Elite sport psychology/introducing psychological skills/the six pillars

One way of thinking about elite performance is to consider it being supported by six “pillars”:

• Technical – this performance pillar refers to the fundamental and more advanced skills of the sport. In soccer, for example, these would include passing, receiving, dribbling, shooting, heading, tackling, throw-ins, penalty-taking, goalkeeping, and so on.
• Tactical – this performance pillar refers to strategies and decision-making. In soccer, it would include formations (4-2-3-1, 4-4-2, 4-3-3, etc.), decisions about zonal or man marking, pressing and offside strategies, triangular movement, counter attacking, set piece plays, and so forth.
• Physical – this performance pillar refers to the strength and conditioning aspects of elite performance, such as aerobic and anaerobic fitness, strength, speed, power, flexibility, agility, balance, etc.
• Mental – the mental pillar is the one addressed in this course. It refers to a wide range of psychological variables that influence performance and are influenced by it. The typical list of mental skills associated with elite athletes includes control of arousal, mental imagery, high self-motivation,  absolute self-confidence, good concentration, and effective management of emotions and moods. In team sports, effective team dynamics and group cohesion are especially important.
• Nutrition – this performance pillar refers to such things as general diet, nutrition specific to training and competition, assessment of body composition, hydration strategies, and use of legal supplements.
• Holistic – this pillar concerns factors such as career planning and development, financial management, insurance, personal organisation and leadership. An elite athlete’s playing career may be short and therefore many sporting organisations acknowledge that they have a responsibility to support a player’s development and assist players to prepare for a life after sport.

The six pillars of sport performance

In this course we will only focus on the mental pillar,  but the six pillars should not be thought of as completely independent of each other. For example, tactical problems (e.g., poor decision making in competition) are likely to manifest from problems in mental approach (e.g., inappropriate concentration). Conversely, psychological issues (e.g.,  a loss in self-confidence) can lead to poor execution of skills (a classic example being the yips in golf).