The Confidence Coach's Sports Psychology Reports
On The Couch With Dr. Martin - A Sports Psychology Exclusive
This report was created by Martin Perry, exclusively for Autosport magazine. The aim of this special Sports Psychology report is to give insight into the psychology of Germany's Ralf Schumacher.
Inside The Mind Of Ralf Schumacher
There comes, for all our sporting heroes, that moment, that life defining moment, which fashions their destinies.
The moment which, when they reflect on their sporting journeys, things changed. When the metamorphosis from competitor to winner was set in motion.
For Ralf Schumacher, that moment when his team-mate, the Colombian street fighter Juan Pablo Montoya, taunted the German in Bahrain qualifying, provides such a destiny defining opportunity. When Montoya sneered into Ralf’s face, he might well have asked him, ‘Are you man enough?’
If Ralf is committed to emerging from his brother’s umbra, he will take that threat to his self-esteem personally. Highly personally.
Basketball legend, Michael Jordan, once appeared in a US television advert.’Go on. Disrespect me. I want you to’, he taunted his audience. Jordan, to maintain his extraordinary levels of excellence needed to fuel his competitive fire; he needed to create personal adversity to be pushed to the limits of his outrageous talent; he needed the edge.
The keen anticipation of the white heat of competition is sufficient, usually, to get most sports’ professionals fired up, but many of the elite need something else to produce that extra spark – to reach the peak of Mount Arousal!
Schumacher should cleave to Montoya’s threat to his machismo and channel it. Direct it. Become driven by it. Obsessed almost.Not to get back at the Columbian. No, for that would be petty and could lead only to a continuing drift, to under performance, self-blame and accusation.
Instead, Schumacher needs to internalise that he is perceived as a victim to Montoya’s bully. That he is weak to Montoya’s strong; that he trails in his brother’s slipstream.
That should be enough to relight his fire, and to provoke an intense programme of personal development to tap into his reservoir of belief, dedication, desire and passion. Which will take him to another level of performance.
He must get to the point that, never again, never, will anyone question his ability or his will. The need to prove to the racing world that he is not the passive driver some think he is, should be a powerful trigger. It’s the opportunity to liberate the warrior within.
For the sporting colossus, wealth is rarely enough. To compete at the top; to make a mark; to leave a legacy, is what impels them.
Montoya’s perceived sleight of Schumacher is the opportunity for the German to emerge into the light and grow into a champion. The question is, though, is he hurting enough to take it?
