The Solomon Islands National Institute of Sport (SINIS) introduced mental skills training with the mission to work with athletes and coaches across all sports.
On Tuesday 20th September the SINIS Mental Skills department under the Performance Service held the first session in going over how mental skills relate to a sport performance culture and how SINIS will help athletes develop and prevent performance issues.
SINIS Mental Skills Coach Marcia Iromea highlighted the importance to equip athletes with mental skills needed to improve their sport performances by facilitating a mindset so that they can still perform their skills and strategies successfully under pressure.
“These sessions are for all athletes across all sports. Mental skills training (MST) refers to the systematic and consistent practice of mental skills for the purpose of building a better performance.”
Athletes were introduced to the initial topics on; motivation, self-talk, attitude, competition routine, focus/concentration, self-confidence, goal setting, managing emotions, anxiety management, visualization/mental imaginary.
“It will help athletes to build and have control over the pressure, stress, anxiety and family issues that deter their performance focus – having them equipped to be mentally fit and prepare and adjust,” she explained.
The mental skills coaching will focus on specific topic or situation the coach and/or athlete are facing.
“We will be establishing plans to overcome mental challenges. Future session based on the topics will focus on individual progress made through athletes heat map and help athletes improve their performance and addressing issues that surface.
“And we provide athletes with toolkits to develop mental skills experience success in sports and life.
These are part of the SINIS strategic approach principles to ensure the system supports athletes and coaches to perform on the elite stages and the sessions will continue weekly.
Source: SINIS Media
