Mind Games by Annie Vernon

Mind Games by Annie Vernon

Author:Annie Vernon
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing


7

How to be Tarzan, How to be Jane

Preparing for the competition

Tarzan, king of the jungle, lord of the apes, swinging from tree to tree with bulging muscles, rescuing his love interest Jane, the damsel in distress in her long skirts and petticoats. Who would you rather have on your team for the big match?1

The curious thing is, we can all think of occasions where players have disintegrated under pressure. In minor competitions, or every day in training, they are the heroic Tarzan; but when the starting whistle blows for the World Cup final, they turn into Jane. They suddenly can’t hit a barn door or sink a six-inch putt.

The title for this chapter came from a conversation I had with athletics coach Toni Minichello. It was, he said, to his eternal frustration that he knew athletes who train like Tarzan2 but compete like Jane.

That’s because the day of competition is like no other. And some people set themselves up to allow the big day to bring out extra in them, and others are stifled by the pressure and the occasion.

As an athlete you’re tested, measured and ranked all the time; but ultimately, there are a handful of days in your career when you’re summoned for judgement. There are a tiny number of moments when it actually counts, and as an athlete you’re painfully aware that you might be the best athlete in the world on 1 August, but if your Olympic final is 2 August, then so what? I was a full-time Olympic rower for eight years, from the ages of 22 to 30, training for between four and six hours every day. In that time, the World Championship and Olympic finals that I contested – the only moments that matter – add up to a cumulative time of just under an hour. Eight long years came down to one hour. For other events, the time is even less. Olympic javelin thrower Goldie Sayers told me that her throw in the Beijing Olympics lasted 4.45 seconds, including the run-up. And within that, the throw itself lasts for 18 hundredths of a second.

So what do those minutes or seconds feel like? What is it like to be there, on the pitch for the cup final, or on the start line for the Olympic Games? Then, more importantly, how do you make sure you are the one who brings their absolute best performance to the table? What mental skills do we need to develop in order to be Tarzan rather than Jane?

Realisation of a dream

Beijing. 13 August, 2008. It’s the Olympic Games and I’m in my hotel room, close to the competition venue. I’m staring at myself in the bathroom mirror. With the air conditioning on full at all times to combat the heat, the room has an artificial dryness about it. My room-mate is out, probably playing Connect Four in the team lounge, which is her usual hobby. I’m on my own, staring into my eyes in the mirror and thinking about Sunday’s race.



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