Sport psychology services to high performance athletes during COVID-19

Abstract

Sport psychology services to high performance athletes during These are trying times for us all. COVID-19 has altered our lives as citizens. The changes associated with the current pandemic have presented sport and exercise psychologists with many challenges and opportunities related to sport performance, physical activity and health. Here, we focus on what was, and is presently, being encountered by mental performance consultants in relation to the aspiring Olympic athletes they are supporting.Within recent weeks, mental performance consultants working with Olympic aspirants have evidenced a growing number of suggestions how aspiring athletes might proceed in their sports and in their broader lives, based on their national conditions and regional responses to the pandemic. Each national funding agency, Olympic committee, federal government, and sport organisation, is rolling out strategies of how mental performance consultants can work effectively with clients in what for many, but not all, is a socially distanced world.Discussions have varied from the challenges that athletes are encountering to issues associated with social isolation, career disruption, qualification process uncertainty, and unconventional and limited access to effective training environments and training partners. Underpinning these considerations is the health and wellbeing of athletes in their pursuits toward excellence.Historically, editorials within the International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology were paired with special issues, such as the one focused on international approaches to Olympic athlete performance, published in 2016. Within the current editorial, however, there is a deviation in approach, caused by a global circumstancesport is not being experienced as usual; the challenges posed for those engaging in sport, region by region, are uncharted.The focus we have set, in what should have been the 2020 Olympic year, is placed on the shared challenges and the emergence of solutions that mental performance consultants are presently undertaking in their work with athletes. The co-authors of this editorial are from Asia, Europe, and North America. We have published on the topic of Olympic performance and we are currently immersed in work with Olympic athletes in our respective countries. What follows is a synthesised commentary.The reader might posit that embedded in each author's work, approaches are idiosyncratic and driven partly by culture and context, which is a correct assumption. For example, some of us are working from a distance, where others are consulting face-to-face. However, what we share in common is astounding, despite our respective locations and circumstances. We present this editorial, structured into three temporal stages: (a) before the 2020 Olympics were postponed, (b) once the Olympics were postponed, and (c) the path being re-set toward Tokyo, 2021. Before Olympic postponementLife tends to be normal before crisis transitions are experienced, within and outside of highperformance sport. Within high-per...

The 2020 Coronavirus Pandemic as a Change-Event in Sport Performers’ Careers: Conceptual and Applied Practice Considerations

“…However, for those who were not in their peak ability and for those injured athletes, this break could also be perceived as beneficial (Taku and Arai, 2020). Thus, for inexperienced Olympic athletes or those with "ability gaps, " gaining an additional year of preparation was perceived favorably (Henriksen et al, 2020;Schinke et al, 2020a). On the other hand, for athletes who expected to retire from their athletic engagement following the Tokyo Games or to begin a dual-career, the postponement was undesirable.…”

“…It potentially involves a loss of identity, motivation and meaning" (Henriksen et al, 2020, p. 1). In another ISSP publication, this new situation was regarded as a "crisis transition, " with potential stress responses including decreased sleep and appetite, increased rumination, loneliness, and fear of the uncertain future and the alternation of the Olympic cycle (Schinke et al, 2020a). In a third publication, the influence of cultural context was considered as important in how professional athletes might respond to social distancing.…”

“…While many sport performers were negatively affected by this situation, others might have perceived it rather positively (Taku and Arai, 2020). For example, injured athletes had more time to recover and inexperienced Olympians had time to improve their skills (Henriksen et al, 2020;Schinke et al, 2020a). Thus, specific career contextual conditions can be seen to influence sport performers' perceptions of and reactions to this unique situation.…”

The COVID-19 pandemic and Olympic/Paralympic athletes’ developmental challenges and possibilities in times of a global crisis-transition

“…The International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology (IJSEP) co-editors have featured three parallel editorials focused on Olympians/Paralympians (Schinke, Papaioannou, Henriksen, et al, 2020), professional athletes (Schinke, Papaioannou, Maher, et al, 2020), and physical activity participants in relation to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic (C-19). 1 The first of these editorials (Schinke, Papaioannou, Henriksen et al, 2020) was conceived during March-April of 2020, and targeted Olympians/ Paralympians' challenges and short-term strategies, a recurring topic in the IJSEP (e.g., Terry &Si, 2015 andSchinke &. The mental health of Olympic/Paralympic athletes has also been the launching point of a multi-societal think tank series, led by the International Society of Sport Psychology (ISSP; Henriksen et al, 2020).…”

The Impact of Postponing 2020 Tokyo Olympics on the Happiness of O-MO-TE-NA-SHI Workers in Tourism: A Consequence of COVID-19

“…However, no researchers have considered this aspect. (Postponement of the Olympics is expected to influence the mental condition of athletes who qualified to participate in the Olympics (Schinke [23])) Hence, this work examines the impact of the postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics on workers in the tourism and restaurant sectors in Tokyo and the surrounding areas. With respect to the analysis of COVID-19, Fetzer et al [24] gathered data from 58 countries through internet surveys that were conducted between late March and early April 2020.…”