The penalty shootout - how to beat the odds

With Euro 2012 entering it's final stages, much discussion has, once again, focused on the penalty shootout. England, with all their psychological baggage related to this subject, have openly stated how they are increasing their penalty practice in training. They have been eliminated from major tournaments 5 times since the 1990 World Cup on a penalty shootout decider. Viewed as a lottery by some and an unfair way to decide a major competition by others – there is no denying the drama and excitement they provide. Chelsea memorably claimed their first Champions League title this season by virtue of a penalty shootout win over Bayren Munich.

Indeed, penalty shootouts have, in recent times, been required to decide many major tournaments. Quarter- and semi-finals aside, this season was the 3^rd time since 2005 that penalties have decided the club champions of Europe. This year also, Zambia have claimed the African Cup of Nations on a penalty shootout (beating Didier Drogba’s Ivory Coast 8-7), while only 3 days before Chelsea’s dramatic win, The Netherlands claimed the European U17 title beating Germany 5-4 on penalties in the final. Other major competitions decided this way in the past include both a European Championships final (Czechoslovakia v Germany, 1976) and World Cup finals (Italy v France, 2006; Brazil v Italy, 1994). Clearly, in an age of improving tactics and defensive abilities, penalty kicks are becoming increasingly important. The question on everybody’s mind in the aftermath, of course, is how a professional footballer can miss a clear shot at goal from only 12 yards away.

A penalty shootout is, by its very nature, a highly pressurised situation. Whether it’s a European Championships, a Champions League final or a Saturday morning kickabout, in a penalty kick situation the pressure on the individual to score is huge. All the focus is on that one individual; the keeper, after all, is not expected to save it. As discussed in a previous Heads Up blog (World Snooker Final 2012), pressurised situations increase an individual's anxiety level. Before we delve into the penalty situation, perhaps it’s worth looking at the phenomenon of anxiety a little more closely  – to understand more clearly how it can cause a highly talented player to fail on the simplest of tasks.

Anxiety is defined as “a negative emotional state with feelings of nervousness, worry, and apprehension associated with activation or arousal of the body”¹. It is the result of highly stressful situations (specifically termed state anxiety), where an individual feels they cannot cope with the demands of that situation. We experience state anxiety all the time in our daily lives; whether you are the student preparing for a difficult exam or the trainee preparing for a job interview. It is associated with higher levels of arousal in the body, one of our most basic responses. At its lowest level, while we are fast asleep, we experience little arousal. Our heart beats slowly, our breathing is deep and relaxed, our body temperature drops and our alertness is decreased. Elevations in arousal are associated with a very primitive reaction to stress termed “Fight or Flight”. When we experience stress, arousal is designed to give us the tools to respond to the situation. For the primitive human, stress came in the form of a wild animal, or a raging forest fire. In those situations, you either stood and fought for survival, or you took flight and ran for your life!

Our primitive arousal response gave us the vital resources we needed to live in both situations. As adrenaline surges through the body, heart rate is elevated to pump oxygen and nutrient rich blood to your muscles, while breathing increases to supply more oxygen. Muscles tense up, providing strength and power, while the pupils of the eyes dilate to increase visual input and provide more information on your surroundings. The brain also increases its ability to process this information and make rapid decisions. All these are positive responses and explain why, in a sporting context, a little arousal is necessary. We need it to perform well. After all, sport is “fight or flight” in the modern age and so the player prepares for combat by “psyching” himself up, preparing both mind and body.

However, beyond a certain point, when arousal becomes too high, many of these responses become a disadvantage. When we get too “psyched-up” or too nervous, our performance begins to suffer. This is termed over-arousal, and the point where anxiety begins to cause problems. The muscles become too tense and affect coordination. Our brain becomes overloaded with too much information, and so we make poor judgments and bad decisions. Our heart pounds, our breathing becomes short and shallow, our palms clammy and we might even feel sick. This is over-arousal, and can be detrimental to performance.

To fully understand how arousal affects the sports person we also need to understand the sporting context. For sports like golf or snooker where fine, delicate judgments of pace and direction are required, the player needs to be calm and more relaxed. Lower levels of arousal are essential in this situation. The opposite is true of a professional wrestler. To perform at his best, he needs a higher level of arousal. We would, after all, feel slightly worried if we saw Rory McIlroy take to the first tee beating his chest, ripping his shirt off and yelling a primal “come-on” to the fans! Each sport and each situation within a sport requires a different optimal level of arousal, below or above which performance is compromised. The graph (right) depicts this relationship between arousal and performance, and is known as the Inverted-U theory of arousal. When arousal gets too high, and we feel we can no longer deal with the situation – we experience anxiety, and performance can suffer badly!

