all costs"
will not always help athletes achieve their best, according to a sports
psychologist at Ohio State University.
In fact, athletes often perform better -- and are happier --if they focus
on meeting personal goals rather than winning all of their events.
"You can't win all the time, and if winning is your only goal you're
going to be dissatisfied much of the time," said Chris Carr, psychologist
for Ohio State's athletic department and for the U.S. Men's Alpine Ski Team.
Carr made a presentation August 16 in Chicago at the annual meeting of the
American Psychological Association, in which he discussed how competitive
athletes can manage stress and anxiety.
"There's nothing wrong with wanting to win, and a desire to win can
sometimes motivate athletes to do their best," Carr said. "But
athletes who believe winning should be their only goal can actually make
it harder for themselves to succeed."
Carr urges athletes to set process goals for themselves rather than outcome
goals. For example, a competitive marathon runner should avoid an outcome
goal of simply winning a race. Instead, he or she should set a process goal,
such as
cutting time from each race. Process goals help athletes gain a sense of
control over their performance, he said.
"You can't control whether you win or not, because you can't control
how others perform. But you can control how you do," according to Carr,
who is also clinical assistant professor of family medicine at Ohio State's
Sports Medicine Center.
The problem with winning as the only goal is that athletes lose motivation
if they don't win. As a result, they may fail to continue pushing themselves
to improve. But by having process goals, people can measure their improvement
against themselves and take pride in their development.
Setting effective goals can help athletes manage their stress and anxiety,
but there are other things they can do to improve their mental conditioning.
Carr said he helps athletes control their psychological arousal (the feeling
of "butterflies in the stomach"), focus their attention, and maintain
emotional control during tense competition.
Deep breathing exercises and guided imagery, particularly before an important
competition, can help many people both relax and become more focused, Carr
said. He also encourages athletes to keep a journal about their performances
and other important events in their lives. After enough time, journal entries
can give people clues about what leads to better performances and yield
insight into events that may be distracting them.
The important thing, Carr said, is to take mental preparation seriously.
"When I ask athletes what percentage of their sport is mental, most
will answer somewhere between 60 and 99 percent," he said. "But
when you ask them how much of their preparation time is spent in mental
conditioning, most respond between zero and 10 percent. That has to change."
Carr said his focus on process goals does not mean he doesn't care about
winning. "I'm not against winning. However, I think striving for optimal
performance is a better goal for athletes and will serve them better in
the long run."
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Contact: Chris Carr, (614) 293-3600
Written by Jeff Grabmeier, (614) 292-8457; Grabmeier.1@osu.edu