How Coaches Evaluate an Athlete’s Mindset in Practice vs. Competition
One thing coaches must consider when evaluating how an athlete performs in practice versus how they perform in competitions is the concept of social facilitation theory. This theory explains how the presence of the social pressure of an audience impacts the mindset of an athlete.
To summarize, sometimes the conditions of a competition or practice will improve an athlete’s performance. Other times those conditions inhibit and athlete’s performance. Those conditions include:
- If there is the presence of an audience or not.
- If the athlete must perform simple or complex techniques.
- The level of the athlete’s experience.
For example, if an athlete does really well in practice, but tends to underperform in competitions this may be because the presence of an audience makes the athlete feel pressure, which then triggers a threat mindset. On the other hand, if the athlete performs better in competitions than practice then the presence of an audience may then be triggering a challenge mindset.
Furthermore, the other two variables may be having a singular or concurrent impact as well. Complex techniques may make the presence of an audience more acute. Or the lack of experience may be the triggering factor.
When a coach takes the time to evaluate these factors, they can then adjust to help an athlete perform better. The coach could simplify the game plan to improve performance for example. In other cases, the coach may change the conditions of practice to make them more like competitions.
In short, coaches have a significant amount of control over many of the triggers that change, improve, and develop an athlete’s mindset to perform at their best. However, to exert that control coaches must isolate performance triggers and evaluate the impacts. Moreover, using social facilitation theory is a simple concept all coaches would be wise to consider.