Washington and Lee University
Washington and Lee University's Office of Leadership Development and Athletic Department was selected by the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) to receive a Division III Student-Athlete Welfare Initiative Grant totaling $7,500 for this academic year. The award is similar to a $5,000 grant W&L received in the 2002-2003 academic year from the NCAA.
On September 23 and 24, 2004, Dr. Joel Fish began a series of three visits to W&L as part of this grant. Dr. Fish is Director of the Center for Sport Psychology, located in Philadelphia, and he works with the Flyers, 76’ers and Phillies, as well as other colleges and universities. Dr. Fish and Burr Datz will work collaboratively throughout this academic year to achieve the following goals:
The grant will focus on these sports: women’s soccer, men and women’s swimming and men and women’s lacrosse. Dr. Fish met separately over lunch with those coaches to explore a variety of approaches to mental toughness that would have the greatest impact on their team’s chemistry. He met later in the evening with almost 100 student athletes to present a program on the importance of mental toughness in athletic competition. Regardless of the importance given to the mental aspect of competition (the students’ informal poll varied between 50% and 90%), Dr. Fish pointed out that there are generally between three and five crucial moments in every contest, and if individuals and teams can increase their mental focus during those times by another 3-5%, it increases their chances of success by 25%. He asked the audience, "Who possesses greater mental toughness, Tiger Woods or Britney Spears, Serena Williams or Lance Armstrong?" The discussion was lively as students argued their preference. He continued that the five biggest mental skills are confidence, composure, concentration, communication and cohesion, and that mental preparation prior to competition will allow an athlete to respond to the situation, rather than react or over-react, further contributing to the probability of peak performance. Mental blocks include the fear of failure, fear of success, relationships and perfectionism. The building blocks for positive self confidence include positive self talks, courage, communications skills and striving for progress. He concluded by showing videos of professional and amateur athletes for the past fifty years in moments of glory and disappointment. All but two of the student evaluations rated the program as very good or excellent. The following morning, he met with 20 team captains and Student Athlete Mentors to explore aspects and challenges of leadership associated with athletic teams. Dr Fish returned for two more visits to W&L - one in October and the final one in early February.
From left to right: Dr. Joel Fish, Mike Walsh, W&L Athletic Director, and President Tom Burish.
Coaches include (left to right) Kiki Jacobs (women's swimming, Joel Shinofield (men's swimming), Jan Hathorn (women's lacrosse), Neil Cunningham (women's soccer) and Mike Cerino (men's lacrosse).
Dr. Fish returned to campus on October 12th and 13th, and packed a variety of programs into this short time period. He met with team captains and SAMs on Tuesday and Wednesday for lunch, exploring leadership situations and listening to their reflections regarding their experiences as captains since September. He met with the coaches as a group for breakfast on Wednesday and also met individually to obtain the coaches' perspectives on goal setting and mental toughness. He conducted individual programs that were specifically designed to address sport specific situations for the men's and women's swimming and lacrosse teams on Tuesday evening, and another for women's soccer on Wednesday afternoon.
Building on the themes of mental toughness and leadership, each one of the workshops spoke directly to the process of goal setting and visualization prior to performance, a variety of techniques to increase mental focus and a variety of methods that athletes can choose to use to effectively communicate during pressure moments in competition. Blending lecture, discussion, student-athlete demonstration, overhead transparencies and videos, he noted the personal differences that individuals bring to competition - some prefer to be the favorites, while a majority of W&L athletes on these teams prefer the role of underdog. He explored the variety of approaches which can serve to comfort and motivate student athletes after a bad play or missed execution: (1) support and encouragement ("it's OK, shake it off"); (2) challenge ("step it up", "you can do better"); (3) leave the athlete alone; (4) make the athlete mad; (5) make the athlete laugh. Each person on each team will need one or more of those responses based on their personalities and preferences, and great teams know what to say and when to say things to motivate and bring their teammates toward peak performances in pressure situations. Getting to know and depend on teammates involves a process of recognizing what the individuals want in specific situations and having a teammate or coach provide that during those crucial moments during a game or meet.
He also presented a number of effective techniques designed to reduce stress during competition, which can be combined with mental reminders at peak moments during games and meets. He discussed techniques which helped Charles Barkley control certain emotions, leading to greater effectiveness during intense moments of competition.
Dr. Fish presenting to over fifty student athletes on the men's and women's lacrosse teams.
Dr. Fish explores race strategy with over thirty members of men's and women's swim teams.
Dr. Fish explores the concepts of courage and enjoyment with the twenty one members of the women's soccer team and coaching staff. He emphasized that the difference between just finishing a season and finishing strong was essentially a mental difference, especially at the end of a grueling, academic mid-term period and facing the crunch time of a difficult schedule. The encouragement of teammates and coaches and the enjoyment of the game can really make a difference in team performances, he said, especially at the end of a season, when people can be tired, distracted or overwhelmed by other issues.
Dr. Fish returned to campus in early February to continue his work with the men's and women's swim teams, who are preparing for the Bluegrass Mountain Championships and the Old Dominion Conference Championships, respectively, while men and women's lacrosse are preparing for the mid-winter break and the opening of their seasons. He met individually with each coach, with each team, and also with the captains and SAMs during his two day visit.
He repeated his theme of finishing strong for the swim teams, emphasizing focus, concentration and sticking with a plan in practices and training sessions that leads to athletic success. Visualization, mental preparation and trusting in one's athletic abilities are key components that help to eliminate distractions. Athletes can fall into comfort zones, and need teammates and coaches to challenge and encourage them to reach for their full potential, or personal bests.
With each athletic team, he effectively used a climbing rope with a student athlete volunteer to demonstrate the difference between responding to the actions of an opponent and aggressively attacking an opponent in competition. A championship mentality means to attack an opponent throughout every aspect of the game. Playing it safe and just reacting to an opponent will not always result in peak performances, and practice is the time to mentally and physically develop that attack approach. Such a focused mental approach will prevent the great teams from 'playing down' to the level of inferior opponents, sharpening their skills for championship level competition.
He concluded by sharing the "Ladder of Success"; the mental preparation necessary for peak performance in pressure situations:
Dr. Fish was also instrumental in assisting with the design of a workshop for Greek organizations, fulfilling the third goal of the grant. To read about the success of this aspect of the grant, please follow these links: anti-hazing story andantihazinghandout.htm. Data collected throughout his visits will be analyzed in the coming months to assess the overall impact of his interactions with coaches and student athletes.