Psychological preparation of a beginner for a competition
The atmosphere of competitive sports places exceptionally high demands on the athlete's psyche. It is much easier to achieve a certain level of physical and technical-tactical readiness for a tournament than psychological readiness. This is especially difficult if the boxer is a beginner.
The state of psychological readiness plays a special role, often it is decisive in a fight. An athlete who cannot cope with excessive excitement on the eve of entering the ring, is unsure of his abilities, will not be able to quickly mobilize and act wisely during the fight. On the contrary, if the boxer is well psychologically prepared, calm, self-confident, easily controls his mood and actions in battle, he will be able to mobilize, correctly assess the situation, take into account his and the opponent's capabilities and successfully solve tactical and technical tasks when factors (missing a strong blow, failures in attacks, etc.) are strongly acting.
During psychological preparation, his individual qualities come to the fore; Therefore, the coach must be sufficiently erudite in the field of psychology, pedagogy, physiology and medical control in order to thoroughly study his ward and most individualize the training taking into account his abilities and the conditions of their development.
Currently, it is customary to divide the psychological training of an athlete into two stages - the stage of general psychological training and psychological preparation for competitions. Both of these stages are interconnected, at the same time, each of them has its own characteristics that must be taken into account in the methodology of sports training.
For a young athlete, mental training is especially important, since it is the main one in mastering technical and tactical skills.
General basics of sports training for novice boxers. Psychological characteristics of young boxers
Under the influence of boxing, many traits of character of a young athlete are formed.
The conditions of martial arts, associated with the need to act instantly both in attack and defense, to continuously overcome the opponent's resistance, eliminating the threat of receiving a blow, to withstand great physical and nervous tension that arises during the fight, act on the psyche of athletes and cause them to experience different experiences. Two athletes meet in the ring, who differ from each other in different volitional and physical qualities. Each of them has his own plan of action, which is based on his own technique. He seeks to unravel the actions of the opponent, neutralize his counterattacks and end the fight in his favor. The difficulties that arise during the fight, associated with fatigue and pain, cause extremely high volitional tension. This is especially noticeable at the end of the rounds, when, despite fatigue, the athlete is obliged to maintain a high pace of the fight.
It should also be borne in mind that the fight of boxers is very diverse in terms of the volume of both technical and tactical means. Along with a sudden real attack, consisting of one or more various blows, for the neutralization of which it is necessary to use certain protective means in time, a false attack can be used, which is aimed at deliberately "uncovering" the opponent and striking in an open place. Maneuvering and other tactical and technical means are used for the same purpose. The reaction to all unexpected actions of the opponent is extremely tiring for the boxer's nervous system.
Volitional traits of character are manifested depending on the psychological characteristics of the young boxer.
In order to properly and successfully train his pupils, the coach must constantly observe the students during classes in order to clearly imagine their most important psychological characteristics. Knowledge of these characteristics allows the coach to select the most appropriate means for the individual improvement of boxers.
For example, it is important for the coach to find out what motives motivate and support the interest of his students in boxing.
These motives can be extremely diverse. Some boys start boxing in order to develop themselves physically, to become strong, agile, fast. Others are attracted by the fight itself. Some boys do boxing because it helps them become courageous and strong-willed people. But very often interest in boxing is caused by ambition, the desire to become popular among their peers. All these motives determine the attitude of boxers to various training methods, their activity and behavior in classes and performances, their perseverance in mastering boxing techniques, their attitude to training companions, and so on.
The coach must make the students' interest in classes sustainable, find the right basis for it and at the same time use the personal aspirations of the students in order to increase their activity, perseverance, interest in sports, and help them get rid of shortcomings.
It is important for the coach to know what strong-willed qualities boxers have. Is his student brave, how does he behave when he needs to make a decision instantly, is he persistent during physical exercises, in combat, in adhering to a sports regimen, and so on.
Sometimes the indecision of a boxer, even one with a quick reaction, reduces his ability to react instantly. And boxing is one of those sports where the situation changes every moment, when every combat move of the opponent must be met with an active counterattack. That is why the coach needs to carefully analyze why the boxer's reaction speed is slowing down.
The boxer's tension and stiffness, his inability to combine different elements of boxing technique, the slowing down of his actions in some cases can be explained by fear of the opponent or, conversely, excessive excitement. The coach must help the athlete get rid of negative emotions: influence his psyche in a certain way, use such methodological techniques that help remove the feeling of fear, select weaker opponents for sparring.
The coach needs to clearly imagine what differences in the temperament of the students are most clearly visible immediately before the fight.
When selecting students in pairs, it is necessary to take into account the psychological characteristics of boxers and how they behave in meetings with partners of different fitness and strength. Correct consideration of these aspects in teaching and upbringing plays a large role in the formation of the character of the student, while mistakes can lead to poor results. For example, if a student is offered to meet with partners who are superior to him in technical and physical fitness every time, he will lose confidence in his actions. Fights in which meetings with strong and weak partners are correctly alternated help to develop the will of a young boxer.
