Rugby League Coaching Manuals

It isn't with lots of flowery speeches or exaggerated and unwarranted praise. And more than anything, it certainly doesn't come from talking about feelings.

Instead, Swift suggests that it comes from achieving what she terms a ‘Flow State', where the preparation smoothly follows a pattern that blocks out negative distractions.

She contends that the build-up to a performance will always be prefaced by three noted factors: Feelings, Thoughts and Actions.

The problem is when the cycle begins with - and therefore is driven by - feelings.

Swift believes if the ‘Flow State' is to be achieved it must be driven by strong actions first, leading to enhanced feelings and then winning thoughts.

"Actions are the easiest way to change your state of mind, because they can be achieved physically by recruiting our muscles, whereas feelings and thoughts cannot," she says.

"You must have an action plan. Start with doing, not thinking. What works for you at club level? Repeat it and keep the patterns of behaviour the same no matter the level of the event.

"You'll see someone who starts feeling and thinking first; they start pacing up and down or isolate themselves from friends before an event. Eventually they'll have so much tension in their muscles that they start lactating earlier and underperform. They've changed what they do normally and, as a result, stuffed up their performance."

Furthermore, Swift says any situation where the athlete is ‘wishful' or ‘hopeful' represents a negative thought in her opinion. Positive thoughts are those which you can control.

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