Back to penalty shootouts then. Uniquely in football, a penalty kick is a situation where a player needs to be at a slightly lower level of arousal than normal to perform better. In a penalty situation, the key demands are accuracy and fine judgment of pace and position. Ideally, the penalty taker is a little more relaxed, or confident enough in their abilities to be able to cope successfully. When the pressure of the situation increases and when players do not cope with these increasing demands – then we see the effects of anxiety on performance. Many factors can increase a player’s anxiety in this situation. Interestingly, a study in the Journal of Sport Psychology in 2006² showed that those players who felt the shootout was more of a “lottery”, and the result down to luck, felt more anxious when taking a kick and were more likely to miss. These players did not feel they were in control of the outcome of the penalty situation, and because of this feeling – lack of control – anxiety levels were increased. Additionally these players may be less likely to practice taking penalties, believing that it will not influence the outcome. The key point here is to realise that players are more in control of whether they score or not and that practice will improve performance - perhaps the thinking behind Roy Hodgson's proclomation that England have stepped up their penalty kick preparations going into Euro 2012's knockout phase.

 

But that still does not tell us why a player will fail to score. For this, we need to look at the types of misses that tend to happen. First are the players who miss the target completely – those who blaze the ball high and wide. Statistics from elite level competition³ show that the most successful penalties are those placed in the upper third of the goal, to the keepers left or right. In an analysis of almost 300 top level penalties, 13% were placed here, and all scored – leaving the keeper with virtually no chance of saving the shot. In contrast, 12% of kicks to the middle third and almost 20% of kicks to the bottom third of the goal tend to be saved. While this seems straighforward, it's important to realise that placing a kick in the top left or right corner of the goal is a difficult task. Even the slightest increase in muscle tension can affect coordination, impacting on both accuracy and control. So the anxious player might put a little too much power on the kick, or direct it slightly off the intended target and miss. Anybody remember Chris Waddle's conversion attempt at the 1990 World Cup? Have a look here (2:26 in) and you'll see what I mean!

Next we look at those players who take the feeble penalty, usually aimed directly toward the keeper. In 2009, researchers from the University of Exeter⁴ investigated how a pressured penalty kick situation affected the anxiety and attention of players. They measured attention by using a device which was able to track the eye movements of players, thus revealing what the player was visually focusing on. As expected, players tended to experience more anxiety when the pressure of the kick increased. However, most interesting was the affect this had on what players tended to look at. In a low pressure situation, players tended to look at the open spaces in the corners of the goal. This was, after all, where they wanted to place the ball and, on average, they were more successful at doing so when the pressure was lowest. However, in pressurised conditions, the players tended to look at the goalkeeper to a greater extent. As a result, more penalties were directed closer to the keeper and so, were easier to save. Both the Mata and Olic penalty misses in this season's Champions League final might well fall into this category (Click here to view the shootout in full).

The researchers concluded that in pressurised situations, our attention tends to be drawn naturally to the most threatening object in our visual field. Consider the postman, for example, attempting to deliver a letter when confronted with a growling dog. Will his attention stay on the letterbox, or will it be drawn toward the snarling dog? The answer is obvious and essentially it is the same for the footballer. Their attention is drawn to that one thing they fear will stop them from scoring the penalty – the goalkeeper. And so, we see keepers doing everything in their power to draw that attention (anybody remember Liverpool goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar’s spaghetti legs in the 1984 European Cup final shootout?). Because visual attention and our resulting actions are closely linked, this study explains why so many players tend to shoot so feebly, and so close to the keeper when they do miss. In the aftermath of this season's Champions League final, Arjen Robben (who missed a penalty in extra-time for Bayern) was quoted as saying “'It wasn't a good penalty. I wanted to shoot the ball hard and high in the goal, but the ball didn't go high enough. It was a terrible penalty kick.”

Research also indicates that in the context of a penalty shootout, more successful players (in terms of trophies, awards, etc) also appear to be at a psychological disadvantage. A fascinating investigation undertaken by Norwegian researchers in 2009⁵ looked at the penalty shootout records of the 8 most successful European nations (in terms of club and international competition). It was suggested that, because they are viewed as successful, these players will tend to have bigger “egos”. As a result, in a situation like a penalty where failure is likely, these players have more to lose because people expect more from them and so the situation, for them, may be more pressurised. The results of the investigation showed that those countries (England, Netherlands, Italy) with the most decorated players at the time of the study (in terms of Champions League titles and awards) were the least successful in terms of international penalty shootouts, the implication being that more is expected of these players and so pressure is greatest on them in this situation. Interestingly, England (won 1, lost 5) and Italy (won 2, lost 5) have two of the worst penalty shootout records of the leading nations in international competition!

It is also noteworthy that these players also tended to spend less time taking their penalties, suggesting a desire to get the situation “over and done with” and also showed greater avoidance behaviour (not wanting to view the situation they were faced with) by turning their back to the goals or looking downward before taking the kick. England are a prime example here. While their club sides have been very successful in European competition, the national team has lost 5 of its 6 penalty shootouts in World or European championships since 1990. It is also interesting to consider that both Christiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, arguably the two best players in European football, both missed penalty kicks during this season’s Champions League semi-finals.

