Football champions need a healthy mind

Football is the ultimate team sport. All the players have to be focused on identical team goals. They need to play with one mind, what psychologists call a shared mental model. In order to achieve a consistent performance at the top level, players need to play in an intensive, aggressive style; they need to communicate effectively and to be able to take the right decisions under pressure. All players and teams vying to win the World Cup need to be strong, fast, highly skilled and know the game well.

Preparing oneself well for competition is the key to success at any level. Every player needs to have good technical knowledge, must have the right nutritional intake, well-rehearsed match strategies and sharp physiological capacities.

But what if the team does not have the mental skills necessary to play at this level? What if Wayne Rooney is deemed fit enough to play but, when on the pitch, he is afraid of being tackled and getting injured again? At the top level, the only difference between the winners and those who fail is often adequate mental preparation. Mental preparation involves learning mental skills and strategies that can be used in matches to achieve optimal individual performance and team success.

Recent research among elite players has found that the use of certain mental skills has repeatedly been associated with superior performance. These psychological skills and states include anxiety management, heightened concentration, higher self-confidence, use of visualisation, goal-setting, well-developed coping skills for dealing with unforeseen events, regular competitive routines, and high levels of motivation and commitment.

The best players in the world reach their potential by incorporating psychological training into their daily workouts and pre-match preparation.

What about leadership skills? Have you ever supported a team that fails to perform in crucial matches? A team needs to have leaders, not just a captain. These leaders, or "cultural architects", as they have been described, are those players who can move the team to action when the going gets tough. A good example is Steven Gerrard's role in last year's Liverpool success. When the team was very much on the losing end he was able, through his actions, to lead the team to wake up and do what they do best... play football.

The amount of pressure the coach/manager faces during the World Cup is tremendous. His job is on the line; he needs to prove himself. However, it is not easy for a coach, who is so passionate about the game, to control his emotions and keep everything under control. A coach needs to remain calm and not shout around. Very often, when the coach portrays a calm attitude, the players will catch onto this and will remain calm themselves. The moment the coach starts shouting, although he may help to motivate them, he may also pressurise them. A coach must remind his players of what they can do best, of their best performances, especially if those performances involve a team they may be facing on the day.

A critical situation during the game would be a penalty... even more critical would be a penalty shoot out between the two teams. A player must look confident and act confident even though his legs may be shaking. A pre-performance routine is a must in such a pressurised situation. Such a routine would involve what is called the Five Step Strategy (Singer & Suwanthada, 1986). The five steps include: (1) get ready; (2) image; (3) focus; (4) execute (5) evaluate. Therefore, a player, when about to attempt a penalty kick, must first get comfortable physically and attain an optimal mental/emotional state. A few deep breaths will lower the heart rate and calm the person down. Positive self-talk is vital here. One must talk to himself with determination and be aggressive. He must do things in preparation that are associated with previous best performance. He must then mentally picture performing the act briefly as to how it should be done - he must imagine aiming, kicking the ball and scoring. He must think positive and feel confident. Then he needs to focus, to concentrate intensely on one relevant feature such as the spot where he wants the ball to go, and think only of this cue, which will block out all other thoughts. Then he must execute the shot. One must not think of anything about the act itself or the possible result of the act. Finally, the player can assess the performance outcome and the effectiveness of each step of the routine.

An important point to note is that when anxious we speed up our routines, so it is important to slow down and take our time.

The British FA has reported that almost 2,500 students have enrolled in their Online Psychology for Soccer Level 1 course in the two years since the course has been running. This is a great achievement and proves that football psychology is growing in importance and becoming an integral part of individual development for anyone involved in the game.

Ms Muscat trained as a sport and exercise psychologist at the Manchester Metropolitan University in the UK and is an active member of the Maltese Psychological Association.