Tough transition
In my experience of working with athletes in both individual and team sports, dealing with transition is a challenge to sustaining performance, as well as to staying in a sport. Transition is associated with new demands, including developing new relationships with coaches and support staff, new competitors or new teammates, and adjusting to different cultures in different squads, programs and teams. These can be confronting for young people as well as experienced athletes.
One aspect of transition is the shift to becoming more ‘serious’ as athletes progress through different levels. This seriousness includes a greater emphasis on strategy and plans, compared with simpler plans that enable greater emphasis on technique, relaxation, effort and enjoyment. Higher levels of critique and more complex feedback can also impact athletes transitioning into new, more advanced or different teams or environments. They are often associated with greater demands, both emotional and on their time, as well as higher expectations. Transition must be managed well if a person wants to become a serious athlete, and this means managing mindset.
Research insights
A recent study concluded that the performance of 15‐year‐olds did not correlate with becoming a professional road cyclist. From age 17 onwards, performance started to predict future success. A top 10 performance in under 17 and under 19 was associated with a 3 to 5 per cent and 6 per cent higher chance of reaching elite level as an adult. Transition to a new competition category was a variable found to negatively impact performance of future ‘non‐achievers’.16
McDonald's to Olympics
Canadian high jumper Nicole Forrester competed at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Her athletic career began after a chance meeting with track coach Dave Hunt, who dropped into McDonald's while Forrester was working there as a 17‐year‐old. Nicole grew up in a small town of about 800 people, where her focus was on study and physical activities, rather than specialising in a sport. After speaking with her while being served and noting her interest and high‐jump physique, Hunt referred her to the high‐jump coach Carl Georgevski at the University of Toronto.
Nicole has attributed her ‘quick progression in the high jump to the various sports I played growing up … Had I specialized in my sport at an earlier age, I doubt I would have lasted for as long as I did or had the same level of success’.17 Three years after meeting Georgevski she represented Canada at the 1997 World University Games in Italy. However, it took a further 11 years of commitment before she reached her goal of being an Olympic athlete in 2008. In 2010 she won gold at the Commonwealth Games in India. Her account reinforces the major role played by mindset in enabling her to transition from McDonald's to the Olympics. It also reminds us that the training of a junior athlete need not all be specialised.
Nicole later completed a PhD in Sport Psychology with a dissertation titled ‘Good to great in elite athletes: towards an understanding of why some athletes make the leap and others do not’.18 Nicole has commented that ‘becoming an Olympian requires a mixture of important ingredients that may vary according to the sport and the individual athlete. Ultimately for many, the path is navigated through deliberate play and the involvement in various sports, developed through a commitment of deliberate practice, reinforced by support, resources, motivation and effort’.
Maintaining discipline
So many variables behind the scenes need to be managed to enable an athlete to shine. Maintaining focus and discipline, and performing in unusual and challenging circumstances with minimal support are common components of the sporting journey that the public doesn't see. To achieve sporting ambitions, an incredible resolve and intrinsic drive are necessary staples from an early age.
Nicole's first competition was at the World University Games in Sicily in 1997. I attended the Games with the Australian team as a psychologist. Before departure for Italy, the team assembled at a hotel beside Sydney airport, where athletes and staff sat through formalities and listened to well‐wishing guest speakers. It was here I heard one of the shortest and best speeches at any official ceremony that I've attended. I don't recall who the speaker was, but the substance of the speech was burned into my memory. It went along these lines: ‘Congratulations for making your national team. Keep in mind that if you perform well, you may not even be noted in the one‐line sports results section at the back of the newspaper. However, if you make one personal mistake you will be on the front page of every newspaper in Australia.’
It was a sobering lesson. An elite sportsperson must not only perform, but also uphold behavioural standards when representing a squad, team, state or country. It is another ingredient that must be managed to assist development and performance. To become or to remain an elite athlete requires both training discipline and personal and behavioural discipline. It reflects the necessity to deal with scrutiny on performance and non‐performance areas.
At the Games, the accommodation was in a hotel complex guarded by armed military. There were not enough beds when the team arrived, and buses and other transport to training and events were constantly late. On top of that, several athletes and staff became unwell and were restricted to their small rooms. Many competitors had to work with unfamiliar coaches and support staff. For most athletes the trip was either fully or partly self‐funded. There were other challenges that were generally to be expected for such a large international sporting competition, including disorganised training spaces or facilities, traffic getting to and from venues, and language barriers. None of this is to say that it was not a tremendous experience. It was a fantastic trip, and a privilege to work with a great team. I mean only to illustrate the kinds of demands made on athletes striving to apply their craft at many sporting competitions, even before the competition begins.
Environments that help performance
Consider another sport — motorsport. Motorbike and car racing are as physically and mentally challenging as any sport. The mechanical componentry needs to be operating optimally, as does the athlete. In Australia, the V8 Supercars Championship is one of the most fiercely contested of all motorsports globally. At the most famous race on the calendar, the two‐driver Bathurst 1000, the difference in the qualifying session in 2021 from first place pole sitter at 2.03.89 minutes to 15th on the grid was under one second. That is a mere 0.8 per cent difference. Such statistics make Jamie Whincup, the record‐holding driver of seven championships, four Bathurst race victories and 123 race wins spanning a career of 19 years from 2002 to 2021, even more intriguing. Is he talented? Yes. Does he work hard? Yes. Does he think he has achieved such dizzy success from talent and hard work alone? No. In fact, Whincup almost missed the opportunity that led to his winning ways.
After progressing through junior development ranks in a category known as Formula Ford, Whincup debuted at a young age in V8 Supercars and earned a contract in 2003 with a team committed to supporting emerging drivers. In his first full season he finished 27th and lost his drive. Unable to secure another contract in 2004, he sat out the main season but accepted an offer as a co‐driver at the endurance races. He was fortunate to be able to race after injuring his shoulder while skiing. He had a retirement in the first endurance event and a ninth at Bathurst. It was not enough to interest any teams to give him another contract for 2005. Doubts overshadowed any offers.
At the last minute Jamie and his supports convinced a team run by Kevin Murphy, father of Bathurst champion Greg, to reluctantly give him a contract. This was his ticket back into the championship. Through his time away from full‐time driving, however, Jamie had continued working on his conditioning and mindset, which he had