Of course, the goalkeeper also has a vital role to play in the penalty situation. As mentioned, modern day goalkeepers wear bright, often garish tops designed to attract the visual attention of players, while standing doing a version of Riverdance on the goal-line. Study closely modern goalkeepers during penalty shootouts and you will see both frenzied movements and bright colours used to attract player’s attention. Interestingly, while keepers tend to dive for penalty kicks most of the time (94% of kicks), they only guess correctly 40% of the time. A goalkeeper’s chances of saving a penalty are statistically better when they choose not to dive, with 60% of shots placed in this area being saved³. Remember anxious players tend to shoot more toward the centre of the goal if the keeper has succeeded in attracting their focus of attention. However, keepers tend to dive for a number of reasons. It can take anywhere from half a second to one second for a goalkeeper to complete their dive. A well struck penalty can cross the goal line in 0.4 of a second⁶. So clearly, the advantage is with the kicker and keepers may feel they have to anticipate where the ball will be placed. It has also been suggested that goalkeepers feel they need to perform some action during the penalty kick situation – even if they are guessing which direction to dive. Afterall, it is better to dive and choose the wrong side, than remain static and appear as if you are not attempting anything!  As with everything, however, knowledge and mental training can reduce the guesswork goalkeepers have to make.

In order to anticipate correctly, a goalkeeper needs to focus on a number of important factors to make a correct decision. Research⁷ has shown that a penalty taker will often use the angle of their run up to try to deceive the goalkeeper – pretending to be going one way, then kicking to the opposite side. Didier Drogba takes a slightly different approach, favouring virtually no run up, thus giving the goalkeeper little idea of what he is about to do – resulting in Manuel Neuer guessing the wrong way for the decisive penalty in this season's CL final. What is important, however, are the leg and foot movements of the kicker as they are about to kick the ball. These will directly indicate where the player is going to kick the ball, and so possibly give the goalkeeper that fraction of a second longer to dive and save a penalty. For a goalkeeper, training in this area is effectively learning what to look for, and what to ignore.

So there are many take home messages on penalty shootouts that sport psychology research can teach us. For the penalty kicker, it is important to practice taking penalties, and favour kicking in the upper left, or right, segments of the goal. As with rugby place kickers, discussed in a previous Heads Up post, players need to develop a routine with which they are well rehearsed and comfortable. Once they decide what way they are going to kick the ball, they need to remain focused on this, and ignore the goalkeeper. While pressurised situations are difficult to set up in practice, psychological techniques like imagery and visualisation can be used to mentally practice these situations and help the player retain focus and a feeling of control. Psychological techniques can also be used to lower arousal and anxiety levels. These may include breathing techniques or techniques to control self-talk.

On the opposite side, goalkeepers need to make themselves as visually attractive as possible. Wear bright clothing and move as much as possible on the line (waving hands, etc) to distract the kicker. While it may be possible for a keeper to anticipate the direction of a kick based on close observation of the kickers action, it may sometimes be better to stay patient as a nervous kicker may, inadvertently, be aiming directly at you! Either way, the biggest battle in a penalty situation is often the internal battle waged inside the mind of the player. Sport Psychology training provides players with everything they need to win this battle and increase their chances of success when on the spot.

1.  Weinberg, R.S. & Gould, D. (2007). Foundations of Sport and Exercise Psychology. Human Kinetics.

2. Jordet, G., Elferink-Gemser, M.T., Lemmink, K.A.P.M., & Visscher, C. (2006). The “Russian roulette” of soccer?: Perceived control and anxiety in a major tournament penalty shootout. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 37, 281–298.

3. Bar-Eli, M., Azar, O.H. (2009). Penalty kicks in soccer: an empirical analysis of shooting strategies and goalkeepers preferences. Soccer & Society, 10, 183-191.

4. Wilson, M.R., Wood, G & Vine, S.J. (2009). Anxiety, attention control, and performance impairment in penalty kicks. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 31, 761-775.

5.  Jordet, G (2009). Why do England players fail in penalty shootouts? A study of team status, self-regulation, and choking under pressure. Journal of Sport Sciences, 27(2), 97-106.

6. Bar-Eli, M., Azar, O.H., Ritov, I., Keidar-Levin, Y. & Schein, G. (2007). Action bias among elite soccer goal keepers: the case of penalty kicks. Journal of Economic Psychology, 28, 606-621.

7. Dicks, M., Uehara, L., Lima, C (2011). Deception, Individual differences and penalty kicks: Implications for goalkeepers in Association Football. International Journal of Sport Science and Coaching, 6(4), 515-521

A qualitative analysis of the pre-performance routine in rugby union goal kicking

Noel has asked me to write a piece for the blog on my MSc thesis so here it is, feel free to post any comments and questions. Back in the day (12 years to be precise, scary, eh Noel?!) I was one of Noel’s students at ‘the tech’, and he first introduced me to concepts and theory behind sports psychology, and I've been studying it ever since. As a rugby follower I have always thought that kicking is such an important aspect due to the points it is worth that it would be interesting to find out about the kickers themselves and try to find out what how they develop as a kicker and what variables may affect their kicking. With this information it was/is hoped that it would benefit coaches in building an individual pre-performance routine. As this weekend its the European Cup final, it is no surprise that the two teams involved, Ulster and Leinster have two excellent kickers in Ruan Pineear and Jonny Sexton. What are the odds that it could come down to the boot of one of these players?

