Athletics are an integral part of the Gustavus population. Many Gusties are involved in sports and spend countless hours training their bodies to be the best they can be. A growing trend in the world of sports is the idea of mental training in addition to physical training. Last month, Assistant Professor of Health and Exercise Science Hayley Russell hosted a workshop tailored for student athletes. The event, titled ‘Sports and Performance Psychology,’ was aimed at mentally preparing athletes to succeed in their sports.

“I have been doing sport psychology workshops for the past two years. I collaborate on these workshops with assistant athletic director Kari Eckheart, Senior Exercise Physiology major Maggie Leininger, and other students who are interested in sport psychology,” Russell said.

The effort to make these workshops as helpful as possible to athletes has taken a lot of work from different people. Students, professors, and other faculty have come together to make this happen.

“This is the third year that Sport and Performance Psychology Workshops have been offered. I have been involved in planning, researching, and promoting all of the workshops. We have offered many different workshops all focusing on different topics within sport psychology like confidence, motivation, preventing burnout, and visualization,” Leininger said.

Each of the last two workshops Russell has offered have been aimed at the same general goal of helping athletes with performance anxiety issues. Russell also led a reading group over the course of last month. The workshop was a part of this larger program.

“Throughout J-Term I led a reading group of the book ‘Strong’ by Kara Goucher which focuses on sport-confidence. Then I did one longer evening workshop focusing on performance anxiety management in sport,” Russell said.

The event was attended by dozens of athletes from many different sports. Many individuals who attended the workshop were not part of the separate reading group but were interested in what was being offered regardless.

“The workshop was really informative and gave me some tools that I have been able to put to immediate use,” Senior track and field athlete Conrad Oddoye said.

Russell’s teaching methods made the workshop informative and engaging. She began by having each participant fill out a survey that would help them see what areas of performance anxiety they could use the most growth. At multiple points in the workshop, Russell called for a break. During this break, she would instruct the athletes to participate in structured breathing. The breathing exercise was meant to give a sense of calm and recentering.

“I’ve been using the rhythmic breathing exercise we learned in the workshop at every track meet and musical performance since the workshop. It’s a really helpful way to force your body to relax and distract your mind from anxiety,” Oddoye said.

Something so simple as breathing can be beneficial to overcoming performance anxiety. The tools learned could be useful for students who aren’t involved in sports but still face performance anxiety. The breathing exercise seemed to resonate with the athletes who attended the workshop.

“Something that really stuck with me is the breathing technique we learned for calming nerves. I’ve used this ever since, and [it] has become a huge help to me,” swim Senior Zachariah Dawson said.

For some athletes, this was not the first workshop of Russell’s they had attended. Last year, the focus was on positive self-talk. Each workshop has offered valuable sports psychology tips.

“I went to the workshop last year about positive self-talk and I learned a lot from it as well. I think that mental training is huge for athletics. Even if you have the physical capacity to do something well, you won’t get anywhere without a healthy mindset,” Dawson said.

The mental toughness required for competitive sports is just as important as the physical training aspect. It is hard to be successful when an athlete has only one or the other.

“I think mental skills training can be really helpful to athletes. Just like athletes need to practice physical skills to improve in their sport, it’s helpful to practice mental skills to manage their thoughts, feelings and behaviors effectively when playing their sport,” Russell said.

Many athletes and faculty in the athletic department are realizing the importance of mental training and are making the push for more workshops such as this one.

“I really appreciate the partnership with the Gustavus Athletics Department in promoting mental skills training for athletes. I would love to continue doing this in the future,” Russell said.

Mental training is a growing trend for athletes. Professor Hayley Russell has taken an important first step by offering events like this workshop. Athletes are finding that mental training is a beneficial aspect to finding success in their sports.