Getting Psyched Up for States
File this one under Easier Said Than Done, along with all our other conversations.
But as you Alabama Runners (and Jumpers! and Throwers!) head into the State
Championship this week, let's take a minute to look at the power of positive self-talk.
What you say to yourself in your head has a major impact on your performance. In part,
this is because you're saying things to yourself all the time - without even realizing it. Coming up
on a championship meet, there are a lot of ways you might be talking to yourself. Some of it may
be instructional (e.g. pack spikes; drink water). Some of it may be technical (e.g. I'll keep my
eyes back each time I'm in the circle, and I'll get to see my throws as much as I want later,
because coach is recording). Some - maybe even quite a bit - of what you're saying to yourself
may be positive (e.g. I'm ready. This will be fun. Let's see what I can do.) And some of what
you're saying to yourself may be, well, less positive.
Negative is a loaded word in sports. Nobody wants to be negative. And I doubt there are
many people out there planning to have negative thoughts. To make things even more
complicated, sometimes we even try to tell ourselves that our negative statements are positive
ones. (For a little dramatization of the difference between negative cues and positive ones, see
this here. Rated PG-13 for language.) All of this means it can be difficult to recognize when you
might be talking to yourself in a way that can weigh you down instead of building you up: I
should be running this or that time. I should be All State. I should be racing as fast as that
person I workout with every day. I should have jumped XX by now. These kinds of thoughts
fix your mind on outcomes - future-fixations that take attention and energy away from present-
moment efforts. And performances of a lifetime are made up of present-moment efforts.
It is totally normal to catch yourself throwing little negative statements around in your
mind. Everyone does it - even the athletes you admire most. What matters is how you respond to
those statements - how you bring your mind back to something positive and directed toward the
present moment. So listen close to what you're saying up there. And when you hear the doubts
and shoulds and expectations, respond to yourself with a cue to come back to what you've got in
the right-now: I'm ready to try this; I'm strong enough to take a risk; I can relax my shoulders
and control my breathing. The way you cue yourself back into the present is going to be
different for every person, so it helps to have someone you can talk with about what will work for
you - how you can take the specific doubts and shoulds and expectations chattering at you in
your head and reframe them as things you can control. Just as in the rest of your training, the
more you practice responding to yourself with positive self-talk, the stronger your skills become.
But start by paying attention to what you're saying to yourself. And give me a holler if
you want to make a plan for giving yourself positive, present-effort-focused responses.
See you Friday.
Margaret Smith, Ph.D. works with individual athletes and teams of all sports and all
levels from elite youth to professional in Birmingham, AL. She has coached and
competed in NCAA Division I Cross Country and Track at ACC and Big 10 schools.
Now that she's in SEC country, you can reach this TarHeel born and bred at
drsmith@resoluterunning.com or on Twitter @DrMargaretAS.