Post by Professor Adam Nicholls
Professor of Sport Psychology at the University of Hull. โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ โ
๐ง โ๐๐ณ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ปโ๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐น ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ, ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ฟ๐๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐.โ Eliud Kipchoge became the first person to break the two hour barrier for the marathon. He has spoken about the importance of self-belief in helping him achieve this: โ๐๐ป๐ ๐ต๐๐บ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ด๐ผ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฟ ๐น๐ถ๐บ๐ถ๐๐. ๐ก๐ผ ๐ต๐๐บ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐น๐ถ๐บ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต๐๐, ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ต๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐ด. ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐น๐ณ-๐ฏ๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐ฒ๐ณ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฎ๐นโ Kipchoge also revealed how he attempts to control his mind through coping, which involves him focusing on his goals and therefore not allowing any space for negative thoughts: โ๐ ๐จ๐๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ง๐๐ฑ๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ฉ, ๐๐จ๐๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ง ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ ๐จ๐๐ฅ, ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐๐๐๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐โ Stopping negative thoughts is very important. My research on stress and coping with elite level athletes identified a two step-approach to removing negative thoughts: ๐ ๐ง๐ต๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ป๐ด This is involves the athlete either saying stop to themselves or visualising a stop sign (or both) ๐ฌ ๐ฃ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ-๐ฆ๐ฒ๐น๐ณ ๐ง๐ฎ๐น๐ธ Immediately following the thought stopping, the athlete can engage in positive self-talk, in which the athlete makes a statement, which could be motivational or instructional.
Video Content