Sports Psychology with Dr Emma Kavanagh

To begin the week, on Monday 27^th February our Sports Scholars and APP students were joined by Dr Emma Kavanagh, a Sports Psychologist who not only leads her own successful career but supports elite athletes in achieving their full potential.

“Anyone who has ever competed in a sport understands the importance of performing at the right time. Performance psychology is concerned with how individuals respond to stressful situations, and further reach their potential within them.” spoke Emma to the group. “Performance can be a pressure cooker. Often, it’s about who can cope and thrive in such circumstances… What we think, affects the way we feel, and the way that we feel affects the way that we behave.”

In a hypothetical scenario created by Emma, the number of scholars engaging with her proposal quickly dropped: “Imagine, you are all studying GCSE PE. If I told you that only the top three grades would walk away with a GCSE, how many of you would say ‘bring it on!’?”

“How about if I said, ‘it’s not just this school, I want you to be the top three in the whole of the region.’ Would you still put your hand up? And what if I then said, ‘scrap that, you now need to be the top in the entire country.’ Does that build a bit of a picture as to the stress we might experience as an elite athlete?”

With the example of a tennis player who only hits the ball for approximately 20% of a game, Emma illustrated the sheer impact that thoughts and feelings can have on court performance, in either a positive or negative way.

Emma shared insights into supporting athletes remotely while at the Tokyo 2020 games which was challenging due to Covid restrictions.  She further shared her role working with Team England as the team behind the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. This gave an insight into the diverse role of a Sports Psychologist.

From managing anxiety and balancing demand and resource, to improving tactical decision making and self-awareness, to enhancing social relationships and confidence, the group acknowledged a list of biological, cognitive, social, and developmental benefits that working with a sport psychologist could bring.

Director of Sport, Simon Bradbury, remarked “It was fantastic to have Emma come in to talk to our Sports Scholars and APP students on the importance of sports psychology and the role that your mind plays in sport. Emma has a wealth of experience working with athletes at major games such as the Olympics and Commonwealth Games and is currently undertaking some work for the International Olympic Committee so I really appreciate her giving up her time to spend the afternoon with our students who I am in no doubt had many takeaways from the seminar.”