A qualitative analysis of the pre-performance routine in rugby union goal kicking

It takes a great amount of precision to execute certain self-paced skills in sport. Aligned with this it is important that the performer achieves the psychological state required for executing that skill. In a situation in which the performer controls the initiation of that situation, the performance therefore should only really be determined by external variables beyond the control of the athlete. External variables can come in the form of outside factors such as the intensity of the situation; the competition; the environment; and both physical and mental fatigue.

In the game of rugby union, the goal kickers have often to take penalty kicks or conversions in highly pressurised situations. This closed skill, within an open skill game, is an extremely important aspect, as games can be won or lost depending on the accuracy of the kicker. This target aiming skill requires consistency in performance of the skill, and the pressure can be magnified if the kick is near the end of the game and the points are needed to secure victory. The physiological demands of this skill are important, but aligned with this come the psychological demands that are placed on the kicker.

My study explored and contrasted the routines of eight professional players (7 Irish, 1 Scottish, all international honours, two full internationals; four under 20 years old; four 25 years old and over). Using interviews, the information was examined to explore the participants’ experiences while developing as a kicker and influences on their career. It also explored what aspects may have affected their pre-performance routines during games and if there are any similarities in what works well and what affects their routines. It attempted to understand the cognitive processes and self-regulatory strategies employed by the performers and explore and discuss their thoughts and feelings during kicks. Themes and concepts were also explored which are associated with peak performance in the skill of goal kicking within the sport of rugby union.

In analysis of the data gained through the interviews a series of themes emerged which overlapped between subjects. I have tried to summarise each of the nine distinct themes:

UNIQUENESS

While there were similarities in aspects of the routines between players, each player stressed how it was unique to them. The development of their routine had occurred over time through observational learning from other elite kickers and also expert coaching. The practice and pre-game ritual is also unique to the players and it may have taken time to develop what currently works for them, although it is open for change, especially among the younger players. 

When thinking about any intervention design for elite professional rugby players, Hays et. al. (2009), suggests that any intervention design should reflect the individual needs of that athlete. This might involve identifying that athlete’s sources and types of confidence and ensuring that these are intact during competition preparation phases (Hays et. al., 2009). Each player within the study utilised different cues and images, and in some cases this changed quite regularly. Jackson & Baker (2001) stated how a pre-performance routine should include components that contain behavioural, physiological and cognitive cues. 

USE OF MENTORS, ROLE MODELS AND COACHES

The use of mentors, role models and coaches is something that all of the players have had and are still utilising throughout their career. Several of the participants stated how either going to a coaching session or observing an elite kicker early in their career shaped how they started to kick. Two of the participants had received specialist kicking coaching from the same coach and described how they thought his coaching style was very good because he kept things simple and did not try to complicate things. One of these players had also received specialist kicking coaching from a different coach and had described how they complicated things by always getting them to think about aspects of their kicking. He found that this style of coaching over-complicated what was essentially to him a simplistic kicking style. Maxwell et. al. (2003) suggested that presenting a performer with a large explicit knowledge base through learning may not be the most productive method of acquiring skills. By over-complicating the kick this seems to have made the player shift from an external focus of attention to an internal focus and this did not work for him.

Dave Alred, pictured in this photo with Jonny Wilkinson has developed a routine that suits his style. However, one of the players in my study worked with him while playing in the English Premiership and could not adjust to his coaching style and had to stop working with him, as it was beginning to affect him negatively. He stated how it was making it too complicated for him, and he preferred it kept simple.

SIMPLICITY

When the participants were describing their kicking they tended to describe it as very much an automatic process. Through many hours of practice the players have automated their kick and therefore it is encoded in their implicit memory. The players state how they have all been kicking from an early age and like to keep things simple. This has taken many hours of practice to achieve this.

They all also stressed the importance of practice as not only a source of confidence, but as a reaffiramation of their pre-performance routine. This corresponds with results of previous studies which found that elite performers have highly consistent routine times (Crews & Boutcher, 1986; Wrisberg & Pein, 1992), although these results came in golf and basketball respectively.

CHANGING ROUTINES

While the aim of the players is to develop a routine that is consistent, they are all open to changes and constantly developing and improving their routine. The changes seem to be smaller as they get more experienced but, for the younger players still on development and academy contracts, most are still aspiring to find an ideal routine. Even the most experienced player had changed his routine briefly last season, although he returned to his original after missing a kick. Just as in other skill based activities in which competition is involved, the participant strives to achieve perfection. While the skill of goal kicking is an individual task, the players still spoke about the responsibility they felt, and therefore felt they were open to changes.

IMPORTANCE OF REGULAR ‘STRUCTURED’ PRACTICE

It has been noted that mental skills develop in a similar fashion to physical skills (Cumming & Hall, 2002). It is therefore important to train both physical and mental skills together as they would be used in competition (Hall, 2001; Weinberg & Gould, 2003). Through each of the participants’ interviews, the role of confidence in their goal kicking was an important concept. All participants within the study strove to replicate this competitive environment in training to ready them for the pressure of competition. By purposefully engaging in considerable practice, both frequent and consistent performances, this helps to refine the many components of the skill (Bargh & Chartand, 1999).

