| ATHLETE ZONE |
| ATHLETE ZONE |
FACING FEAR OF FAILURE
As the England team face their final group match against Slovenia at the Football World Cup in South Africa, the mental strength of the team under Coach Fabio Capello is under the spot light.
After much criticism of England’s draw against Algeria on Friday , the fear of failure could be critical to the team’s ability to perform.
“In their last performance, many would argue it was evident that the England team were playing under enormous expectation”
“For athletes at the top of their game, the fear of failure can increase as expectations mount and going into games people expect you to win means the consequences of losing them are even greater”
For players to shine the environment around them is crucial in helping them focus on their strengths – positive psychology.
“Positive psychology is extremely important”. A team must create a bubble around themselves, within which their own expectations are set – not imposed on them externally.
“This allows them to have the freedom to play to their strengths, rather than focusing on their weaknesses and playing with a fear of making a mistake or from judgment.
“In order for players to perform at the top of their game, they need to be able to take risks and the environment around them should allow them to do so”.
With expectations dipping after a slow start to World Cup campaign England need to win their final group match, but how will the fear of failure effect their next match?
“Ironically, now that many expectations for the team are lower, we could see England perform as the ‘underdogs’”.
“This means that with less expectation and more freedom, we could see players commit to and take responsibility for their performance with a ‘nothing to lose’ mentality, meaning risks can be taken in the pursuit of that winning performance”.
Working with both individual and team sports, the Performance Psychology teams should see the team dynamic as a key element to achieving a winning performance, with positive psychology focusing on athletes strengths rather than weaknesses a key attribute.
“Its the head coaches job to create an environment in which athletes, coaches and support staff have the freedom to express their strengths and control the expectations from one another, keeping those external to their bubble away to reduce the fear of failure”.
“This allows any athlete to focus on their game and on what they can do to their competition, not what their competitors can do to them”.
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