“Shut the **** Up”…Dealing with the Inner Critic
American figure skater Dorothy Hamill wasn’t considered to be the favourite to win gold at the 1976 winter Olympics in Innsbruck, but she was still a favourite with the public nonetheless. Every time she performed on the ice, she was showered with applause.
This sort of positive, external feedback must have been powerfully motivating – she won gold!
Hamill’s performances were loved by the public for her extraordinary grace on the ice. She was also admired for her creativity and she even invented her own trademark move, the ‘Hamill Camel.’ She clearly put a lot of emotion into every performance so her own internal feedback must have been of vital importance in both training and in competition.
Positive feedback, whether internal or external, is a powerful motivator. But, on the flip side, negative feedback is just as powerful as a de-motivator. At the 1974 world championships in Munich, Hamill skated out onto the ice to be hit by a roar of ‘boos’ from the German crowd. She was distraught, and skated off the ice in floods of tears.
In fact, the boos were not meant for her but for the judges. The scores awarded to the German skater who had just performed were not to the liking of the home crowd! When the misunderstanding was explained to Hamill, she returned to the ice – and to the loudest cheers of the whole event. Her performance won her a silver medal. Could she have secured gold had there been no emotional upset?
“Emotion always has its roots in the unconscious and manifests itself in the body”
- Irene Claremont de Castillejo
Negative feedback from external sources can clearly have a negative effect on an athlete’s performance but the same can be said of negative feedback from internal sources. Negative self-talk can be every bit as devastating as a booing crowd. If the voices in your head begin to question your abilities, the end result will be questionable abilities!
When the pressure is on and the stakes are high, confidence must also be at an all time high if competition nerves are to be prevented. Self-doubt can be returned to self-belief with simple self-talk. Positive words and phrases can be all it takes to banish negative thoughts and to trigger positive actions. The choice of words or phrases to use in positive self-talk is unique to each individual. “Come on! You can do this” or “Go for it! Today is your day” are good examples.
Preparation is key. Self-doubt generally occurs through a lack of preparation. If an athlete finds themselves standing on the start-line feeling unprepared, self-doubt kicks in, negative self-talk takes over, focus is lost and the result will be a poor performance.
The power of the mind should never be underestimated. An athlete may well be in the shape of their life and totally prepared physically but if they’re unprepared mentally, the negative self-talk can convince them they’re not. No amount of physical skill training can make an athlete feel better prepared, mental skill training is the only way to silence negative self-talk and to restore self-belief.
“Those that say it can’t be done should not interrupt the person doing it”
- Chinese proverb
