A new edition of the Spanish Men's Championship is about to begin, one of the great national paddle parties. Fran Cintado has offered us an interesting article, in which he talks about the importance of the mental aspect when preparing the competitions of the 'little big stars' of this wonderful sport.
Padel World Press .- The Junior Paddle Competition has some peculiarities that make it different from the Adult Competition. To give just one example, the Minors are in the learning and technical and tactical improvement phase, have little competitive experience and lack psychological skills to handle the anxiety and pressure of a sports competition.
Minors 'need' to learn to compete and acquire skills that allow them to face adverse situations, moments of pressure, handle decisive match situations ... The environment of the Minor that competes requires special attention, since in most of the time it has a decisive influence.
They need to learn to recognize the situations of competition that require a good 'management of the head', such as the pre-games, the initial points and games of each set, the decisive balls of breaking service, disregarding external comments and observations from outside the track, learn to 'close the finds ...
As we have the necessary skills and we have learned to handle ourselves in these situations, we will obtain more satisfaction in the competition and increase the performance in the matches.
How to train to reach an optimal mental control to face a padel competition such as a National Youth Paddle Championship?
In order to achieve optimal mental control to compete, it is necessary to carry out a multidisciplinary work in the preparation of the Minors competition, where the padel trainers, the physical trainers, the physiotherapists, the nutritionists and, of course, the sports psychologist specialized in Paddle are involved. juvenile. We must all work and collaborate in the same direction and with the same objectives, focusing on the Minors as children and adolescents who are and, later, as padel players. This is what we call in Psychology 'Sinergias'.
From the field of sports psychology applied to paddle tennis, we must attend to several aspects of preparatory mental training for competition:
Planning: It is very important to establish goals or objectives of multidisciplinary training and to plan the steps to achieve them. Here all professionals, as well as parents and the minor, must collaborate. For example, determine where we want to go, what we want to improve our game, how long I will train, organize meals, breaks and preparation of matches ...
Psychological routines: It is also necessary to 'create' psychological routines in our day to day, so that we 'automate' small exercises and activities that help us on and off the track. For example, activities of breathing and / or relaxation, concentration and visualization exercises ...
Concentration: It is a decisive and decisive element in the correct execution and the good competitive development of the Minors. Learn to concentrate before and during matches, improve concentration, maintain concentration in times of more pressure, reset and resume the concentration lost during the course of the game ...
Breathing and Relaxation: It's in the same 'block' as the concentration. It is very necessary to learn to breathe with the diaphragm to recover more quickly between points, control muscle tension in the decisive blows ... And with relaxation we get the child to come to the game in optimal mental conditions, rest the night before and not 'let' catch by the tension of the competition.
Display: Minors tend to have a lot of imagination… Well, let's learn to use it to prepare to compete. Let's exercise visualization with simple exercises and games that, together with breathing and concentration, help them to visually prepare for the games and situations that we have detected that may cause us a problem.
Positive Attitude: It is necessary to work the Minor's attitude outside and inside the track. Teach him to use his body image, show energy and safety in the game, support his partner at all times and accept errors and failures as part of the game.
All these activities have to be in line with the rest of the professional team that works in the High Competition School, and make continuous feedback with the boys and girls, with the parents and with the other professionals.
It is very important to create a playful and fun environment where Minors are the protagonists of their own training as people and as athletes.
Psychological Counseling during the Competition
Sports psychologists are not usually present with the coach or coach during competitions, especially because we can not advise players in games. For this reason we create psychological routines during training. Our work is prior to the competition.
However, in those cases where it can be accompanied, the behavior of the Minors in competition is monitored: before, during and after the match.
It is very interesting and very productive to have the advice of the sports psychologist during the competition as it establishes good communication and feedback and helps the child to control emotions and tensions before games and during matches. The sports psychologist is like a 'catalyst', he does not have a main role in the competition, but if he is present ... Everything works correctly.
And remember .... Enjoy playing paddle tennis !!!
Fran Cintado
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