 

SELF-TALK

Self-talk was highlighted by some of the players as an important aspect of their routine. Previous research evidence suggests that self-talk is beneficial to general sporting performance (Hardy, Gammage & Hall, 2001). However research by Thelwell & Maynard (2002) found that cricketers indicated that the skill can be used in a variety of ways. They found that the positive statements allowed the negative statements to be countered, thus enabling the performers to focus on their cues and to underpin a focus on their goals (Thelwell & Maynard, 2002). This research corresponds with findings from this study in that performers use self-talk phrases to reconnect with the automated skill of goal kicking. The type of self-talk used is also interesting. Participants used phrases such as ‘follow through on target’ and ‘head down’ as positive reinforcements of key skill points. Hatzigeorgiadis, Zourbanos & Theodorakis (2007) suggest that different self-talk cues will have different performance effects and therefore different self-talk will serve different functions.

COMPARTMENTALISING

Most of the players interviewed spoke about being able to separate the role of playing out-half and the open skills involved in that role, with the closed skill role of the kicker. One of the Irish U20 kickers uses the referee’s whistle signalling a penalty as a cue for the role to begin. The whistle could be helping the player in a thought stopping role, in that he can prepare himself for the new role of the kicker.

This disassociation of the two roles was viewed as essential in several cases so that a poor kicking performance would not affect their open play. After each kick has been taken, the participants had differing views on how it would be reviewed. Reflection can be thought of as a form of analysis, a process of evaluation and a tool to facilitate change (Knowles, Tyler, Gilbourne & Eubank, 2006). Several of the players would block the missed kick out and trust in their technique, while others would perform a quick review immediately prior to the next kick.

For all us Ulster fans, a perfect example in present day is Ruan Pineaar, playing at the top of his game at scrum-half, and yet again named in the league team of the year, and also still able to consistently score the majority of his kicks, and many in highly pressurised situations.

CUES

Imagery also played a part in most of the participant’s routines. It has been said that an individual’s capability of forming vivid, controllable images and retaining them for sufficient time to affect the desired imagery rehearsal (Morris, 1997). Literature has suggested that imagery be can be used for a combination of both cognitive and motivational purposes (Munroe, Giacobbi, Hall, & Weinberg, 2000), with one of the functions being to develop confidence via mastery-oriented motivational images (Thelwell & Maynard, 2003). Many of the players in the study used the tee as a cue, when it came on to the pitch, they switched into ‘kicking mode’.

MANAGING FATIGUE

In managing fatigue, players had different coping strategies, depending on whether they had been involved in play or how fatigued they felt they were. The main aim was to ensure that fatigue did not have any impact on their kicking routine and that consistency was kept. Fatigue was viewed as an external impact that would affect their thought processes. Several of the players stated how it sometimes affects their normal kicking pattern, and that they may try and ‘overkick’ when it was not needed. Players would use strategies such as tying laces and taking extra drinks from the water bottle to try and return them to as near resting state as possible. Several players also spoke about the contact and collaboration from the bench in these instances, in that the person bringing on the tee would take longer so it was giving the kicker more time to recover both mentally and physically. They can then go into the role of the kicker and begin their pre-performance routine with nothing affecting their thought processes.

Remember Stephen Jones’ kick in the last minutes that fell short to give Ireland their Grand Slam in 2009? A long kick for sure, but ultimately achievable for a player of his ability.

CONSIDERATION OF APPLIED INTERVENTIONS AND ISSUES

While some of these topics may seem obvious it is the development of the kicker from a young age that I feel is important. This information is only a guide and is only a representation of the group that was studied but the age group ranged from 19 – 34. The aim of this study was to qualitatively investigate the kicking careers of eight rugby union players. From an applied point of view there are several findings that may prove useful when working with rugby union goal kickers. While rugby union is a team sport, it is still played by individuals, with arguably the most responsibility within the game being placed on the goal kicker. Participants all spoke about separating the role of playing and goal kicking and the mental preparation involved with both roles. This individuality is perpetuated in their own routine that may have been influenced from others but is, essentially their own. The development of this is critical and must be performed with collaboration between player and coach. Influences that the players experience at an early age can have a profound affect on them and can be key in their development. Providing role models at an early age through coaching clinics may be one way of initialising a sound base for a pre-performance routine in a young player.

Players also spoke about the need for regular practice. However in some cases, practices were not structured enough and sometimes not game specific enough. Practice may need to be structured in a way that is more challenging at the beginning of the week. This could follow the example as set by the experienced Irish players by making it competitive.

If you’ve got this far well done! I tried to cut as much out as possible but feel everything here needed to be here to understand the piece and the data gathered and analysed with the literature.

Since I finished the piece the statistics from the rugby world cup were released.

% of points in tournament from penalties: 23%

% of points from conversions: 16%

That’s a total of 39%

Overall the success rate of penalty goals was 59% and conversions were 69%.