In order for a boy to master the technique more successfully and develop speed of reaction, it is necessary to teach him to distribute his attention. Some boxers know how to distribute their attention, others focus it only on one object. Some can easily switch their attention from one object to another, others cannot. Many boxers are unable to concentrate on one task or another for a long time, get distracted and do not what is necessary, but what is more interesting to them.
The trainer must find out why the student's attention is unstable, which makes him get distracted, than it is best to influence the boxer and encourage him to be collected and focused.
In order to successfully and rationally organize training work, the trainer needs to know how developed the boxers' motor memory is, what their muscle sensations and motor performances are.
Age-related changes in the psyche of adolescents and boys are largely explained by the patterns of morphological and functional development of their central nervous system. According to physiology, boys are characterized by high excitability and mobility of the processes of excitation and inhibition, as well as the imbalance of these processes.
But the characteristics of adolescence cannot be built based only on the biological characteristics of this age, in isolation from social conditions. Taking into account the significant biological changes at this age, these changes cannot be considered as defining.
The main psychological characteristics of a particular boy arise under the influence of the conditions of his life and upbringing. We can say that the psyche of adolescents and boys is formed as a result of age-related changes in the functions of the central nervous system, and under the influence of the environment and upbringing conditions.
This is easy to trace in the development of the boy's consciousness. His intelligence is noticeably approaching the intelligence of adults. Boys, in comparison with teenagers, begin to more thoughtfully analyze their actions and attitudes towards themselves and those around them. Social motives in the boy's behavior come to the forefront.
The interests of boys are more realistic, defined and stable than those of teenagers. If teenagers' interest in boxing is most often caused by various random reasons, not always significant enough, and sometimes passes quickly, then in boys it is more well-founded and stable.
The coach must always remember that the behavior and experiences of many boys are greatly influenced by the threat of receiving a strong blow. It can cause muscle tension and stiffness of movements or fear of a partner, a misconception about his strength and technique, and so on. The experiences caused by the expectation of competitions are very acute in boys. Very often, a well-prepared boy, physically and technically, loses his fighting qualities even before the fight due to excessive excitement and loses to an even less prepared opponent.
In some cases, especially in a conditional fight, the boy's excitement becomes so great that he ceases to control his actions and fights chaotically. Such a meeting ceases to be a meaningful game. This means that the boy does not yet know how to restrain himself and control his actions.
Due to the great plasticity of the nervous system, boy boxers can perceive and remember complex boxing techniques faster than adults, especially if they arouse interest.
In boxing, the manifestation of willpower is the main factor for achieving victory. Since in martial arts there are often athletes with approximately equal technical and tactical training, the one who has a stronger will wins.
Strictly taking into account the age-related anatomical, physiological and psychological characteristics of the students, using his authority, consistently and systematically applying various pedagogical techniques, the coach can achieve great success in educating young boxers.
Training and training of young athletes
The success of the boxing section is the correct organization of educational and sports work. The latter can be divided into three parts: educational, educational and training and competitions.
Educational and training work is carried out during regular classes, both theoretical and practical. Theoretical classes include conversations and lectures on the history of boxing, acquaintance with the tactics of prominent athletes, watching educational films, and so on.
The purpose and result of the section's classes are competitions. Young boxers should be admitted to them only after several months of training.
The teacher leading the section must remember that his task is not only to teach his pupils some information on the theory or history of boxing, but also to educate their character. That is why educational work plays such an important role in the life of the section. It includes: participation in reading conferences, visits to theaters, cinemas, museums. In short, acquaintance with everything that can help shape the character of a young person.
A very important role is played by preliminary agitation for boxing classes and the identification of those who wish to enroll in the section. It is recommended to hang posters, hold conversations in schools, technical schools, that is, wherever there are young people who can be interested in boxing. Demonstration performances are very useful.
During such conversations, it should be constantly reminded that only those boys who pass a medical examination and present a certificate from the management that the latter does not object to their boxing classes, as well as a note from their parents, will be accepted into the section.
From the very first classes, the coach should divide the students into age groups (15-16 and 17-18 years old). Transferring students from one group to an adjacent one, which is sometimes advisable, given the physical development of those involved and their abilities, can be carried out only with the permission of the doctor.
The teacher should remember that the number of those involved in one group cannot exceed 10-15 people (less for those in the reserve class) and that classes in the section should be structured in such a way that they do not negatively affect the young athlete's training, but, on the contrary, contribute to its improvement. Training, like competitions, should end no later than 9 p.m.
Classes with young boxers should be held on a fixed schedule: three times a week for two hours.
Calendar competitions in which young boxers participate should take place mainly during the holidays: winter, summer or spring.
The teacher must conduct all his work in close contact with the doctor. Medical examinations should be carried out in the section regularly. The teacher must carefully familiarize himself with their results and take the latter into account during training.
Classes are the main form of conducting educational and training work in boxing with young boxers.
