Last Tuesday we heard from Ken Karpoff, who has been a trainer and coach for the Canadian Olympic Bobsled team for the past twenty years. Over the years he has been a trainer, coach, counselor and mentor for many elite medal winning athletes. He said that Bobsleigh is a sport where sixteen steps (pushing the sled) are followed by a fifty-five second ride to the bottom, so the mental state, in addition to physical conditioning, is paramount to the athletes performance. He told several stories of athletes that he has worked with where their state of mind interfered with their ability to perform. He said that elite athletes are asked to perform under the continual pressure of high expectations and need to know how to handle this pressure without cracking. When everyday stressors like family health issues, financial or business set backs, poorly run athletic organizations, pressure to drop out so someone else can replace them, or expected support from others does not materialise, are added to the mix of high expectations, the stress becomes too much. Unfortunately, many of them crack, and the road back to high performance is a long one.
They suffer from the same issues, commonly known as PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) that soldiers suffer when placed in the battlefield and their efforts result in failure, or when people are led to believe they will have a better life and the organisation making the promises does not come through. He also referred to this as the “I got screwed” reaction. He said that studies by the American military have found that pressurization or stress can cause a breakdown of the mind in about one third of battlefield soldiers when it is continuous for four months or longer. Ken also said that the higher the expectations, the more serious the reaction to failure becomes, and that the same type of reaction happens to people from all walks of life when placed in similar high expectation situations.
Ken has worked with many athletes who have had this type of thing happen to them. He said that, in his experience, the usual sports psychology approaches do not work. He said that the approach that he has found to work the best is observation, experience and reflection on the part of the athletes, their trainers and coaches to determine what works best for them. When working with athletes he looks for patterns and applies the things that he has found stand the test of experience. He has found that keeping a clear head, works best in the long run. He also tries to head off unrealistic expectations by being honest with his athletes about what they can truly expect from other people and organisations.
He said that elite athletes can not expect to reach the upper levels of performance if their head is not in the game. Being in perfect physical shape for their chosen sport is only one part of the equation, the mind does the rest.
A number of volunteer opportunities exists with YESS. The bingo events are listed below. Check also the one day event, YESS 2018 Gala for Youth at THIS LINK.
Hello, We are in search of volunteers to help work at a Caesars BINGO in West Edmonton Mall. YESS has been selected as one of the charities of choice. They require at least 2 volunteers at any of the following dates:
Sunday April 1st – Evening Shift
Friday May 25th - Evening Shift
Saturday September 8th – Afternoon Shift
Thursday October 4th – Evening Shift
Sunday November 25th – Evening Shift
Please let me know if you or anyone you know would be willing to volunteer a shift in support of YESS at the Caesars BINGO hall in West Edmonton Mall. Thanks you so much.
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