Sports Psychology for High Jump

“Mental Training Skills”

 

My name is Adam Shunk, Ph.D., NCSP, and in addition to being an elite high jumper, I am also a licensed Sports Psychologist and Neuropsychologist.  I work for St Vincent Sports Performance Center in Indianapolis where I consult with various athletes from the high school/recreational level to collegiate and even professional athletes.  I am also the Sports Psychologist for Purdue University.  Hopefully, my career in high jump, my educational training and experience in Sports Psychology will be an asset to your development and high jump performance. I will be posting mental training skills tips as a free resource to all jumpers for the broad content areas listed below(I will post one article every week or two):

 

One of the key elements to High Jumping your best is to be mentally prepared and confident for your training and competitions.  Unfortunately, most athletes don’t work on mental readiness, and this is often the cause for poor performance. The ability to focus on your technique, remain calm and composed under pressure, and avoid distractions during a competition is related greatly to how much the athlete has PREPARED for the mental demands.  There are a number of mental training skills which help athletes train the mental side of sports and optimize their physical abilities.

 

The following mental training skills are research-based tools that have been shown to enhance performance in elite athletes: 

1.  Goal Setting:  Because high jump is such of a developmental sport (how much you put into training determines what you get out in your performance), setting goals to maximize your training is essential for High Jump.  Goal setting is not about setting outcome goals such as I want to jump a certain height, qualify for this or that meet or get a certain place at a competition.  We have very little control over these goals, and how do you work on these abstract goals in practice? Process goals are more effective and are more powerful to optimize your performance.  Think about if every practice for 2 weeks you set 3 specific goals you set and accomplished, how prepared/ready would you feel for your next meet? One exercise I often assign my athletes is to take 2 minutes before every jump day, lift day, conditioning or whatever practice you have and set 2-3 specific, measurable goals that are not too easy and not too difficult that you want to accomplish that day!  These can be technical skills (i.e., arm positioning, staying tall at take-off…), effort related (complete every lift with good technique), or other small pieces to the big puzzle of your high jump.  As high jump is a very technical sport, I find that most of my goals involve technique. More importantly, the process behind breaking a big technical change into many small things I can work on each day!!!

 

2.  Energy Management/Composure Skills- One critical skill no matter what sport you play is the ability to control your energy level and alter your physiological arousal during a competition.  Every athlete has their perfect “Zone” where they are at their best.  This process starts with identification and awareness: What does your zone feel like?  Once an athlete knows their zone, there are relaxation techniques (i.e., Autogenic relaxation, Progressive muscle relaxation, Breathing techniques) and activation techniques that can be applied before or during a competition to help them get into their ideal “Zone.”  Learning to manipulate/regulate your physiology is a complicated process; therefore, it requires practice and training to learn how to do so efficiently. 

 

3.  Concentration/Focus Techniques- What do you think about during a high jump competition and are these thoughts helping you to focus or distracting you?  Another dimension of the “zone” is to have a clear focused mind where you are thinking about the relevant positive thoughts and not focused on distractions or negative thoughts. 

3. a.  Thought controlling/Focus exercises: You can learn to replace or reframe a negative or

distracting thought into a performance enhancing thought.

3. b.  Visualization/Guided Visual Imagery: Visualization is a broad skill that high jumpers can

use to improve their technique in practice, prepare for big competitions, and to simulate/rehearse

various performance situations.

                3. c.  Self-talk strategies: Confidence is critical and you must eliminate distractions/negative

thoughts and utilize positive self-talk before and during a competition.   

3. d.  Optimistic coping- It is an absolute that every high jumper is going to have a bad jump attempts here-and-there!  Do you have a plan how to recover and bounce back from a bad attempt? Or do you let one bad attempt impact your confidence and carry it into your next attempt?

 

4.  Mental Routines/Strategies- The primary reason that athletes choke at a big competitions is that they view and approach the meet differently than previous competitions, they do not have a plan to count on and they do not feel prepared for the meet.  One essential tool for high jumping is to have a defined and consistent Pre-Jump/Competition Mental Routine, where you go through the same mental preparation in practice, every jump, and every competition.  If you do the same exact thing (warm-up routine, mental routine, self talk and other ingredients) you have a plan to use no matter where you are jumping, or what distractions you will face.   

 

***Motivation- Why do you high jump? We know through research that intrinsic drive (from inside: love, passion, desire to improve) is far more powerful than extrinsic motivators (prestige, outcome, rewards, money, scholarship).  Self-assessment and exploration of motivation can enhance your intrinsic drive thus enhancing performance. 

 

Adam Shunk, Ph.D.

Licensed Sports Psychologist

St Vincent Sport Performance