There are a lot more stats on how these influence games and difference between successful teams and unsuccessful teams. 

For me it is a no brainer, it is an aspect of the game that needs a lot of training, both physical and mental, at the elite level potentially more emphasis on the mental. However, while some of the key points may seem ‘obvious’, not many coaches at the younger age groups are employing many, if any of these points. Even the younger professionals in this study had very little formal mental coaching. I am a firm believer in training the mind along with the body, nuturing key psychological skills alongside the physiological and technical, will in long term benefit the place kicker.

Please free to comment, ask questions, or rip apart!

Manchester City - Mentally Tough!

In winning their 1^st English Premier League title this year, Manchester City will forever be remembered for the dramatic way in which they finally clinched the title. By scoring 2 injury time goals to beat QPR 3-2, and clutch the title back from the grasp of Manchester United, many commentators have described the feat as winning in a style we are more used to seeing from United. To be successful, and to win in this manner, a team needs many mental attributes. A Premier League title race will be won only by the most resilient of teams. With this in mind, I’ve decided to take a look behind the headlines and attempt to interpret some of the statistics – to find out exactly what they tell us about the psychology of this Manchester City team.

Recently, the phrase “Mental Toughness” has entered the sporting vocabulary. Individuals or teams who achieve, in spite of hardships or extreme pressures, exhibit many traits which are characteristic of this idea of mental toughness. In a review of the scientific research on Mental toughness, Crust (2007) suggests it most often associated with a number of key factors:

• An unshakable self-belief
• Ability to rebound after failures
• Persistence or refusal to quit
• Staying focused
• Coping with adversity and pressure

I’m going to briefly look at each of these factors in turn for this Manchester City side.

An unshakable Self-belief. As the drama unfolded during last Sunday’s epic finale to the league season, many people, particularly Man City supporters felt we were witnessing a “typical City” performance. Get to the brink of success, only to throw it away. However, in the aftermath of their victory, players and officials alike have stressed – this is a new Man City, with a different mind-set and greater ambitions. So where did this new-found self-belief come from? For a club who have never won the Premier League title before – perhaps it is surprising that they have developed a trait normally associated with successful teams. Many wondered if United’s experience of “being down the road” before would be the telling difference between the sides. However, with 6 wins in their final 6 games, it was City who held their nerve best, while United showed their frailties with 2 defeats and 1 draw in their last 6. So, the question to ask is – where did City get their title winning belief from.

To attempt to answer this question, I find it interesting to look at some of the players City purchased over the last 2 seasons. Before the start of the 2011 season, in came World Cup winner, David Silva, and La Liga winner Yaya Toure. While Silva proved a hugely influential player all season, the importance of Toure over the closing stages of this season was particularly evident. However, it was City’s transfer policy before the start of this season which may have had a more telling influence. While the expensive signings continued with Sergio Aguero and Samir Nasri, to win an English Premier League title, City also invested in players with that winning experience. In came Gael Clichy, a previous winner with Arsenal, and Owen Hargreaves - a surprise for most observers at the time - but a Man Utd squad member for 3 EPL titles and one Champions League.  Add to that, Kolo Toure (once winner with Arsenal) and Carlos Tevez (twice winner with Man Utd – oh, and I don’t think it was a coincidence that he returned for City’s final 10 games of the season!) and City had enough players in their squad with the “know how” and self-belief to guide and direct those a little less accustomed to crossing the winning line.

Ability to rebound after failures. Individuals, or teams who tend to be successful do not focus on past mistakes or errors.  Their unshakable self-belief does not allow them to get too down or negative about failures. Instead, successful individuals use these situations as learning experiences, something from which they can improve and find motivation to drive them on further. This is a trait which has clearly evolved in this Manchester City team. Simple evidence of this comes from their EPL record this season. They never lost consecutive games and – perhaps more significantly – every defeat was followed by a win. Their worst run came between March 24th and April 8th, when 2 draws and a defeat to Arsenal saw them fall 8 points behind Man Utd. However, this blip was followed by a run of 6 wins in their final 6 games to reclaim top spot. 

Persistence or refusal to quit. While never giving up in the title race itself, this trait was most evident in the City players on the final day of the season. However, the ability of this side to score late goals has not been an unusual occurrence for City this season. Prior to last Sunday, they had already scored 14 of their 90 EPL goals within the last 5 minutes of games (see here) – more goals scored than in any other 5 minute period. During the same 5 minute period, Man Utd scored only 8 PL goals this season (Whats that you say about the title winning goal difference??). The importance of this cannot be understated. A quick look at the opposite end of the table shows how relegated Blackburn had the worst record within the last 10 minutes of games, scoring 5, while conceding 18! Those teams who tend to be successful develop a never say die attitude, and continue to the very end, always confident in their belief that they will succeed, no matter what the situation is. This belief is further reinforced by performing it on a regular basis! Man City captain, Vincent Kompany alluded to this in his post-match interview after beating QPR – affirming that he always believed City would score to win the game.

