Sports Psychology Interview with Dr. John F Murray – Psychology Today – By Marty Nemko – April 30, 2016 – After conducting today’s The Eminents interview with sports psychologist John F. Murray, I’ve come away feeling that his advice applies not just to athletes but to most people who want to improve their mental performance.

Murray has helped NFL quarterbacks overcome slumps, coached tennis at Wimbledon, trained athletes at the Summer Olympics and even at the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Tennis Week called him, “The Roger Federer of Sports Psychologists,” The Washington Post called him “The Freud of Football, and USA Today called him “one of the best in the business.”

MN: The classic sports psychology book, The Inner Game of Tennis, argued that key to success is not concentration but relaxation: Quiet the mind and let it happen. Do you agree?

JM: Yes but the science of mental performance has since developed many other good practices. For example, rather than just passively allowing performance to happen by the athletes getting out of their own way,” sports psychologists develop training protocols.

MN: Okay, let talk about those. How do you help athletes improve their concentration?

JM: It often helps if the athlete creates or refines a pre-shot or pre-performance routine. In fact, the time between points in tennis, shots in golf, or plays in football, may be as important to master as the playing time. The pre-action ritual replaces distracted thinking with something constructive.

MN: What’s your advice for an athlete in a slump or who cracks under pressure?

JM: Such athletes often are trying too hard or focusing too much on the outcome. S/he must focus on what’s controllable: Winning is not, mental skills are: confidence, focus, emotional control. For example, in working with a slumping NFL quarterback, we created imagery scripts loaded with pressure-packed moments, often more extreme even than what they’ll face in the game. Eventually his self-talk improved. he stopped worrying about uncontrollables, began loving even adverse situations, and pulled out of the slump.

MN: Some athletes are too competitive, for example, the football player who deliberately tackles a player by yanking his face mask. Any advice?

JM: Let’s not confuse competitive with stupid. A high level of competitiveness without cheating is usually a clear plus while deliberately fouling is stupid. I like to have my clients imagine all the possible scenarios that can lead to a severe penalty. Then I train them to picture themselves behaving constructively, for example, walking away from a fight.

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MN: Conversely, some athletes are too laid back.

JM: The biggest challenge is when an athlete lacks drive. That’s very hard to change—The best chance is with traditional counseling to try to get at the root of the problem. Occasionally though, the problem can be addressed symptomatically. For example, a soccer player who needs more intensity might benefit from listening to fast dance music before a game, watching video of their favorite player scoring goals, or even jumping rope.

MN: Many athletic coaches wish they could motivate players better. Any not-obvious tips?

JM: First, as I just implied, the athlete is best motivated from within. Motivation is not like an outboard motor attached to the player’s outside. The motor must reside deep within.

Having said that, good coach behavior can help.:

Be relatively tough but not overtrain athletes. Make the effort to relate humanly to players, include pre-season bonding sessions far from the training center. Keep practice interesting, for example, by varying routines. Let players have input into practices’ structure and even in decision-making during a game. But the coach must have final say. Anarchy rarely leads to success.

MN: There are psychological issues in recovering from an injury. What can help?