Compiled by PHILIP REID
Given and Clarke show that the mind matters at the top
ANYONE WHO witnessed the tearful state of Shay Given the other day might have wondered how someone so obviously distraught after hearing of the death of his friend Gary Speed could then produce a faultless performance in the match which followed.
Nobody, though, would be surprised to find out that Given’s obvious mental strength is augmented by working with a sports psychologist.
Indeed, in the run-up to the Aston Villa-Swansea game in the English Premiership, before the tragic death of Speed, Given had observed that goalkeeping is a “lonely position at times” and one of the reasons why he uses a psychologist.
“You speak to outfield players and they’ll probably say it’s the easiest position on the pitch. But you make a mistake then might not see the ball for half an hour again. The key is not to turn one mistake into two. Then your performance goes,” he remarked.
That someone like Given would see the need for a sports psychologist is an indicator of how much progress this particular profession has made. Once upon a time, as anyone who has grown up in the world of Gaelic Games will know, it was often left to a schoolteacher-turned-coach with a PhD in common sense and a propensity at half-time to coax one style of player and alternatively to spout fire and brimstone at another to play the role of psychologist.
In modern sport, especially at professional level, things have definitely moved on and this specialised field has developed rapidly in recent years with its importance as an integral part of coaching teams and individuals now broadly recognised.
These days, the psychologist is liable to pop up in every sport, be it an individual pursuit or a team sport and, basically, the bottom line is to get the player prepared so that when he or she actually takes to the block, or the ring, or the pitch that they are suitably prepared to let the body take off and do its job automatically.
It’s interesting that tennis player Andy Murray has spoken of his disdain of using a sports psychologist – preferring instead to talk to other sportspeople about their experiences – and, yet, there are others, including the majority of tour golfers, who use these mind gurus as integral parts of their team.
A perfect example of this came with Darren Clarke’s experiences in winning the British Open during the summer, when he reformed a working relationship with Dr Bob Rotella, whose book Golf Is Not A Game of Perfect is the biggest selling sports psychology book in history.
Clarke has actually co-authored a book on the mental side of the game with Dr Karl Morris but has also enjoyed an on-off relationship with Rotella going back many years.
Indeed, a number of years ago Rotella instigated a meeting with Clarke that led to a two-day session in Florida. Rotella had been intrigued with his previous dealings with Clarke and, after a void of a number of years when Clarke went his own way, the American actually went to the trouble of sending a hand-written letter that comprised five pages of foolscap paper so that he could again meet up with Clarke.
As it happened, their coming together in Sandwich this year was more by accident than design.
Rotella was at the British Open as a house guest of Pádraig Harrington and, upon meeting Clarke, agreed to spend some time working with him. The rest, as they say, is history.
How much of Clarke’s win was down to working with Rotella and how much was down to his natural ability and shot-making on a golf links where weird and wonderful bounces would test the patience of a saint? Who knows for sure, but the fact is that Clarke believed and that is the very essence of what sports psychology is all about.
Which gets us back to Given, and the way he conducted himself in the aftermath of the death of his close friend. He showed his human side by allowing tears to stream down his face before the match and showed his consummate professionalism by his performance for his team afterwards. He epitomises what a sporting role model should be.
Basketball shows net profits talk the loudest
NOTHING TALKS as much as money in professional sport, and this is especially true of basketball in the United States. The end of the NBA lock-out proves it.
After billionaires (the owners of the clubs) and millionaires (the players) fought over their “rights”, the end result is a cash bonanza of a plethora of matches on Christmas Day: Boston Celtics v New York Knicks, Miami Heat v Dallas Mavericks, LA Lakers v Chicago Bulls.
Yes, on Christmas Day! The lost days of the NBA season have cost owners and players: owners have lost revenue, players their pay cheques.
The lock-out came about because of a dispute between the two: the owners wanted to reduce the previous amount of 57 per cent of revenues given out to the players to 47 per cent. This was later upped to between 49 and 51 per cent and, finally, the compromise came with the players getting 51.15 per cent of basketball-related income to the players. It all means the players will be losing about €2.23 billion over the next 10 years in basketball-related income compared to the last collective bargaining agreement.
Even so, the players will argue that they also won by deferring the league’s bid to set a hard salary cap, preventing the stiffer restrictions on how much money teams would be allowed to spend on players.
The decision to belatedly get the new NBA season off and running on Christmas Day means the cash machines can start working again. Ker-ching!
Sheedy believes ‘ big leprechaun’ Setanta can be a giant in Sydney
KEVIN SHEEDY, the coach of Greater Western Sydney team in the Australia Football League, has dubbed 6ft 6in Setanta Ó hAilpín as his “big leprechaun” in what he hopes will be a lucky charm for the new franchise in Aussie Rules.
And, having been de-listed by Carlton after an eight-year stint with the Melbourne outfit, the signing of Ó hAilpín by GWS is being viewed by readers of
The Age newspaper in Australia as the best bit of business conducted by any team in the pre-season draft.
Asked to rate which draft player would make the greatest impact for their new teams, pollsters gave the thumbs-up to Ó hAilpín and GWS with the former Cork hurler getting a 41 per cent return.
Next best was St Kilda’s Beua Wilkes (26 per cent), with James Sellar of Melbourne on 17 per cent and another GWS draftee James McDonald on 16 per cent.
From courses to horses, Chubby’s a winner
ANDREW CHANDLER – known to one and all as “Chubby” in his role as head of International Sports Management – willingly allowed the cat out of the bag on Wednesday when letting the world know via Twitter that The Wayward Lord was fancied to oblige at Catterick.
“Our trainer Mick (Easterby) is quietly confident, so the mobey (sic) is on!!” tweeted Chubby6665 in sending out a signal for the horse he co-owns with Lee Westwood.
The horse duly obliged at odds of 6 to 1, prompting a follow-up tweet from the ISM chief that Westwood was a good bet for Sun City. The proof of that particular pudding will be known tomorrow. After yesterday’s second round, Westwood was one shot behind leader Graeme McDowell.
Brady leads exciting new bunch
THERE’S LITTLE doubt that Robbie Brady is the most vaunted up-and-coming player in Irish soccer and the reaction of Manchester United supporters on various blogs and websites this week to the possibility of the Dubliner going out on loan again after his current stint with Hull City finishes after Christmas has only served to reinforce his high rating.
On the news that Steve Bruce – before his axing as Sunderland manager – had ear-marked Brady as top of his recruitment hit-list come January, United supporters got into a frenzy and used the blogs to urge Alex Ferguson to send a player other than Brady to the Stadium of Light. His name? A certain Darron Gibson!
The dogs on the street have known of Brady’s talents ever since he blossomed under the nurturing of St Kevin’s Boys – whose most famous footballing sons include Liam Brady and Stephen Carr – but his performances for the Ireland Under 21s and Hull City in the English Championship have only served to showcase his genius with a ball at his feet.
There’s a growing speculation that Brady could get something of a “wild card” call-up to Giovanni Trapattonis senior squad for the Euro 2012 finals.
Maybe that’s a bit too soon, but in a week where the Italian dream team of Trap and Marco Tardelli – with much thanks to businessman Denis O’Brien – have been retained by the FAI to lead the Republic onwards, the signs are good that the next generation have something to offer heading into the future.
Apart from Brady, another Dubliner – Jeff Hendricks – has been winning glowing praise for his performances at midfield for Derby County and, at 6ft 1in, the teenager also offers a physical presence.
The omens look good.
