The personality traits that help athletes overcome pressure
How many times have we looked at an elite athlete and thought that pressure doesn’t affect them and concluded that this is what allows them to perform at the highest possible standard? Perhaps in thinking this way, we are missing the obvious point. It may be closer to the truth that such individuals are constantly challenged by pressure and that it is the manner in which they have dealt with those pressures that gives them the edge. In any walk of life we face challenges, and at times we may be tempted to think that it would be much easier if we didn’t have pressure. However, it is the very fact that we have faced obstacles and successfully overcome them that allows us to learn and negotiate similar hurdles in the future. Therefore, if an athlete didn’t face challenges and learn how to deal with them, they simply wouldn’t be able to do so in the moment when it matters most, and this is something Dave Collins, Áine MacNamara, and Neil McCarthy raise in Super Champions, Champions, and Almosts: Important Differences and Commonalities on the Rocky Road when suggesting:
There is growing recognition that facing and overcoming a degree of challenge is desirable for aspiring elites and as such, should be recognized and employed
It sounds simple but what is equally obvious is that there are certain individuals that are able to deal with adversity better than others. This mental resilience is a key factor when it comes to sport and can make all the difference between winning and losing. Interestingly, studies have highlighted the fact that particular personality traits are instrumental in overcoming such challenges and according to Sarkar and Fletcher in Psychological resilience in sport performers: a review of stressors and protective factors,
psychological resilience is important in sport because athletes must utilize and optimize a range of mental qualities to withstand the pressures that they experience
The study identifies the three main stressors encountered by athletes as being:
- Competitive
- Organizational and
- Personal
while the psychological factors that allow athletes to protect themselves from these stressors are:
- Positive Personality
- Motivation
- Confidence
- Focus, and
- Perceived Social Support
Competitive stressors involve the demands on an athlete created by competitive performance and include:-
- preparation
- injuries
- pressure
- underperforming
- expectations
- self-presentation, and
- rivalry
Organizational stressors involve the demands on an athlete by the organization in which they are involved and include:-
- leadership and personal issues
- cultural and team issues
- logistical and environmental issues
- performance and personal issues
Personal stressors involve the demands on a athlete from outside sport and include areas such as
- work-life interface
- family issues
- and the health/death of a significant other
Key factors in overcoming challenges
This analysis highlights the wide range of pressures that can affect an athlete and the research illustrates that particular personality traits can have an advantage in overcoming such hurdles.
- Positive Personality:
Personality traits that have been identified in successful athletes include: adaptive perfectionism, optimism, competitiveness, hope, and pro-activity - Motivation:
This is identified as one of the key ingredients for success as they help an athlete deal with pressure and stress - Confidence:
Another key ingredient for success in competitive sport and is created through multifaceted preparation, experience, self-awareness, visualization, coaching, and teammates - Focus:
Focus, or concentration, allows an athlete to withstand and even thrive on pressure at the most crucial times
In a podcast with the American Management Association last year, Dr. Graham Jones, author of ‘Thriving on Pressure: Mental Toughness for Real Leaders’ spoke about his research with elite athletes and business leaders. He talks about mental toughness essentially being how you deal and cope with pressure. In his research with elite athletes and business leaders, he concludes that there are 3 key things which are crucial when dealing with pressure
- Maintaining belief in yourself
- Remaining motivated when times are tough
- Focusing on the things that matter
Being able to maintain these and stay in control under intense pressure helps you to remain positive, bounce back from setbacks, learn from mistakes, remain calm under the most extreme pressure and turn threats into opportunities within your own mindset. Successful elite athletes are really good at minimizing constraints and maximizing supports.
Perceived Social Support
Very often successful athletes that were shielded from pressure and stress had high levels of social support. This included support from family, coaches, team-mates, and support staff. The findings of the study are supported by Collins, MacNamara and McCarthy in their study which saw them
set out to examine what factors associated with such “trauma” experiences may or may not discriminate between high, medium, and low achievers in sport, classified as super-champions, champions or almost
The study was conducted through interviewing athletes from the three categories of super-champions, champions and almost, and led them to conclude that a combination of experiencing challenges and particularly personality traits provided the best chance for success, as they state:
These findings suggest that differences between levels of adult achievement relate more to what performers bring to the challenges than what they experience. A periodized and progressive set of challenge, preceded and associated with specific skill development, would seem to offer the best pathway to success for the majority
In findings similar to Sarkar and Fletcher they identified the personality traits that enabled some athletes become ‘super-champions’ include:
- Commitment: Interest in and commitment to their sport during their development years is seen as crucial in future success
- Reaction to Challenge: Super champions were characterized by an almost fanatical reaction to challenge, both proactively and in reaction to mishaps
- Reflection and Reward: Clear differences were apparent in how different categories of participant thought about their sport and also in how they perceived progress and, consequently, administered self-reward.
- The Role of Coaches and Significant Others in this Process: All categories of participants referred to the role of significant others in their progression through positive facilitation and gentle encouragement.
How to develop such traits
A lot of these personality traits are developed over time or come naturally to some athletes, but being aware of them gives individuals an opportunity to use them for their benefit. The good news is that research shows that we can employ techniques to improve our mental resilience. It is crucially important to identify stress and be energized by it, rather than drained. Athletes can develop the self belief to overcome challenges through experience, goal-setting, visualization and self talk. Concentrating on factors that you can control yourself such as performance, training and competition and ignoring/accepting the aspects that you cannot control can help overcome stress and pressure. A fit mind is just as important as a fit body.
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References
Resilience in Sport | KPEX Consulting
How Olympians train their brains to become mentally tough
Building Mental Toughness as an Athlete