Featured Article (October 2005)
Ten Questions for Dr. James Bauman
Sports Psychologist for the U. S. Olympic Committee
By Darlene Jacobson
Dr. Bauman has worked for the past six years as the full-time Sport Psychologist for the U.S. Olympic Committee at the Olympic Training Center in San Diego, CA. He provides ongoing and elite performance consultation for Summer and Winter Olympic athletes, teams, Olympic and International coaches, and individual Para-Olympic athletes. Dr. Bauman is currently working with athletes preparing for the 2006 Olympic Games in Torino, Italy and the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.
Dr. Bauman received a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Washington State University in 1995 with a research emphasis in sport performance. He is a licensed psychologist, as well as a member of the United States Olympic Committee Sport Psychology Register.
Dr. James Bauman will be in Virginia to give a seminar under the auspices of the Virginia Horse Shows Association, Special Events Committee at the Fauquier Springs Country Club on Saturday November 12, 2005 from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. He will discuss his experience with elite athletes (preparation for the games in Athens) and provide some of the enhancement tools he uses. Dr. Bauman encourages dialogue with seminar participants. Equestrian Olympians will be on hand to join in the discussion. The cost is $110, includes lunch. Please call the VHSA office for more information. 540-349-0910. Seating Will Be Limited. This clinic is open to all breeds and disciplines. You need not be a member of the Virginia Horse Shows Association to participate.
1. What is sport psychology?
A: Applied sport psychology is a combination of sport science and psychology. I have broadened the usual definition that has primarily focused on sport performance to sport and human performance. Briefly, sport psychology is the application of psychology theory and sport science to various skills, sports, injury rehabilitation, exercise programs, and life skills at all recreational and competitive levels. It focuses on both individual differences and social-situational factors that intersect in complex ways to influence behavior and performance over a wide range of settings. Utilizing a trained sport psychologist is a healthy and performance enhancing choice.
2. What are some of the myths about sports psychology?
A: Most of the myths, or misunderstandings about sport psychology come from a lack of a good understanding about what sport psychology (SP) is and how these services are most efficiently delivered. Myths might include: a) using a SP means that I am not mentally tough, 2) using a SP must mean that I am crazy…or approaching that level of functioning, 3) SPs are used for emergencies (crisis) in sport, 4) SPs can perform performance magic, 5) mental skills are not necessary for elite performance, 6) when we can find no other reasonable cause for performance declines or slumps, it must be in the athlete’s head.
I am sure there are more, but these are the most common. There is a degree of negative stereotyping of this profession for a couple of reasons. First, whenever we attach the word "psychology or psychologist" to anything…that seems to generate an overall perspective of "ill-health" or someone "needs help." Additionally, and unfortunately, some people have negative experiences with sport psychologists or sport consultants and that experience is generalized to all others in the profession.
3. What is the most common problem that you hear from athletes?
A: The most common problem that I hear from elite athletes can vary by sport and level of competition. However, I would say there is a common thread of anxiousness at "major competitions" that runs through nearly all sports. After all, elite athletes have invested a significant amount of time and money to perform at major competitions. Said another way, there is a lot at stake and often times there may only be one chance to either perform or be eliminated from prize contention.
4. After a fall, what is your best advice to return to riding without fear?
A: Many of the sports that I work with deal with athletes moving at high speeds and, in some cases, in the air (ski jumpers, alpine skiers, bobsled etc.) and others who face injury due to contact with others or sport implements (ice hockey, football, baseball), and still others due to equipment malfunctions (pole vaulters and most winter sports). Riding is statistically one of the most dangerous sports in terms of injury to the athlete. Injury is one of those issues that simply comes with the territory. At some point in nearly every athlete’s career, they will experience varying degrees of injury. Some injuries are slight and easy to recover, where others can be career or even life ending. So, the range is broad . . . as are the consequences and the reactions by individual athletes to return to competition following a fall/injury. There are a number of techniques that can be utilized to reduce the emotional impact . . . or the anxiety (fear) of falling again, if the athlete resumes sport.
Oddly enough, the more a rider thinks or worries about falling, the more likely they are to fall! Athletes who have fallen during the course of their sport career can sometimes confuse "probability with possibility." That is, if a rider counts up the number of times they have been on a horse with the number of times they have fallen, chances are that they have been on a horse without falling off many more times than when they have fallen. If the latter were the case, they should probably choose a new sport! Be that as it may, it is necessary to bring back to the athletes the reality of probability and possibility. It is possible that you could fall off, but your history says that it is a low probability. The last time you competed you fell, but the data would say that you have competed many more times without falling.
You also compete because it is possible to win, even though the probability might be low. In this case, possibility is the fuel that keeps you going. If you focused on the probability of winning, well . . . more people would find something else to do. So, probability and possibility can work for or against you, depending upon which model you focus on, after a fall.
In the end, I want to make sure that the athlete is again healthy, that the fall was not due to some sort of equipment malfunction that has not yet been corrected, that the tactic they employed was correct for the situation, that the skill level is appropriate for the competitive level they are competing in, and any other contributing factor that we can identify and either decrease or eliminate. After that, if indicated, I would utilize one or combinations of the more clinical techniques that have worked well with anxiety/fear (e.g. systematic desensitization, EMDR, TFT). The key would be to encourage professional help, rather than ignore or fight it . . . hoping it will go away.
