It's the little things that matter...because they can impact the big things. Little things make big things happen.
With this in mind, modern sport has turned to the study of the mind to see what extra advantages can be gained. In this regard, Galway this season have been benefiting from the expertise of one of the best in the business, a woman whose influence on five of Dublin's All-Ireland win cannot be underestimated.
Top sports and performance psychologist Anne-Marie Kennedy who is this season working with the Galway senior footballers has coached athletes at the highest level in various sports: golf and cricket, swimming and cycling, hurling and Gaelic football. She has been there when the best have had to be at their very best.
There for the moments that decide games; that determine actions and reactions. If Galway are to face any such moments this weekend, they will have all been visualised and worked through in terms of mental preparation by the Tipperary woman.
Mayo fans will wince when they think back to that last-gasp Dean Rock free that denied them a win in 2017. That last gasp moment when the stadium stood and watched as the late free went over, giving the Dubs the edge in a tight game that they went on to win.
The success of the Dublin senior football team of that era, under Jim Gavin, owes much to the Mindful Athlete Programme that Anne-Marie developed for the Dubs in 2015.
Dublin’s training was geared for big moments. Anne-Marie as High Performance Psychologist, had been handed the remit by Gavin. Together they developed a programme that allowed players absorb pressure. At critical junctures, like that late free facing Rock in 2017, they would be mentally equipped to function effectively.
This season, she has been brought on board to help Galway deal with such pressures and it is no coincidence that a lookback on this year's run by the squad has seen them deal with some potentially mind-jangling and heart-racing moments.
Invaluable experience
John Concannon this week paid tribute to the work she has done. "I think she was involved in five out of the six Dublin All-Irelands and the learning from that, from Jim Gavin's time is invaluable.
He told the Advertiser that the margins that are created can be crucial.
"It's all these one percenters and five percenters. If this effort can improve us by five per cent as a group, you would get ten Anne-Maries.
"She also works one to one with the players and these tweaks and nuances gets them ready for match day situations. Her overall experience working on five of the six All-Irelands for Dublin is invaluable," he said.
In an interview some years ago, Anne-Marie explained that how to deal with stress is the key component.
“We sat down and agreed a programme called the Mindful Athlete Programme (MAP ). It was designed to develop the mental fortitude of the players and their mental skills in terms of resilience, emotional control and concentration. We wanted to optimise their mental capacity.”
No more than football coaches aspire to maximise playing ability, sport psychologists prime people to perform under pressure. As a pilot, Gavin appreciated the need for clear thinking in stressful situations. Ms Kennedy provided the kind of skills that would elevate Dublin when others felt the strain.
Strength and conditioning for the mind
“A sport psychologist is a strength and conditioning coach for the mind. The brain is designed to keep you alive, it is not designed to win you All-Irelands.
"If you are not programming the brain correctly, its natural reaction will win out via the fight or flight response. The mind has to be trained to keep the brain in check. If you are not doing this, you are leaving a huge portion of your performance to chance.”
Kennedy first sat down with Jim Gavin in 2015. One facet immediately struck: attention to detail.
The regimen for Dublin, in terms of their mental approach, revolved around mindfulness. Effectively, the players went through workouts for the brain. Whether simple breathing exercises or guided meditations layered with psychological skills, the same principle applied: discipline.
“When victory is important, victory becomes the threat. We put in hundreds of hours of brain training to be victorious in those pressure moments. Some people have a very strong mindset but schooling the mind should never be considered an add on. It needs investment on a regular basis. Thoughts and emotions are two sides of the same coin, and have a huge impact on performance. If you are leaving your mental preparation to chance, as soon as pressure enters the arena, you will be exposed.”
Mindfulness, unlike shooting practice or resistance training, can happen anywhere, any time. A walk or a meal can easily double as a meditative exercise. And the benefits of honing this trait went far beyond football.
“It helped to keep the players grounded in their daily lives and in their daily tasks,” Ms Kennedy said. “If you’re doing 10 to 15 minutes a day optimising your brain function, you’re going to self regulate better. You’re going to have more clarity, which means you’re going to think smarter and make better decisions.”
Distracted mind
At surface level, sport is a series of physical acts. Kennedy delves deeper, conditioning athletes for games the mind can play. She cites golf encounters: “I’ve sat down with players and talked through their rounds, and they have said to me, on numerous occasions: ‘I don’t know where I went for three holes. I was completely gone. I can’t even remember playing my shots.’ That’s the power of the distracted mind.
She has toured worldwide with teams and has provided her psychological expertise and support to numerous sporting governing bodies such as Cricket Ireland, Cycling Ireland, Swim Ireland, Horse Sport Ireland and the GAA.
Anne-Marie has prepared teams and athletes for success at World Cups, Walker Cups, All-Ireland Finals, European and World Championships and on the DP World Tour and PGA Tour across various sports including, amateur and professional golf, sailing, athletics, tennis, and track cycling.
As well as Anne-Marie’s work in sport, her expertise in leadership, developing high performance teams and cultures, performance and wellness programmes are also very sought-after in Corporate Ireland. She has extensive experience consulting with clients such as Ulster Bank, Santander, Mondelez, Musgraves C&C, AIG, Northern Trust, Bristol Myers Squibb, LinkedIn, HSE and Johnson & Johnson.
She told cricketireland.ie that the role of sports psychologist is still a misunderstood one at times.
“Unfortunately the perception out there among athletes is that you only go to a sport psychologist ‘if there’s something wrong with you’ or when things are going bad. There is still a huge stigma around working with a sport psychologist among not only athletes but some coaches too.”
“The sport psychologist is hired to enhance performance through the use of various mental strategies, such as visualisation, self-talk and relaxation techniques to help athletes overcome obstacles and achieve their full potential. We help athletes at all levels to develop coping strategies to deal with competition pressure, pressure from parents and coaches and also their own expectations.”
“We also work with athletes that experience difficulties such as getting injured, performance anxiety, dips in motivation and confidence, which can be a cause of great worry and distress for an athlete. Any work that you do with athletes must be player-centred. Their mental health and wellbeing will always be of paramount importance. It’s important to remember that the athlete is a person first and then an athlete.”
“There are clear differences across sports in terms of the technical and physical demands. However, research and experience indicates that the psychological traits required to be successful are universal,” said Ms Kennedy.
Here's hoping the Galway players adopt all of those traits in Sunday's decider and have the clarity of mind when it is needed for the big moments.
