A lot of the threads lately have veered towards the mental side of the game. We all want to perform at our best and be "mentally tougher". One method used by psychologists and coaches is a questionaire in which players rate themselves on a list of mental skills. I have listed below some of the skills which go towards "peak performance" , badforum players please rate themselves from 1 a major weakness / do not use this skill, 2 an area which needs work / could be used more 3 Average 4 I am quite good at this, I mostly am this /use this 5 I use this all the time, it is a strength of mine could players also mention their level i.e. national, junior, club, regional Confidence Motivated Goal setting (using specific targets to motivate and plan) Visualisation (mental rehearsal of event / performance/technique) Relaxation Body Language (displaying to partner / opponent a positive image) Problem solving (within matches, how can i overcome his smash etc) Resilience (bouncing back from disappointment or adversity) Concentration Positive thinking (seeing problems as obstacles to overcome, focusing on the good points, maintaining performance regrdless of score) Team player (encouraging partners , team mates)
I will start as an example Confidence 3 Motivated 4 Goal setting 2 Visualisation 2 Relaxation 2 Body Language 3 Problem solving 4 Resilience 4 Concentration 5 Positive thinking 3 Team player 3 1st division local league So I can see my strengths and weaknesses clearly and hopefully focus on improving them.
could players also mention their level i.e. national, junior, club, regional Confidence: 1 Motivated: 1 (used to be 4ish, 5) Goal setting (using specific targets to motivate and plan): anywhere from 2-4 Visualisation (mental rehearsal of event / performance/technique): 3 Relaxation: 2 Body Language (displaying to partner / opponent a positive image):4 Problem solving (within matches, how can i overcome his smash etc):2-3 Resilience (bouncing back from disappointment or adversity): 4 Concentration:3 Positive thinking (seeing problems as obstacles to overcome, focusing on the good points, maintaining performance regrdless of score): 3 Team player (encouraging partners , team mates): 3 i am a provincial level junior.... as you can tell, i have little to no mental...
Hi! Let's see... Confidence 3 Motivated 4 Goal setting 4 (probably bad! I never meet them!) Visualisation 3 Relaxation 5 Body Language 1 Problem solving 2 Resilience 2 Concentration 5 Positive thinking 4 Team player 3 An interesting one dlp, but hwere could the analysis of mental strength go from here? how would we evaluate our mental ability, how can we improve our application of it? I think these results say a lot about our attitude, what type of player we are. It focusses on positive aspects for the player; interesting to see there is nothing to be said on negatives for the opposition. Anyone cross the border into that sort of stuff? (Club player, school also) Aleik
A good book on this is mental toughness training by Loehr I read it a few years back but I remember it has similar questionaires and suggests focusing on the identified weakenesses over a period and then reassessing. I find often by making players aware of their weakness that starts to improve it in itself. By repeating this sort of survey every few months we monitor our own mental state, I believe the book also suggests getting a coach or person who knows you to complete the survey in relation to you, so you can see how others perceive your strengths / weaknesses.
Confidence = 4 Motivated = 2 Goal setting = 3 Visualisation = 4 Relaxation = 3 Body Language = 4 Problem solving = 4 Resilience = 2/3 Concentration = 3 (5 when in tournament mode) Positive thinking = 3 Team player = 5 County / National Player.
Confidence 3 Motivated 5 Goal setting 4 Visualisation 2 Relaxation 2 Body Language 4/5 Problem solving 3 Resilience 4 Concentration 2 Positive thinking 3 Team player 5 Also differing qualities wether playing singles or doubles, oddly enough. level of play, serious amateur obssession level, badminton fanatic!
Confidence 4 Motivated 1 (very lazy now) Goal setting 3 Visualisation 1 (lazy again) Relaxation 3 Body Language 3/3 Problem solving 4 Resilience 4 Concentration 1 (like to look around during playing) Positive thinking 4 Team player 3 ( I play singles more often) A typical school/gym player Number of school tournaments participated: 4 (2 singles and 2 doubles) Number of school tournaments won: 3 ( 2 singles and 1 doubles) Number of current school tournaments: 2 (singles and mixed)
Thanks for the replies guys, now try marking yourself after a session or match for a few times, see by monitoring your mental state which state ties in with when you perform better!
Lol... didn't see this before... Confidence 3 Motivated 4 Goal setting 4(But never seem to achieve them... Lol) Visualisation 3 Relaxation 3(Relax... no point in getting tense up...) Body Language 2/3? ( I don't show emotions... what's that considered?) Problem solving 3 Resilience 2/3 Concentration 5 Positive thinking 5( I think positive all the time... even when I'm losing 14-0 or 1... Lol...) Team player 5(Encourage them a lot... no harm right??) Level of play... seriously I don't know... noone ever told me what level I play at... intermediate? Or advance? I was put in the advance group... but oh man, the 16 year olds trashed me...
Confidence 4 Motivated 3 Goal setting 2 Visualisation 4.5 Relaxation 4 Body Language 4 Problem solving 5 Resilience 4 Concentration 5 Positive thinking 4 Team player 3 I think I'm really strong mental wise but I got to work on alot of physical stuff! :/
