NLP Sports Training and Coaching Tips for Performance Coaching

England needed to improve their game to make it through to the final sixteen in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The disappointing results of their previous first-round matches had led to supporters booing them off the pitch and as a team, they appeared to be buckling under pressure. So, with the pressure of everything riding on their final first-round match, where did their winning performance come from? Was it just a simple case of things coming good on the day or was something different about their physical and mental preparation that helped them to pull together as a team and then pull a great performance out of the bag?

Much has been made in the press of England’s “pre-match beer” and manager Fabio Capello’s relaxation of his alcohol ban. Capello said, “They were allowed to drink beer before the game, you can ask them. It’s true. I changed something and used my imagination.” From a sports psychology point of view, the key word in Capello’s statement is “changed.”

Ringing the changes

If you want things to be different; if you want your circumstances to change, you have to do something different, you have to make changes. If you continue to do the same things, you continue to get the same results. Clearly, England’s results were below expectation so something had to change. Capello said he used his “imagination” and that demonstrates beautifully the importance of not only doing things differently but also of thinking about things differently. Pre-match preparation is not just physical, mental preparation is equally important and in England’s case, it proved crucial.

Capello’s managing style is described as “strict.” In interviews, the players have commented on his insistence that rules must be adhered to and his inflexibility was rumoured to be causing friction in the England camp. But, Capello himself commented that the team he saw out on the pitch in England’s first two matches was not the team he knew. He said the players in that team had “no spirit” but after their winning third match performance he said, “I have my team back.” As manager, he recognised the need for change. He recognised that continuing to do things the same way would cause the players to think and therefore perform the same way: a way that was holding the team back from achieving its true potential.

“The ability to summon positive human emotions during periods of intense stress lies at the heart of effective leadership” - Jim Loehr

Jim Loehr is a world-renowned performance psychologist. He believes the key to team success lies in ensuring every player is “fully engaged.” Players who are fully engaged bring their best energy to the team. He says, “Full engagement is the pathway to extraordinary performance.” Players who are not fully engaged bring negative energy to the team, they become “disengaged” and in sports psychology terms, the end result is a team without team spirit. Familiar?

Taking control
Breaking the routine by relaxing the “rules” appears to have been the “change” the England team players needed. In fact, whether the players chose to down a shandy or two is immaterial, as I believe it was simply having the option that made the difference. In terms of mental preparation, relaxing the rules gave back ‘freedom of choice.’ Up until that point, the players appeared to have forgotten that the only person who could choose whether they should be fully engaged or disengaged on the pitch was themselves. Maybe it was the beer that boosted their performance but I suspect it was the change in Capello’s approach that prompted the return of England’s team spirit. Makes me wonder what rules might be relaxed next?

“It’s not the sex which tires out young players, it’s the staying up all night looking for it”
- Clemens Westerhof, Nigeria manager 1994 World Cup

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There’s never any love lost between Scotland and England when it comes to football or any sport for that matter! - but even though I’m Scottish, I’m still left wondering why England are playing so poorly in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. What has caused the England team - the cream of England’s club players - to perform so poorly? From a sports psychology point of view, the big question is, why do they appear to be cracking under pressure?

Ever heard of the lizard brain? It’s a term used to describe the part of your brain concerned with basic survival. Your lizard brain doesn’t want you to take any chances or do anything risky, it wants you to play it safe and just stay alive - no matter how dull that life may be! Writer Steven Pressfield describes the lizard brain as ‘the resistance.’ It’s the voice in the back of your head telling you to be careful, to go slow, to back off. In writing terms, the resistance can result in writer’s block, and in sporting terms, the resistance can result in under-achieving. Ringing any bells?

The lizard brain doesn’t like change. It fears change, and fear sabotages success.
Could it be that England manager Fabio Capello’s lizard brain is preventing him from changing his managing methods? Could it be that the lizard brains of the players are sending warning signals, subconsciously reminding them to play it safe and not to take chances? In sports psychology terms, are the entire England squad experiencing a fear of failure?

The tricky thing is, without our lizard brains, we’d be reckless in everything we did. A reckless soccer team probably wouldn’t have qualified for the World Cup at all but now, a sports psychologist, would see a team paralyzed by fear. The fear factor stops players from playing to their full ability.

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