5. What is the difference in the mental attitude of an Olympic Rider and the average competitor. Or, how does your mind effect winning?
A: First of all, the difference has already been established by the competitive level. The expectations associated with competing (and winning) at the Olympics are simply different and more intense than riding back home. Many people have said that the mental game of sport far out weighs the physical part of sport. I agree and disagree. It is difficult to say that all Olympians (or medal winners) think, feel, and operate exactly the same. For some, the mental game is more of a challenge than the physical/skill part of the sport. Others are on the other extreme (physical challenge is more than the mental game) and still others are between the extremes. For those of you who have had those "great performances," you may have experienced relative ease in both the mental and physical components of riding. Conversely, when you really struggled to perform, both the mental and physical components were a struggle. When we are in the "zone," the mental part of competing is easier, when we’re not in the "zone," the mental part of competing gets to be more of a struggle.
In equestrian sports, you have the additional variable of your horse. This living, feeling, thinking "piece of equipment" under you is unlike any other piece of equipment that athletes utilize in their sport. A bobsled is a machine that will perform at the level you make it perform. The life in a bobsled is the life the driver puts into it. With a horse, it has life . . . one you must consider . . . and one that is truly your teammate. Knowing the horse, feeling the horse . . . and the horse with you is an additional matching of the minds that is necessary to be in the zone (your mind, your body, your horse).
If we have Olympians in the crowd, and I hope we do, I would be anxious to hear their perspectives about the calmness or chaos they experienced in the Olympic Games. Some will deny the importance of the mind in sport, but that would be like getting a computer and telling the company not to send the software package. In this scenario, we are left with a great piece of hardware, but it just sits without the software to run it. Agree or not, medical science very clearly shows that the mind (brain) is the catalyst for everything we do or don’t do. Without considering that facet of competition, we are back to a computer without software . . . an interesting instrument to look at, but it really can’t do much.
6. What is the biggest psychological mistake a trainer can make with a student?
A: It seems that a trainer in equestrian sports might be similar to a coach in most other sports. I do a significant amount of work with coaches in terms of effective coaching, leadership, and mentoring. Specific to riding, I think it would be an interesting discussion to hear from the attendees . . . their perspective about this question. We might even have trainers who have learned from their mistakes that would be helpful for others to hear. Many of my "stories" are about mistakes I have made. We learn a lot from mistakes if we chose to learn from them. So, this might make a great discussion topic that would be enlightening for me and the attendees.
7. How can a trainer help a student who has performance anxiety?
A: There are a number of things a trainer can do to help (see question #4). However, probably the biggest assistance a trainer can be is to ensure that they aren’t a source of the anxiety that the student feels. Being aware of how we affect others in either a training or competitive environment is a key ingredient to being a great trainer, coach, mentor, parent, whatever. There is a degree of authority that people hold over others by virtue of the roles in a relationship (e.g. trainer: rider, coach: athlete, teacher: student, parent: child, etc.). Awareness and management of this "power differential" is important and the importance changes as athletes move up the competitive levels.
8. How common is a performance slump?
A: Well, just like injuries, expect to have one . . . at least one. Yogi Berra (NY Yankee) used to say, "I ain’t in no slump, I’m just not hitting." As with many other issues in sports, slumps (performance declines) vary. What is important, however, is to begin to understand what takes us into a slump, what keeps us there, what gets us out, and what can reduce the frequency of these unfortunate experiences.
An answer to this issue is to maintain a good set of performance journals. I specifically look at health, game plan, physiology, bio-mechanics, conditioning, nutrition, skills, tactics, understanding of the rules applicable to the sport, distractions (in and out of sport), performance routines, and an ongoing perspective about sport and life. These are the ingredients to a successful recipe for success. We will talk more about these at the workshop. Every sport is a business and every good business must keep good books. Therefore, if an athlete does a marginal job of tracking what makes them successful, they only have a marginal chance of figuring out how to get out the slump. Elite athletes must have a plan. We don’t always have the time to "wait it out!"
9. How important is goal setting?
A: Having a plan, in terms of where we are going, how we get there, and when we want to be there are important components to any visionary business . . . including athletics. In question #8, I noted a "game plan" as being one of the ingredients to success. Again, this is another item for us to discuss in the workshop. I tend to utilize other language than what most find in the sport psychology books. So, goals . . . I have changed to game plan or business plan. Just seems to get more people’s attention when we manage the vocabulary. Bottom line, direction is necessary whether we label it goals or anything else.
10. Have You ever told a rider that they need a new horse, not a sport psychologist?
A: Well, since my work with equestrians is somewhat limited, I have not yet encouraged a rider to get a new horse, rather than see a sport psychologist. However, I guess another option would be to encourage the horse to get another rider! Just depends on where the talent lies . . . in the saddle or under it! Best case scenario is when we’ve got talent on both sides of the saddle (a good match) and with a little work, the combined effect could be spectacular! If we don’t have a good match, it certainly makes sense to find a match/fit that works, rather than continue to force the proverbial "square peg in a round hole."
Please call the VHSA office for more information. 540-349-0910. Seating Will Be Limited. This clinic is open to all breeds and disciplines. You need not be a member of the Virginia Horse Shows Association to participate.
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