Naomi Osaka Shows Why Athletes Must Work More on Mental Skills
Mental health in sports is a hot topic today following tennis star Naomi Osaka pulling out of the French Open due to anxiety issues. Ultimately, Osaka cited the press conference portion of the event as the source of her struggle with anxiety. She suggested that it was the media’s fault because they don’t show any concern for the mental health of athletes.
I’ve often felt that people have no regard for athletes mental health and this rings true whenever I see a press conference or partake in one
Osaka also tweeted that she suffers from social anxiety, and that because she is not a “natural public speaker” she gets “huge waves of anxiety” before she speaks with the media.
Unfortunately for her, taking questions from the media is a job requirement for nearly all professional athletes including professional tennis players like her. So, instead of being fined $15,000 for not doing part of her job at the French Open, she made the call to pull out of the tournament.
This decision by Osaka is mostly being celebrated by her fans and the social media pundits that define public sentiment. However, while I do applaud her for taking control of the narrative, I don’t think her situation is anything to celebrate or use for mental health martyrdom.
Athletes Are Responsible for Training Their Mental Skills as Mush as Their Physical Skills
From what I can tell in her Tweets, Osaka is blaming everything but her lack of mental skills for her social anxiety. Although her public statements may not provide the full picture, they still do provide a lesson for how elite athletes must hold themselves accountable for their mental skill development.
First of all, no athlete is a “natural” public speaker. Thinking this is a fixed mindset, not a growth mindset. Public speaking is a mental skill as much as it’s a physical skill of speaking. Moreover, there are other mental skills athletes can work on to deal with social anxiety. Skills such as reframing, inhibitory control, mindfulness, rhythmic breathing, neutral thinking, and increasing self-efficacy.
Being able to perform at one’s best in the perfect environment is something average athletes do. It takes a different level of commitment to train mental skills to perform at one’s best in non-ideal environments.
The fact that Osaka made it this far in her career means that she does have significant mental skills training. What’s frustrating for me reading her public statements is that she does not mention this. She also doesn’t cite the need for more mental skills training to overcome her anxiety issues. It’s as if she is focusing on the things she doesn’t control, instead of the things she does control. This makes me think she has too much of an external locus of control. This may be another issue she must deal with.
To that end, there is no magic pill to solve issues like this in sports. It takes just as much commitment to the process as it does to solve physical issues. Just like recovering from an ACL injury or hamstring pull, rehab and therapy takes time and commitment. Moreover, it’s 100% up to the athlete to commit and recover.
Simply stated, there are rules to the game. Instead of trying to change the rules so the game is easier, change yourself so you are better. Unquestionably, this change starts with committing more to developing mental skills.