A second statistic is also interesting to study here – how did both Manchester clubs teams react to falling behind in games. Clearly, going behind in a game asks serious questions of a team. How motivated are they to react? Can they maintain discipline and focus and do what is necessary to rescue something from the game? During the season, Man City won 3 games, and drew another 2 games from losing positions (gaining 11 points). In contrast, Man Utd never won a game after going behind, while getting a draw three times from a losing position (gaining 3 points). Clearly, Man City proved their determination to rescue points from losing positions – a belief finally, and memorably reaffirmed against QPR.

Staying focused. Perhaps to emphasise Manchester City’s focus, it is interesting to consider Man United’s results over the closing games of the season. After a 0-1 defeat to Arsenal on Sunday, April 8^th, Roberto Mancini conceded that the title race was over. On the same day, Man Utd beat  QPR 2-0 to go 8 points clear. It was United’s 8^th win in a row, and their 5^th consecutive clean sheet. While Mancini may have felt the title was lost - with 6 games to go there was still plenty of games left for either side to win. Whether Mancini’s concession caused the United players to lose focus or not is, of course, debatable. However, United lost their very next game (0-1 to Wigan) and while beating Aston Villa 4-0, lost the remainder of their 8 point margin with a 4-4 draw against Everton (despite leading 4-2) and a 0-1 defeat at Man City. City, in contrast, won their final 6 games after the Arsenal defeat. In the aftermath of their losing campaign, United manager Alex Ferguson suggested that the pain of losing in such a manner would prove a valuable learning experience for his younger players.

An additional factor important to consider here is the Carlos Tevez affair, and how it was handled by Roberto Mancini. One important leadership role within teams is to maintain the task-focus of group members. What this means in a team sport situation is that individuals remain focused on the goals of the team, sometimes supressing their own individual desires. This may include the desire to always start a game or play every minute, for example. What many might forget is that prior to Carlos Tevez's refusal to come on as a substitute, Edin Dzeko also complained to his manager very publicly after he was replaced by Nigel de Jong. Losing task-focus can be detrimental to a team, and this was clearly a time when some player's egos were in danger of damaging this focus. By deaing with Tevez in the harsh manner he did, I believe Mancini effectively set strong boundries for the players concerning what was acceptable, and re-established the task-focus of the group where individual needs did not come above team goals. The effective tactical usage of the same substitution - Nigel de Jong for an attacking player (Samir Nasri and Carlos Tevez himself) during critical stages in some of the final games of the season emphasise this point. Of course, whether this can now be maintained in a team which has achieved one of their greatest goals remains to be seen. I believe the coming months will see some significant movement in terms of "ego driven" players - but that is something to be written about on another day. Watch this space...

Coping with adversity and pressure. While the more experienced players in the Man City squad may have had a huge contribution to make in helping their team-mates cross the winning post, manager Roberto Mancini has certainly proved his worth to City over this season also. Three-time winner of the Italy’s Serie A title as a manager, Mancini certainly knew what it takes to win a league title. Repeatedly over the closing stages he helped his players cope with the pressure of the title race by iterating that Manchester United were still the title favourites. Even with just 2 games to go, and with everyone believing Man City had the title within their grasp, Mancini still insisted that United had two “easy” closing fixtures, while City’s games were more difficult! While many teams might have crumbled under the pressure – Mancini’s skilful management of both his squad, and the media hype surrounding their title bid certainly proved significant. In their time of greatest adversity - needing to win their final game from an impossible position, the City players remained calm, and persisted with their gameplan. They did not panic, they did not resort to a "hit and hope" mentality, but instead maintained their focus and self-belief. And while it is EXTREMELY difficult to say as a Manchester United supporter - this time, for proving their mental toughness, they fully deserved their title!

World Snooker Championship Final 2012

So, just 13 short months after declaring his intention to retire from the game for good, Ronnie O’Sullivan is, for the fourth time, World Snooker champion, beating Ali Carter 18-11 in Monday's final.

What has become well publicised over the past couple of days is that Ronnie hired Dr. Steven Peters to assist him with his mental approach to his game. The effects have become very noticeable. Throughout this year’s final, Ronnie exuded a calmness and confidence which has often been his downfall in the past. What interested me most, however - watching the final as millions of others did - was the contrast in both players’ ability to handle their emotions and take their opportunities throughout the contest. While Ali Carter will reflect on many missed opportunities, Ronnie seemed to avail of any that came his way. So, the question is – how can sport psychology assist in this area, and what can we learn from it?

From a sport psychology standpoint, it is first important to understand the following concept:

“Thoughts effect feelings, and feelings effect our behaviour”

Let’s give a simple example. You've got a big exam in the morning. While you've studied very well for it, you begin to doubt how much you actually remember. You try to recall the facts you should know, but you get some wrong. You start to feel a bit worried because you want to do really well. You start to read over things again and now nothing makes sence - even stuff you thought you knew. Your panic grows - what if you fail and have to repeat the whole year? After a lot of study, you go to bed at an ungodly hour but you can't sleep. You toss and turn all night. Your heart is pounding, you feel hot, and your stomach is in bits! You get up, down a strong coffee and try to study more! It's no use, nothing is going in! All you can think is "I'm going to fail everything"! When you arrive at the exam room, you overhear other students talk about things you're not sure you've even heard of! They all seem so confident! You have leave the room because you suddenly feel ill! Your hands are shaking, you can hardly even speak! You even consider just leaving and going home again.

