Resilience in elite level sport

1. Resilience in elite level sport Professor Jim McKenna Carnegie Faculty for Sport and Education, Leeds Metropolitan University j.mckenna@leedsmet.ac.uk

2. What we know about motivation[motive-action x energy] • People motivate themselves • Our energy flows from our strengths and values • Talking helps others to tap into our energies • [Some] Talking blocks or drains others’ energy • Organisations succeed or fail, one conversation at a time • People do NOT respond to reality, onlyto their PERCEPTION of reality

3. ResilienceLinks to ‘Broaden and Build’ theory of positive emotions (Frederickson 1998, 2001) • The label given to ‘bounce-back-ability’ [coping] and personal growth (‘bounce-beyond-ability’) ‘…The process or capacity for successful adaptation in conditions normally associated with psychological dysfunction and low competence…’ (Fonagy et al., 1994) • Growth perspective: Links to notions of capability and competence • Transfer of adaptations Dr. Steve Cobley John Allan Nick Wattie Arabella Ashfield Jon Finn

4. The aim is NOT to make the caterpillar a better caterpillar….

5. … but to turn it into a beautiful butterfly

6. PYD model of change

7. Hardship happens (grit): Resilience (the pearl) might result

8. Resilience results from combining the power of the positive with the negative 3+ : 1

9. Sequences of coping • Emotion-focused coping • Problem-focused coping (PFC) • Moving to PFC is supported by Meaning-focused coping

10. The ‘ordinary magic’ of becoming resilientA ‘socially constructed’ notion

11. Build their resolveSystems must create realistic, yet challenging, ‘tests’

12. Perfect is incompleteProblem-free is not prepared

13. Learning from Lizzie’s story • Perfect is incomplete (brings ‘entitlement’), so recruit from groups with adversity in their background • The severity of adversity you can handle • Depends on the qualities of • your system • your people

14. Responding to Adversity

15. Resilience • More than recovery • Only 8-20% exposed ‘convert’ to PTSD • A common (grounded?) experience • Many pathways (a process AND an outcome) • Hardiness • Self-enhancement • Repressive coping • Positive emotion and laughter

16. And it gets more complicated….‘Problems’from within and beyond sport;they coincide;last for different (often long) periods

17. What makes junior to senior career transitions difficult? The development career transition model Wylleman and Lavallee (2003) See also Finn and McKenna (2010) IJSSC

18. What is RESILIENCE ? Score (1-10) 1 – not very good at this, 10 – very good at this ------- I am compassionate and contribute to society ------- I am empathetic ------- I am stress hardy ------- I establish realistic goals and expectations ------- I feel in control of my life ------- I feel special (not self-centred) and I help others to feel the same ------- I learn from both success and failure ------- I live responsibly based on considered values ------- I use effective communication and interpersonal skills ------- I use solid problem-solving and decision-making skills

19. Use powerful aids for balance……Relying on money undermines ‘personal solidarity’

20. Some behaviours undermine othersWeapons of self destruction

21. Sport/ Life eventsGrowth opportunities System Person

22. Training impulse Current trained level Supercompensation Reversibility Immediate response Recovery/ regeneration Short-term overreaching Building Resilience: Links to ‘Super-compensation’ in training? Time

23. Setback factors Restoring factors Slide stoppers Options for Building ResilienceGrowth = Challenge + Support. Time

24. Find the bigger meaning