3A Reading and Vocabulary Mind and body

• I can identify specific details in an article and talk about success.

Qualities behind sporting success

1 What factors do you think contribute to sporting success? In pairs, choose three most important qualities from the box.

Which paragraph fits each gap? Read A–E

2 Read the article about sports psychology on page 53. Complete the gaps, 1–4, in the text with paragraphs, A–E. There is one extra paragraph.

Paragraph A

• Sports psychology, in most major team sports, has been something of a game changer.
• The sports psychologist not only works with individual players, but with the team as a whole, and also liaises with the coaches.
• In professional football, tactical analysis of play has long-been used as part of any club’s methodology.
• Teams rewatch past games to study the mechanics of each move and sequence.
• With the addition of sports psychology, they monitor the replays for the psychology behind certain actions, too.

Paragraph B

• The tennis player talked about playing at her highest level,
• as well as how developing a pre-match routine proved to be a failsafe way of settling her nerves.
• She has managed to enhance her performance by learning how to block out distractions such as television cameras or the noise of the crowd.
• She also added that negative thought processes feature less in her life overall now.

Paragraph C

• These examples demonstrate a dual aspect of the sports psychologist’s contribution:
• a commitment to protect and improve the well-being of the client and, in turn, the greater probability of favourable outcomes in their chosen sport.
• It is a winning formula of care channelled into measurable results.

Paragraph D

• So, what do sports psychologists actually do, and what qualifies them to do it?
• In terms of qualifications, degree courses in sports psychology are widely offered at universities around the world.
• Alternatively, those with an undergraduate degree in psychology may add to it by pursuing specialist postgraduate studies such as sports medicine or physiology.

Paragraph E

• Sports psychologists use strategies that help players to focus on their aims.
• These may include goal-setting or visualisation, which are techniques that have been shown to improve concentration and performance.
• Professional sportspeople require extensive resilience, which sports psychologists help them to maintain,
• as well as strategies for being positive or remaining calm in difficult moments.

Gap 1 in the article on page 53: which paragraph, A–E, fits?

Which paragraph is the extra one, not used in any gap?

Six collocations from the article

3 Complete the sentences with the highlighted collocations from the text, making any necessary changes.

1 Please wish me luck.

I’m about to ___ an exciting new project!

Make any necessary changes to the collocation.

2 Let’s look back at the original plan.

We mustn’t ___ our main objectives.

3 The engineers are ___ each other and working together as a team.

4 All of their energy is being ___ helping their community.

5 Our hopes of having a family picnic are being ___ rainy weather.

6 The teacher praised everyone’s artwork.

Then he ___ his favourite painting.

Mind and body: why elite athletes need a sports psychologist

Sports psychology examines the processes and effects of sport from a psychological perspective. Highly-skilled sports stars at the peak of fitness may be outstanding physically, but is this enough? Experts broadly agree that it is not.

• It takes an exceptional individual to perform in any high-stakes tournament and to compete under enormous pressure and scrutiny,
• but that is what professional athletes do for a living.
• In spite of their dedication and skill, even the best of sportspeople can be plagued by doubts and fears.
• The need to be in the right mindset to perform, unhindered by nerves,
• has paved the way for a relatively new role in the sports sector, that of the sports psychologist.
• The field of sports psychology has grown rapidly in recent years and has become a mainstream element of professional sports.
• Now, when sports celebrities thank their manager, their coach, and their supporters,
• it is not unusual for them to single out their sports psychologist for special praise.
• It seems unthinkable that any serious player or team would be without one today.

What sports psychologists do for players

Next: coping with stress and injury.

• The discipline typically combines research and theory with the applied practice of psychology in physical exercise and sports.
• Qualified sports psychologists help sportspeople to be mentally prepared for effective training and optimum performance,
• but let us look in more detail at how they do this.

• They also teach coping skills for dealing with anxiety and intense career stress - for example, using muscle relaxation, breathing exercises and meditation.
• When players get injured,
• the sports psychologist supports them through their recovery with a customised programme for their physical pain management as well as their mental wellness.
• If a player’s confidence becomes eroded by an injury they have sustained,
• the sports psychologist works closely with them, strategically building the player back up to a position of self-belief.

Chelsea FC, scanning and penalty kicks

Next: what research at a football club found.

• At Chelsea FC in London, they extensively reviewed players’ moves to analyse whether they reflected psychological focus or confidence or motivation and,
• in this way, were able to identify patterns of play which led to success on the pitch.
• One professor of sport sciences, after observing more than 250 players,
• was able to conclude that play was more successful whenever players ‘scanned’, that is, quickly glanced around, before receiving a pass.
• The same psychology professor also studied 45 years’ worth of penalty shoot-outs,
• measuring the winning games against the length of time a player took to take the penalty kick.
• The conclusion, in psychological terms, is that waiting too long causes overthinking, which often results in no score.

Why this matters to everyone, not only athletes

Last: what the rest of us can take from it.

• After all, when we feel our best, we are more likely to do our best.
• For this reason, even though most of us will not embark upon a career in professional sports,
• and may never experience the terrifying exhilaration of performing in front of millions of people,
• and being judged for it, we all stand to benefit from the overall process of sports psychology.
• In our daily lives, we would all benefit from paying closer attention to our goals and not losing sight of them;
• relaxing and sleeping well;
• celebrating important occasions; remaining calm in a crisis; thinking positively; praying and believing we can do our best.

Where the four gaps sit in the article

• First gap sits after “…It seems unthinkable that any serious player or team would be without one today.”
• Second gap sits after “…training and optimum performance, but let us look in more detail at how they do this.”
• Third gap sits after “…psychologist works closely with them, strategically building the player back up to a position of self-belief.”
• Fourth gap sits after “…in psychological terms, is that waiting too long causes overthinking, which often results in no score.”