Olympic Competition London 2012 “90% mental”

 

 

 

You may have heard the sports phrase the game is "90% mental" or the game is "really played in your head".

 

For many years now I have watched this polar shift occur.  Growing up and playing many different sports, the philosophy was to just push through it-- don't think...DO! My coach would yell, "put your head down Corbitt and do it."

Later my dad started coaching me, and others in sports.  As a place kicker in high school, he helped me by telling me as I stood on the sideline to affirm my (and everyone on both teams) ability is firmly planted in God and right before I go onto the field to kick a field goal, "close your eyes and go through everything from the snap to the hold to the ball going through the goal posts".  This was all before the big push for "visualization" and mental imagery.

Our family was big into utilizing a certain type of prayer.

 

 An affirming and clarifying prayer was powerful in my experience.  Affirming who I was in and through the eyes of God helped me growing up in all areas of my life.  Four years of college football overlooking the Mississippi river was filled with opportunities for prayer, affirmation, visualization, and mental focus.  Athletics are mental, and so is health.

At the London 2012 games, athletes are using mental imagery, prayer, visualization, projection, and other mental techniques and "gymnastics" to focus thought and handle the pressure of performance.  One Olympic coach, Markus Weise, who coaches the Germany men's hockey team, has an interesting way to get his players to relax in the most intense of situations.

When practicing penalty shots, he flings a mental arithmetic question at them just before they take their shot, instead of discussing speed, placement, or power with them.

Once they answer the question, which may be something simple like four times eleven-- then they can flick the puck.

His idea is to redirect their mental energy and focus off of the shot, which they have done countless times.  This keeps them relaxed and not over thinking what they are trying to do.

My family has been glued to the TV watching these amazing Olympic games.  What has struck us the most is watching close-ups of the athletes immediately before and immediately after their performances.  Both before and after, we can see them going through their routine step by step.  Their mental focus is paramount and driving their production.

I read somewhere that an average five set men's tennis match lasts just over four hours.  Guess how much time they actually spend playing out all of the points?  Less than 18 minutes! What are they doing the other 222 minutes plus?  Thinking, praying, imaging, allowing thought to relax and play.

Over the last several decades these techniques have proven effective, useful, and powerful.  Through competition we learn valuable lessons that can be applied to every area of life.  What if we used prayer, visualization, mental imagery to help us with employment, finances, relationship, our physical health?  Would we then "win" the Olympic Gold of life?

A pioneer of mental centrality, Mary Baker Eddy, stated in her major work, Science and Health:

"The feats of the gymnast prove that latent mental fears are subdued by him. The devotion of thought to an honest achievement makes the achievement possible.  Exceptions only confirm this rule, proving that failure is occasioned by a too feeble faith."

 

In today's fast paced, highly intellectual life, can we as a people possibly connect a much-needed shift in health of the power of thought to our physical wellbeing?  It just may be the next big Olympic Gold question propelling humankind forward into the next gigantic period of spiritual enlightenment.

Have you thought about this mental-physical connection during the Olympics?