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The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games - the world's biggest sporting event - is just around the corner. With less than two months to go before the official opening ceremony, Tokyo 2020 continues to remain at the center of a major public debate.
With a section of the Japanese population against the Games going ahead due to the current public health situation in Japan, the athletes have had to deal with a whole new set of challenges when it comes to preparing for Tokyo 2020.
Sportskeeda caught up with Badri Narayanan, a renowned sports psychologist and mental skills, strategy and performance coach. He has worked with athletes across several sports, including tennis, golf, racing and cricket.
We discussed how athletes should prepare for the world's biggest sporting event in these unprecedented times.
Exclusive Interview: Badri Narayanan on the mindset to train for Tokyo 2020
Sportskeeda: There's around 60 days to go before the Olympic Games and there still remains a lot of uncertainty around whether the Games will be held. How do you mentally prepare an elite athlete to deal with such circumstances?
Badri Narayanan: With the things that have happened over the last year or so, it has been a challenge for many to stay motivated and ready to go.
I do get a lot of questions like, "Why am I doing this? Is the event going to happen? What if I do well in the lead up events and then the Olympics get canceled, all of my efforts would go to waste.".
These are very valid and poignant questions. But if you delve a bit deeper, at the root of all this is the desire for certainty or a certain outcome in sport, just as in life. It is something no one can control.
The things that we can control are our focus, process, attitude, being present, mindful, grateful, and being detached from uncertain emotions and doubts that really have no answers.
What this pandemic has taught us is to not take anything for granted and be thankful for whatever you are able to do and do it with totality. The athletes that I am working with keep this perspective.
I ensure and repeatedly emphasize that my athletes constantly work on their mental muscles . This is what I train them on during sessions towards a healthy mental state and bring that quality into practice, physical training and drills.
They are working more on their mental muscles than ever before. Initially it felt forced when the pandemic first broke out. Now they are so much in sync with the mental processes.
When thoughts about the future and these circumstances come about, they acknowledge them but they very quickly reset and get back to what they can control.
Sportskeeda: Coming once every four years, the Olympics are quite different from other sporting events that take place annually. Does that make an Olympic athlete more determined to overcome the hurdles or put more pressure that you may need to wait another four years if the Games do not happen this year?
Badri Narayanan: Whenever you are out at any event, you are representing the country first, along with your family, the academy you train at etc. The motivation and the emotions are higher than normal like we have in the World Cup (in soccer or cricket) or the Davis Cup because of the frequency of the event.
You give it your all more than ever before. The desire to excel and do well is greater than usual events.
There is a lot of pride involved too. Keeping all this in perspective, the athletes I work with keep their heads down and work on the things they can control mentally, get better physically, and work on their technical skill sets for excellence.
They can't control as to whether the event will happen or not. They have learned to accept that uncertainty, but mentally assume it is happening and work relentlessly towards success at the Olympics.
Sportskeeda: A lot of the variables in the current environment are out of the athlete's control - the travel restrictions, coming into contact with someone who may be a COVID-19 carrier, government rules etc. The role of the team around these athletes, whether it's their family, personal coaching set up, or national federations, plays an even bigger role at this time. How do you get an elite athlete to focus on what's in their control and what's not?
Badri Narayan: The physical and mental health of the players comes first. They have to protect themselves first . They need to be extra vigilant and disciplined and stick to their routines.
Also, the team around the players has to be extra disciplined too. We operate as one organism within a bio bubble. Even if one of us goes off-track it affects the entire team.
By doing this the player feels safe and can focus on the most important things pertaining to the sport and not worry about anything. I put emphasis on being centered, creating an environment for the player/s to open up about anything that is holding them up.
This includes something they might feel happy about, such as more trust and openness. This helps them to feel free and go all out in their craft. They also undergo a monitoring assessment process to ensure strict compliance.
Sportskeeda: There are clearly two camps right now, both of which seem to have valid points - on one side are those who want to cancel the Games in view of the larger public health situation. On the other side is the sporting and business fraternity, who want Tokyo 2020 Olympics to go on to motivate the athletes and the sporting fraternity, and who feel the Olympics will be a major economic boost, besides getting people together to root for their athletes/ nations. Which side of the fence do you sit on?
Badri Narayan: Had you asked me this question last year, I would be leaning more towards a complete cancelation.
This has changed with the roll-out of the vaccination process and the protocols to be followed generally as well as for sporting events. It is still a very difficult choice and I'm really not sure which side of the fence I would be on since both sides have very valid arguments.
Sportskeeda: Finally, the ability to deal with pressure and shine in adversity. Is that something a person is born with or it can be inculcated over a period of time?
Badri Narayan: Some people have that inherently mainly due to adversity and the environment they grew up in even without access to basic things. Pressure is a privilege which tests the best. We can train for pressure by working on our mental muscles. Competition reflects your reality and what you do under pressure.
If you train for it, you will handle it well , if not the answer is obvious. During training, we work on creating real-time situations to prepare athletes to respond appropriately and optimally. Practice is harder than the actual competition.
Through success in the correct and perfect practice, it gives athletes, or people in general, the confidence to face and conquer competitive challenges.
