What makes elite athletes thrive or dive under pressure?

Psychology is an increasingly important part of elite sport. Winning at the highest levels can depend as much on peak-fitness of the mind as the body. Film supported by @DXCTechnology

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for top-level sports people it's not just skill and athleticism they count. So often, it's mind over matter. Psychology is now seen as increasingly vital to winning. In elite sport the difference between success and failure is often the finest of margins.

The annual boat race between Oxford and Cambridge universities is one of the oldest and most prestigious events in the sporting calendar. For the competitors, it's 20 minutes of pure pain but also pure pressure. How the rowers cope with that intense pressure can make the difference between glory and failure.

The Cambridge women's team have won the last two races and this woman has been one of the secrets of their success. Sports psychologist Helen Davis has worked on specific techniques to help the team at the most mentally testing moments in the race. As training for the 2019 race intensifies, just trying to keep up with teammates is mentally grueling.

Understanding what makes athletes cope or panic at those crucial moments is an ever-growing obsession in professional sport - it's the multi-billion dollar question that sports psychologists are constantly trying to answer. Dr Jamie Barker lectures at the world's leading sports science university Loughborough in Britain. In 2013 Jamie helped devise a cardiovascular test. It compared the physiological reactions of athletes who thrive in a high-pressure situation with those who flop. A group of aspiring professional cricketers were set a specific target. The cricketers were warned that their results would be made public and would decide who makes the team and who doesn't. Nearly half the players hit the test for six and scored the runs and most of them went into what psychologists call a challenge state. Over half the batsman found themselves on a stickier wicket and failed to make the runs they mostly entered the so-called threat state. Jamie employs a mental visualization technique that sports psychologists have used with a variety of professional teams. Athletes are asked a picture a set of scales - on one side are their demands, the obstacles to success. They're taught to tip the balance the other way towards their resources, the attributes they possess that can help them.

Sports psychology is sometimes criticized as a phony science but many major sports teams and personalities now use psychologists and there's a growing acceptance that this boosts performances. In sports, as in the world beyond, a mental edge can bring a winning one.

In elite sport the difference between winning and losing often hangs on the smallest of margins. As coaches, teams and athletes press ever harder in pursuit of victory, this series reveals the latest innovative approaches they hope will keep them ahead. From data to design, science to psychology, discover what it takes to find the winning edge.

[wdai]

Dude she's on the row team and a PhD student, that's pretty crazy

[aliikane]

So true. When all things being equal (physical, skill, talent) between athletes, the mentality is what separates the good from the great.

[saraf]

I related to this as a master procrastinator hehe... I go full on challange mode the day before exam night lol

[LOLEliSays]

Trying to go from a threat state to a challenging state. Fascinating!! Sports psychology is hugely underrated.

[shubhampandey]

explains why team India needs to fit in MSD.

[vlado]

Thank You dear The Economist for Your helpful video !
I appreciate it !

[BibinBCherian]

This is cool - more of these please Economist!

[bilalsidik]

Adds up when one is focused on improving one's ability rather than looking over the shoulder

[ronvillejo]

There are ways, sometimes very precise, to help athletes - plus leaders and workers alike - shift from the Threat State to the Challenge State, and thus improve their performance. I'm a PhD in clinical psychology, not sports psychology, and such ways include re-balancing their focus on speed vs accuracy (or productivity vs efficiency) for a given situation.

[imranmehmood]

So the conclusion is that be relax whatever you face

[KKGoh]

The road to success is non random, but few have the mental capacity that keep on going.

I'm from Malaysia and I'm proudly to share that my Prime Minister is 94yrs old this year and you will be very surprise to see how sharp his mind is....What make him different and standout? Most probably sustainable strong mental health

[aaronberns]

This is why competition isn't always a great thing.

[miaomiao]

That's interesting. I've thought about it in a way that when people go for thrilling rides, what goes through their mind that makes them able to enjoy and what makes them scared. Perhaps it is similar to what explained here.

[saikatify]

Pressure in having to score some number of runs of an over is one thing but what about pressure where you have to grind it out in a test match and bat out the entire day ? It's not the kind of pressure where you get an adrenalin boost which gets over quickly.

[importantname]

Money makes it - Not a Sport. It is Business!!!

[kayaeki]

Roger Federer says "It's all mental"

[TheMullela]

"Questions in titles that are never going to be explained" - The Economist

[IrenIrenIren]

Very interesting. Could anyone recommend books on this particular topic?

[fantasydark]

In japan, challenge status is called zoom zero.

[RPDBY]

Good overview but video provides zero practical advice, what's the point then?