Clearly, you are in no state to perform at your best in the exam. Despite being well prepared, your original doubts have brought on a set of feelings, and these have in turn affected how you act. Instead of trusting your hard work and knowledge, your little doubts have grown and affected your feelings, which have in turn influenced your actions. Remember - you haven't even seen a single question on the paper yet!

In a sporting context, our mind can be very good at throwing up all sorts of thoughts. This is particularly relevant in a sport like snooker, where a player can sit for minutes on end - watching their opponent - and very much alone with their own thoughts. In psychology, we call these inner conversations, "self talk". For a confident player, many of these thoughts can be enabling. He may, for example, be eagerly waiting for his next chance to play, thinking of the next ball he’ll pot, imagining the crowd applause as he hits the perfect shot, or another big break. This positive self talk will energise the player, keep him relaxed – but not too relaxed. When he does get an opportunity, he will be in the right frame of mind to make the correct decision, play the correct shot, and play it well. “Thoughts – Feelings – Behaviour".

Alternatively, when things are not going too well, these thoughts can be very negative. It is very common in snooker to see a player sit, shaking their head as they reminisce on a simple pot they just missed, or a poor safety shot that let their opponent in. This is an outward sign that this player is focusing on their mistakes. This negative self talk can lead to less enabling feelings. Maybe that mistake has given the opponent another frame. This focus can lead to increased worry, or in psychology speak - increased anxiety. Along with a whole host of changes that occur in our body; muscle tension increases, heart rate increases, sweating increases, and our ability to make good decisions is reduced. None of these are conducive to good performance (in sport, or in exams!), and so the player misses another simple pot, misjudges the pace of a safety or, quite simply, plays the wrong shot!

So, why do I mention all of this? Well, let’s take a look at Monday’s frames in the world snooker final. Monday is the decisive day where the final will be won or lost. Going into the day’s action, Ronnie O’Sullivan led 10-7. He won the 18^th frame with a break of 105 to go 11-7 ahead. This is the report of the next 10 frames from the BBC. Count how many times it mentions a mistake made by Carter...

“Carter missed a relatively straightforward pink to hand his fellow Essex player the next frame, and the next two frames followed a similar pattern.

In the next, Carter had three chances to secure the frame but missed them all, before the 32-year-old, with only the colours to clear, missed two attempts at the yellow to allow O'Sullivan to surge into a 14-7 lead.

At that stage it looked like O'Sullivan might win the match with a session to spare, but Carter avoided that ignominy, returning after the mid-session interval to take a scrappy frame before raising his arms in mock triumph.

Having steadied the ship, Carter complied a battling 105, his first century break of the final, before reducing the gap to four courtesy of a break of 53. But O'Sullivan refocused, making a run of 64 to lead by five frames.

After the restart, O'Sullivan demonstrated his superior safety game once again, waiting for Carter to make a mistake before taking the frame with a run of 70.

Carter took the next, capitalising on a missed black by his opponent to chisel out a frame-winning break of 64, only for O'Sullivan to hit back, moving to within one frame of the title with breaks of 26 and 46 after some errant safety play from Carter”

In his post match interview to the BBC, Carter stated “Tonight I was just trying to make a game of it, I didn't do anything wrong there, I had one chance and won the frame from it, in the other ones I didn't have a sniff.”. Clearly the facts of the game do not accurately reflect this analysis! It is, of course, somewhat speculative to suggest what might have been going on in Ali's mind. We can only observe his behaviours - his performance - and try to interpret what his thoughts and feelings might have been. The evidence does suggest, however, that he was performing at a level far below his potential.

Sport psychology can have a massive influence on performance in these situations. Clearly Ali Carter is a superbly talented player. After all, he was playing in his 2^nd World Championship final this year! In his semi-final, his potting and safety play were outstanding. The problem for many sports people is producing skilled action under the most pressurised situations. This is what often separates the winners from the losers, and this is where sport psychology can help.

Sports people can be taught to recognise when they are experiencing anxiety - often, we are simply unaware of just how our minds, and bodies, are reacting! Some anxiety is normal and we have to learn to recognise it, and not be afraid of it. It is important to stay in the moment, and not start to think of what might happen. Players can be trained to control their thoughts – to stay in the present, and to focus on more positive and enabling thoughts. Through controlling our self talk, we can learn to stay positive, remain confident and improve our ability to perform when it really counts. 

There are also many Relaxation techniques and tips which can be used to reduce anxiety, and these can be practiced and learned like any skill. These include simple breathing exercises, and more advanced techniques like Progressive Muscular Relaxation. Clearly, this attention to the mental side of performance is something that Ronnie O’Sullivan has learned – and the sight of him performing at his very best, at the highest level, and lifting his 4^th World Championship crown was something truly wonderful to behold.