During the Christmas/New Year break eventing riders around the world take a well deserved holiday then they start to prepare for another year of competition
Training generally re-commences with a focus on improving their own and their horses’ physical skills, but how many riders look at improving their mental performance? The off-season is a perfect time for analysing the psychological attributes that may make a big difference to your success, whether at grassroots or elite level, in the coming year
Charlie Unwin is a renowned performance psychologist who has built a reputation for his specialist experience in helping equestrians accelerate their potential, perform consistently in competition and thrive under pressure. In this TedTalk from May 2017 Charlie explores the intuitive qualities and mental skills that separate high achievers from the rest, in particular the skill of ‘visualisation’
Visualisation is known to be a powerful tool, not just for athletes but for anyone preparing for oncoming situations. However it is a skill that many professional athletes hone in order to get ‘in the zone’ before competition, enabling them to imagine the action before it happens and visualise a positive outcome.
This way they are not only better prepared but also more confident once out on the field. As Charlie points out, visualisation helps us to ‘maintain presence of mind in high pressure situations’ and ‘experience more confidence in our own abilities’
These are skills that you can work on, particularly during the months when the weather may provide an added incentive to working on your brain rather than in a field! It’s a perfect time to put your grey matter through a few mental hoops .............
