Craig Alexander is quoted as saying, “Preparation is the cornerstone of confidence, which in turn is the cornerstone of success. Craig Alexander is quoted as saying, “Preparation is the cornerstone of confidence, which in turn is the cornerstone of success. You know what you are training for and you prepare accordingly physically and mentally. A level of calm comes from knowing that you’ve done that”.
Talk of controlling the controllables is common within all performance environments. The simple idea is that one individual cannot control the outcome, but they can take certain steps to manage performance and increase the likelihood of success. It is about handling stress levels. Stress is caused by an imbalance between the demand, dictated by the environment, and the individual’s ability to respond under conditions where failure has important consequences (McGrath, 1970). It contains 4 stages:
Do we want to eliminate all physical and mental tension? No. Small amounts of tension are desirable when we want to be alert and attentive. Tension is only a problem when it starts to interfere with our natural coping mechanisms. As such we need to incorporate a range of coping strategies to achieve our own, individual, peak performance zone. Seminal research by Lazarus and Folkman (1984) describe coping as constantly changing cognitive and behavioural efforts to manage stressful situations. The majority of research categorizes coping strategies into 3 areas:
1, Problem-Focused Coping: refers to strategies used to manage or alter the stressor. PFC strategies should be most effective in CONTROLLABLE situations. Coping Strategies that serve a problem-focused function include:
- Information gathering
- Goal setting
- Time management
- Problem solving
2. Emotion-Focused Coping: refers to attempts at regulating emotional responses resulting from a stressor. EFC strategies should be most effective in UNCONTROLLABLE situations. Coping Strategies that serve an emotion-focused function include:
- Meditation
- Relaxation
- Cognitive efforts to change the meaning an individual attaches to a situation
3. Avoidance Coping: Avoidance / disengagement coping reflects responses that people use to avoid or disengage from either the environmental stressor or from their emotions. These should be most adaptive when it prevents an uncontrollable negative situation from escalating. Coping strategies that serve an avoidance function include:
- Behavioural avoidance
- Denial
- Wishful thinking
Controlling the controllables is possible. Completing the required physical and technical training aids this by providing confidence in our preparation. Employing a more facilitative coping style also enhances our ability to control what we have the potential to control. However, when we cannot physically affect the situation employing emotion based strategies can prevent a things from getting out of control, while allowing us to maintain high levels of confidence in our ability to achieve.