FEATURE: WRESTLING WITH AN EDGE WHAT ARE SOME KEY establish a good working relationship threat mindset. That doesn’t mean that it FACTORS BOTH YOU AND THE with the medical staff. A relationship with isn’t worth doing though! What I try to do ATHLETE NEED TO CONSIDER the medical staff is crucial in situations is look at the behavioral outcomes that PRE-EVENT TO ENSURE IDEAL where an athlete is injured. Knowing the coaches and management are interested PERFORMANCE? extent of an injury, the implications for in and work with athletes toward these. the athlete, and the medical options for Prior to an event, I work with athletes to an athlete can be really useful. This is Despite the often intangible nature of identify their ideal competitive mindset especially the case when I am working our work, consistent interaction with a and the behaviours associated with this. with an athlete on the psychological performance psychologist can help an We then identify the strategies that aspects of the injury like fear of re-injury,athlete in ways that are measurable to they can use to help them activate this the end of a sporting career or coaches and management, but possibly mindset and the associated behaviours. deselection. In cases where they have a not to a wider audience. For instance, Other important considerations include long-standing relationship with the an athlete’s overt response to an event identifying personal signs of stress, athlete, the medical staff can often point stressor may improve with specific identifying key event stressors and out that something is going on with an psychological training in areas such as distractions, training to be able to focus athlete that I might want to investigate. Atperformance anxiety or responding to on performance related cues in the the same time, some medical staff enjoy failure. Any consequential improvement presence of distractors, identifying having a chat with me about the mental would certainly be measurable! opportunities to relax and de-stress aspect of some of the medical issues before and between events and they encounter like athletes who are In relation to feedback, the confidential establishing a personal social media hypersensitive to a body part previously nature of our work can make providing policy. injured and chronic pain management or feedback challenging. In order for we might start discussions with a coach performance psychologists to be For some wrestlers, this is their first about whether an athlete is mentally and effective in their roles, athletes need to benchmark event and so we talk physically fit to return to play. trust that what they disclose remains through logistics such as the challenges confidential. At the same time, we associated with travel (getting to and One thing to note is that my professional acknowledge that coaches and from the venue on time), time differences, obligation to maintain confidentiality can management require feedback to potential issues with sleep, like the noise sometimes restrict what, and how much necessitate improvements, and we try to associated with living in a Games village, information I am able to share with the fulfil this whilst respecting confidentiality. and nutrition. As the Commonwealth medical team. I try to be upfront with We also work with coaching staff to help Games are in Australia this year, these medical staff about this from day one, and shape an environment that will assist issues are not as potentially challenging to date, all of the medical staff that I haveathletes in meeting their individual and as an international venue may be for worked with have been extremely team goals. first-time Wrestling Australia athletes, butrespectful of this caveat. still, athletes need to be informed and Elite performance is never the result of have strategies in place to address these IN THE WORLD OF SCIENCE just one thing. Rather, it is the result of issues if and when they arise. Home AND MEDICINE, THERE IS many factors coming together —mental, Games can also bring their own unique OFTEN AN EXPECTATION skills, tactical, strength and conditioning. challenges, such as added pressure and THAT OUTCOMES ARE organising the logistics associated with MEASURABLE AND CAN BE having visiting family and friends. REPLICATED. HOW DO YOU ABOUT THE AUTHOR PROVIDE FEEDBACK TO DO YOU INTERACT WITH COACHES AND MANAGEMENT Bradley Close received his OTHER MEMBERS OF THE ON AN ATHLETE’S Master’s in High Performance from MEDICAL TEAM? IF SO, HOW PERFORMANCE? ACU. He is the program coordinator DOES THAT RELATIONSHIP for SMA ACT and also a WORK? That’s an excellent question. A large part Performance Analyst at the AIS. of my work is intangible and therefore, Currently, there is no medical team difficult to measure. For example, attached to the Commonwealth Games there is significant debate over to how wrestling team. However, in my work with to measure ‘mental toughness’ or an other teams, I have absolutely sought to athlete’s ability to adopt a challenge vs. VOLUME 36 • APRIL ISSUE 2018 49