What psychological barriers do professional athletes face?

sports psychologist and agent, Privyet partner

What difficulties do professional athletes face?

Absolutely every athlete – from a child who has just been sent to a sports section to a master of sports of international class – experiences a number of problems: adaptation, fear of injury, problematic relationships in the team, fear of public speaking and many others. All this affects the internal state of both the beginner and the already established athlete. And this, in turn, directly affects his physical preparation and motivation in general.

Emotional stability and the right attitude give a positive charge at competitions – the athlete’s eyes start to “burn”, which leads to high results. However, there are a number of psychological barriers that hinder the athlete, instill in him the fear of failure and demotivate.

Fear and anxiety, which develop into panic attacks, are the true enemies of athletes. To solve this problem, it is especially important to pay attention to breathing and concentration techniques that can eliminate the attacks and shift the focus of attention to winning.

Fear of “going out on a limb”

As athletes get older, fear of ending their careers is the second most common psychological fear among them.

When you spend your whole life preparing for competitions and performances, at the end of your career you begin to wonder and worry: “What will happen next?”. Not everyone has the opportunity to become a coach, and not every athlete can and wants to do it.

The syndrome of unrealized opportunities is a psychological trauma of almost any athlete, which will go with him all his life. If you can not cope with it alone, it is worth contacting a specialist – he will help to understand the problem.

Negativity in social networks

Social media is an opportunity to connect with an audience and increase media exposure. However, another psychological problem associated with negativity on social media can stem from this. Every novice or experienced athlete has a hard time experiencing even the smallest defeat, and when the media writes about it or strangers act as critics in the comments, it becomes especially difficult. It is important to learn not to pay attention to the “couch experts”, to try to perceive only the positivity that fans send, and give it in return.

Social networks make us subconsciously compare ourselves with others. So we face a kind of “mirror” effect – we want the same shoes as someone else, a smartphone, a car and so on. With the right work on ourselves, it is we who can be a good and positive example – and an athlete, first of all, should be an example for his followers and subscribers. “I want to run, swim like him/her! I want to achieve everything these athletes have achieved!” – this is the kind of motivation that positively influences people who follow this or that athlete on social networks. Thus, there is a mutual exchange of positivity and useful actions.

Every athlete – and not only – should remember that absolutely any fear can be turned in its favor. It is not worth waiting for a phobia to “end” your career. Athletes are often helped to overcome such barriers by sports psychologists – they will always be on your side as teammates or the most loyal fans. Working through fears together and setting new goals and objectives is a great motivation for growth.