Mental preparation in Olympic weightlifting

Summary of interviews with non-elite Olympic weightlifters on mental techniques and skills they use to improve their performance.

Who

7 non-elite Olympic weightlifters (2 females, 5 males) aged 24.1 ± 3.2 years (Cyprus). Athletes had on average 3 years of experience and competed at least once in the national competition (5 athletes competed internationally).

Design

In-depth semi-structured interviews

Outcome measures

• Perceptions on mental preparation

Main results

• All athletes thought that mental preparation in important, especially during competition.

• Some athletes thought that there is a connection between mental state and performance / physical state. They thought that if you are not ready mentally, you will not be able to utilise what your body can do.

• Two main themes from the inteviews were:

  • “mental techniques” - factors allowing to feel prepared:
    • “extrinsic self-confidence”
    • “intrinsic self-confidence”
    • “self-efficacy”
    • “mistake coping”
    • “consistency”
    • “competing against self”
    • “emotional arousal”

• “mental skills” - processes to prepare mentally:
  • “imagery”
  • “self-talk”
  • “routine”
  • “distance”
  • “focus”
  • “push for maximum”
  • “sense arousal”
  • “arousal control”

• all athletes recognised “mistake coping” as important, as it relates to performance, but did not name specific processes to achieve it.
• external vs internal comfidence were mentioned by the athletes. As internal confidence was described as more important, athletes should audit their reliance on social environment for confidence.
• avoiding others (opponents) was considered vital
• almost all athletes used audio-visual materials like slow-motion videos of lifts.
• overuse of “push for maximum” may promote overuse of the body and injuries, therefore should be used wisely.
• imagery was used by all non-elite athletes in this study, but each person had a preference to use either external of internal imagery. Olympic-level athletes has shown to use both types.
• ability to “focus” used by all athletes was also recognised in the literature as a skill separating successful from unsuccessful athletes.
• breathing (especially deep breathing) was used to control arousal.

Take home message

Original article

Phylactou P. Inside the Mind of Weightlifters: The Mental Preparation of Greek-Cypriot Olympic-Style Weightlifting Athletes.Journal of European Psychology Students. 2019;10(1):1-5.