Coaches Corner

Marck Harrison regrouping and calming his body and muscles and visualizing winning his next game while in the call room immediately after a long game in which Marck won in tie-break against Tammy (Canada). Marck was toe to toe in the call room at the time this picture was taken with the number one player in the world Sousa (Brazil) who he played minutes after getting off court from the previous game. Parpans 2015

Mental Preparation in

Boccia

I am convinced that games are often won and lost in the call room. You have the power to let or not let your opponent get in your head before you even enter the court. -Kathy Brinker; Head Coach USA Boccia

Boccia is a closed skill sport- you only have to respond to the balls that are in front of you. There is no wind, no person with their hands waving in the air, no opponent screaming in your face. It is you, a ball, a court and what balls are already out on court. Nothing is moving! I pull many of my coaching strategies from other closed skill precision sports such as golf, archery, curling, billiards… you get the idea. In these sports as like boccia, the environment does not move. You are reacting to a still environment…but it is up to you to remain still! What a brutal game. We are asking individuals, many of whom have increased tone during stress and asking them to perform under stress. Welcome to athletics- all athletes perform under stress! It is how you handle the stress that ultimately makes you a champion or an athlete who repeatedly looses against an opponent of equal skill. So what happens to your body during stress- there are many physiological responses to stress. Many individuals with CP have an increase in spasticity (tightness) of muscles. An increase of adrenalin and sudden movements of certain limbs can also lead to more clonus (rapid successions of muscle contractions) for many individuals with SCI and some with CP. Some individuals also report being cold/hot during stressful competition.

So what can you do to reduce physiological responses? By being mentally prepared you can limit some responses to stress while keeping adrenalin down, breathing normal and having your heart rate within normal limits. Also layering clothing can assist in your temperature control. Knowing what your body feels like during competitive stress does certainly help. Deliberately set up very stressful and long practices. Write down or audio record yourself talking about your stressful experiences. Record what your body feels like and what you were able to do to calm your body- stretching, breathing, yawning, shifting your weight. The little things can make a big difference in your competition- identify them and journal! Breathing rhythmically is so very important during all sports. Proper oxygen helps reduce many of these competing physiological responses. Yes all athletes need to practice breathing. When do you take deep breaths on court? Practice deep/short breaths in your routine on court. Figure out when to deep/short breaths help your game. Let’s now talk about the specifics to a positive mental game.

Pregame and Preshot routine: Pregame and preshot routines are critical to consistent performance. I have also observed that pregame/shot routines give you confidence and laser focus on the game rather than your opponent. Why waste time thinking about your opponent, be confident in your own game. You cannot control the other players game- remember it is a closed skill sport! You can’t block their shots, get in their face, and poke the ball away during their shots. But you can get their attention in your own confidence and make them have self-doubt. Pregame routines often include time in the practice courts and then a distraction prior to going to the call room or in the call room. Some athletes use headphones, others keep there head down and go to “another place” of rest and relaxation. Whatever

your relaxation technique, this should be the same before every game no matter whether you are playing a novice player or the number 1 player in the world. When you are doing this same routine you are saying to your body “all games are the same”. As for preshot routines, again different athletes have different routines; they should always be the same. This is one area that many athletes do not practice. If you wipe your hand with a towel- do it every time whether you need it or not physically, your mind needs it!! Again consistency of your preshot routine is critical for laser focus and calming your mind and body. When you are practicing on your home court, practice going to another room or area of the gym and practice like it is the call room. Also when you are practicing full games, have someone play next to you. If you do not have another athlete at your practices, have a coach sitting in a chair next to you playing against you. There is a rhythm to this sport. You need to feel that rhythm. You need to know what it feels like having someone next to you when you shoot. Your preshot routine is part of that rhythm. Another preshot routine that is very successful for high-level athletes is visualization.

Visualization- Visualization is getting a picture in your head prior to the shot. A shot is a response to the picture in your head. Some people close their eyes prior to a shot and “play a video in their mind”. Others have this deep stare where they close off everything around them and play the video. It is a mental rehearsal of the perfect shot. Let’s take the visualization a little farther. You can visualize in a reverse chaining format (running the video backward). So you visualize what your hand looks like immediately during release, now visualize your arm coming forward; now visualize what the ball looks like in you hand as you are preparing for the shot. Now visualize and play the video in your head in real time going forward. You have now convinced your mind and body that you can make the shot- you just mentally practiced what you have previously practiced physically- now go make the shot!! Some athletes even put the roar of the crowd after their shot in their video. One of the athletes who currently uses visualization effectively on every shot is the number 1 golf player in the world- Jason Day. Watch this video about visualization also here is another video with Jason talking about his visualization routine Jason Day. Coaches, you can help this process by videotaping your athletes regularly so they can see themselves and know what they look like when they make a great shot. May I suggest the app called Coach’s Eye. This app allows you to video analyze yourself against yourself side by side and see how different body positions produce different shots. You can literally measure the angle of the ramp with this video analysis. Very easy to use and archive video.

Dealing with Nerves- I love reading Dr. Bob’s (Rotella) books on sport psychology. His recent book How Champions Think is a good one! Dr. Bob talks a lot about dealing with your nerves and using them to your advantage. Rotella writes about the preshot setup that leads to quick decisiveness. I like the word quick, many of the US players slow play the ball and that leads to issues in playing within the new time frames of the BISFed rules. I also like his ideas about having self-talk about what to do, rather than what not to do. Make a preshot routine that is clear and leaves no decisions once you commit to the shot. Once you get the ball into your hand or in the

ramp there should be no doubt. Doubt is what cause nerves to increase. Don’t get me wrong, nerves are good and give us hyper focus, but doubt is an enemy of the game. Pick your line or spot during your preshot routine, be clear in your mind then make your shot.

Marcks’ mental game was some of the best I have ever seen during my 8 years of coaching on the international level that day at Parpans. You could see his sharp eye focus where he blocked out everything else going on in venue. What did he do to be that focused against Sousa? He used pregame and preshot routines that he had routinely practiced on his home court. He knew he could win! He got out of his own way and had fun and let the game progress –no matter the outcome (Dr. Bob Rotella). He saw himself winning when he was within himself in the call room. He visualized his shots and played the game of his life. There was a rhythm to everything he did prior to the game and when he was on court. They (he and Sousa) scored off of each other’s jacks. Marck made some amazing creative shots that had Sousa wondering, “who is this athlete- he is to be respected”. Although Marck came up a couple of points short, the match could have gone either way. By using all these calming techniques Marck showed that his mental as well as physical practice allowed him to stay in step with the best player in the world, right after coming off an exhausting tie-break win. Marck knew and even verbalized going into the call room that Sousa was “just a man” who had done great things as a player, but was beatable. Next time Marck your going to come up with W- I know it and you know it!! You have the mental game!

-Kathy Brinker