Talent may have got them to the top but it’s self-help books, motivational gurus and quantum physics that give them the edge

Do you think Tiger Woods heads out on to the golf course on tournament days repeating in his head ‘I might not win this one, I’m not really prepared’? No.

Forget relentless training, the backing of millions of fans and the latest hi-tech sportswear - when it comes to being successful in your game, having a positive mental attitude is all important.

When the difference between winning and losing can be a fraction of a second or the unexpected bounce of a ball, encouraging positive thoughts and banishing the fear of failure is a consistent theme in the lives of successful athletes.

England cricket captain Andrew Strauss is a recent convert to the power of positive thinking, praising the controversial self-help book ‘The Secret’ after his spell in the international wilderness.

“The theory is that what you think about, happens,” says Strauss in his own book ‘Testing Times’.

“If you think positive thoughts, then those thoughts will come about.”

‘The Secret’, by Australian writer Rhonda Byrne, which started life as a film, has been praised as a life-changing text and criticised as pretentious psycho-babble.

Whatever the verdict, the lessons Strauss learnt in 2008 - positive thoughts, a winning frame of mind and visualising success - are certainly not new.

Twenty-five years earlier, the same principles resurrected the life and career of New Zealand’s greatest cricketer Richard Hadlee.

At the end of a tiring year on and off the field, Hadlee says he was close to a physical and mental breakdown.

“It may sound a little melodramatic, but at this stage I was preoccupied with the thought of death,” he says. “I was convinced I had heart trouble which in turn made me worse.”

Motivation expert Grahame Felton, who ran a three-hour course for England’s Canterbury team - who Hadlee was playing for at the time - transformed the cricketer’s life.

Felton talked about visualisation, control and belief, explaining that fear was negative and emphasised the importance of setting targets.

?“It’s not easy to recapture the mood of that session,” Hadlee recalls.

“It was intense. Grahame’s message came across to me so forcibly it was like suddenly seeing the light.”

There are, of course, logical difficulties with all these positive thoughts, described in ‘The Secret’ as the ‘law of attraction’.

Strauss was asked by a sceptical interviewer where the balance of power lay when the opposing bowler pounded in, with his mind also packed with positive intent.

“I suppose the law of attraction says that if the bowler believes in himself more than you believe in yourself, then he will come out on top,” Strauss conceded.

“But I have always believed, and I suppose you have got to believe this as a batsman, that if I do everything right, then no bowler will get me out. Ever.
In other words, the law of attraction is more on my side than his.”

Statistics are on Strauss’ side.

He has had uninterrupted success as a batsman since his return to the England side and led the country to an Ashes win over Australia this year.

2009 has also marked the return of Jonny Wilkinson to the England rugby team. Wilkinson’s battles against a seemingly endless series of injuries since he drop-kicked the winning goal in the 2003 World Cup final are well documented.

So, too, are his public agonisings over the obsessive search for perfection which has dominated his life.

“I was born a perfectionist,” Wilkinson says in his book ‘Tackling Life’. “For as long as I can remember I have fought for an ideal world and my own flawless image within it. “I have left these beliefs firmly behind. Searching for perfect, lasting results in a world of forever evolving and unforeseeable events has been a very expensive and unforgiving vocation at times.”

Wilkinson, 30, has sought endlessly to find the serenity which has eluded him for most of his sporting career. Last year he embraced quantum physics and Buddhism.

“I do not like religious labels but there is a connection between quantum physics and Buddhism, which I was also getting into,” he says.

“Failing at something is one thing but Buddhism tells us that it is up to us how we interpret that failure.”

Sports psychologist Victor Thompson, who specialises in anxiety, stress and confidence, says the further athletes advance in their sports, the more important positive thinking becomes.

“You are more likely to get more success because you expect it.

It’s not necessarily that it’s given you any extra powers, it’s just sort of switching on the bits of you that are more active and positive and doing things in a more helpful way, than being more fearful, restrictive, cautious and negative.

“It’s nothing particularly new. It’s just that some people get interested, new books come out and they try to practice the principles.

?“At higher levels, your mental preparation and focus while you’re performing and your recovery after a bad event is all the more important.

“The higher you go, the intensity and the difficulty of the challenge increases quite a lot, especially if you are doing it for money or sponsorship.

There’s a lot more resting on it when you are at a higher level.

“It’s how you approach it, the idea to win is understandable but there is only ever one winner. You have to be realistic and do your best.”

Sorce:http://www.7days.ae

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