The coach is the mental coach

New rugby365.com contributor Tom Dawson-Squibb – who will be penning a weekly column on matters of the mind – takes a look at the importance of the mental state of rugby players and, ultimately, that of the team.

Yet another weekend of rugby has passed us by, with some interesting results, some tight finishes and some talking points for the next few days until another round of rugby takes place, more players give their all for the team, more articles are written and more banter round the braai takes place.

As is the norm, I look at the weekend’s activities from a mental perspective and I seem to be reading more and more articles that mention the psychological state of a player or a team and how influential this is on his/their performance. Many journalists seem to have opinions on this subject and some followers have strong opinions on how to get players into the best mental state! Some of these may be correct, some a bit off the mark, but the key point here for me, is that a player and a team’s mental state is of massive importance and needs careful attention and thought.

So whose role is it to get the players into the best state for them to perform? The conditioning coach, who spends lots of time with players, the doctor who may be seen as an outlet, the mental coach who specialises in this field, the assistant coaches or the head coach? The answer is quite simple – the head coach is the person who is the most influential and important person in the psyche of players. As a mental coach myself I am fully aware that the role of a mental coach is to advise, bring in ideas, challenge players and coaches alike, act as an ear for people who need to get things off their chest and to evaluate where the team is at and then introduce ideas that will be of use for the players at any specific time.

This makes a mental coach influential in the team’s psyche but at the end of the day, most of the influence on the psyche of the players comes through the coach’s words and actions (teamtalks, selection, personal attention, contracting etc).

The thing to note is that most teams and players don’t use mental coaches at all. In fact, quite often, the coach takes on the role of mental coach himself. The trouble here is that he is not always skilled in this area and may not always be too keen on putting in hard work, or have the time to, to get to know the inner workings of a player’s mind or to address team issues that may be tough to handle.

What the coach at any level needs to realise is that he can have a huge influence on the player’s motivation levels, the ability to deal with pressure, the confidence levels and the player’s contribution to the team. This influence is as much through his actions as it is through his words. Often coaches believe that they can influence a player’s psyche just through a talk here and there, without bearing in mind the selection policy used, the equality in treatment of players and through the awarding of responsibility.

I would be very interested to find out how many top and lower end coaches out there are up-skilling themselves in basic psychology and understanding how best to get the most out of their players. The top coaches around, Jose Mourinho and Sir Alex Ferguson in soccer, Gary Kirsten in cricket and some of the top American coaches, John Wooden and Bill Walsh have all been known as experts in dealing with different players and making them feel confident to perform.

I truly believe that as much as some people are born with an ability to manage people well there is a lot that can be learnt too. The crucial factor being that the coach takes the view that the players’ psyche is important and works hard at ensuring they are in the best possible frame of mind. This may manifest itself in his ability to listen to a player, to know when to turn up the pressure and when to take the pressure off, when to give the good old ‘uitkak’ speech and when to affirm and boost. It would also take a shrewd coach to know his team and understand what the dynamic that exists is and whether it is a productive one or a lacking one. This is a particular area where the coach is massively important but can be easily aided by a mental coach or his assistants as they often are able to find out more about the inner workings of a team than the head coach who has so much on his plate.

Jose Mourinho is said to be a master in joking with and relaxing his players before massive games as the existing tension levels are already high, whilst in lesser games he’ll read the riot act to ensure his players are at a suitable arousal levels.

It would be interesting to hear some thoughts from anyone out there on coaches who had a major impact on them psychologically either positively or negatively.

Lastly, in the week that was, I must mention two games:

– Firstly, Rondebosch Boys’ High School who showed that belief in each other and a plan is of vital importance throughout a game, as they turned a 15-0 deficit against their rivals Bishops into a 34-15 win. It is great to see how much impact self-belief can have.

– Secondly, one can only marvel at the togetherness and belief in the Reds set-up. A few weeks back I saw them defend their own line for ages looking dead for all money and then this week in the dying moments they were able to come up with the brilliance (albeit through the man with the freakish pass – Quade Cooper) to win the game against the Force even when they hadn’t played that well.

Belief and tenacity are real winners in rugby, but they don’t exist in all teams and they can’t be bought in the local supplement shop that’s for sure. I look forward to more learnings from rugby this week!

Cheers,
Tom Dawson-Squibb

* Tom runs a company called Head Start Sport which focuses on the mental side of sport. He works currently with the Stormers, WP and UCT – as well as Rondebosch Boys’ High School and Paarl Boys’ High School.

Contact Tom at tom@headstartsport.co.za or www.headstartsport.co.za, or follow him on Twitter; @thesportingmind