A training session consists of four parts: introductory, preparatory, main and final.
In the introductory part, a group of young athletes is prepared for the beginning of the training session and they are introduced to the content of this lesson. The teacher explains the tasks of this lesson, the technical and tactical features of the combat techniques being studied, as well as the theoretical aspects of the training.
In the preparatory part of the lesson, by performing general developmental (gymnastic) and special (imitation of combat movements - strikes, defense, movement) exercises, the main tasks of the lesson are solved, and also contribute to the general physical development of those involved.
In the main part of the lesson, the main task is solved - mastering boxing techniques, improving combat tactics, cultivating willpower and general physical development of those involved.
Special boxing exercises with a partner in gloves, special exercises on projectiles and in shadow fighting are used here, where the issues of mastering technical skills in boxing, as well as their tactical use in combat are solved. At the end of the main part, gymnastic exercises are performed while sitting, standing, lying down in order to develop agility, dexterity and, to a lesser extent, strength and endurance.
In the final part of the lesson, by using exercises in relaxation, slow walking with deep and calm breathing, the body of those involved after intensive training is brought into a relatively calm state.
Formation of motivation for sports activity and mental qualities
Experience and scientific knowledge show that human behavior, its actions, deeds and activities in general are not spontaneous. They are caused by a special stable state of a person, which is usually called motivation. Thanks to motivation, a person overcomes the difficulties of everyday life, acts or vice versa, does not act in certain circumstances, devotes his whole life to one or another cause. In a word, motivation is invisibly present in every action and deed of a person and leads him through life from one goal to another.
Motivation is a special stable state of a person, which arises as a result of an involuntary, subconscious correlation of his needs and abilities with the subject of a specific activity. The coincidence of these principles of activity leads a person to understand the meaning of engaging in a specific activity and leads to the emergence of a system of goals aimed at mastering its subject.
Several concepts are key in understanding motivation. First of all, it is the subject of activity. Any activity has its own subject, which is understood as what a person’s activity is aimed at. In sports, a sports result acts as a subject. Another concept is needs. Needs are usually understood as a person's need for something.
As for abilities, they should be understood as the mental and physical potential inherent in a person or acquired in a previous life, allowing them to master a specific activity.
The need for self-affirmation (obtaining an assessment from people around them) is a very serious prerequisite for the formation of motivation, but the presence of a need in itself is not a guarantee that a person will begin to act. Need is only a condition for the emergence of motivation. Motivation appears only when the need, permissible in self-affirmation, finds itself in the subject of a specific activity. That is, a person at some point suddenly feels an irresistible craving for practicing one or another type of martial arts.
The coincidence of need with the subject of sports activity is the first stage of the formation of motivation. The period of its weak stability, since it is not yet clear to what extent the subject has the potential to master a specific activity. This stage is psychologically characterized by the subject's awareness of the personal meaning of engaging in a specific activity and the fact that goals arise in his mind that lead to mastering the subject of this activity.
The above stages of motivation formation correspond to the stages of long-term training of those who engage in martial arts. There is every reason to assume that at the initial stage the motivational sphere is characterized only by the coincidence of the needs of the person engaged in it with the subject of martial arts. But since the subject of activity itself is still presented very vaguely in the adolescent's mind, and the individual's abilities to master it are not clear, we have to talk not about motivation for now, but only about the formation of love and attachment to a specific type of sport. During this period, there is usually a great fluidity of the composition of the groups engaged in it, due to the instability of the motivational sphere.
At the next stage, a mental state is formed that can be defined with full reason as motivation for a specific activity. It is primarily psychologically characterized by the stability and purposefulness of the subject, due to his awareness of personal meaning, serious engagement in a specific activity, in particular, martial arts. However, the process of motivation formation is not limited to this. There is an even higher stage, which is called in sports as motivation to achieve the highest result. This most stable state of a person is usually inherent in the stage of realization of individual capabilities. It is characterized by the most complete coincidence of the needs and abilities of the athlete with the highest sporting result.
The whole complexity of solving the problem of motivation formation lies in the fact that at the stage of in-depth improvement, the needs that kept the teenager in the initial training group practically do not work. On the one hand, needs, as a rule, have the property of disappearing as they are satisfied, on the other hand, the demands that martial arts make on the athlete himself increase. At the second stage, sport takes up not only more time from the athlete, it gradually absorbs him completely and, naturally, this complete dedication cannot be realized only on the basis of the need to be strong and healthy or the need for knowledge or communication. The point is that after two to five years of martial arts training, the teenager will turn into a strong guy, one who has long satisfied his needs for strength, health, new impressions, and the like. Therefore, if the coach is going to continue working with him and lead him to the difficult peaks of the highest sportsmanship, then he is obliged to awaken in his student the main social need - this is the need for self-affirmation, self-expression, fulfillment of public duty, which, in essence, can be called the need for positive assessment by the people around him.
Taking into account the above, the coach, if he expects to prepare his student as an international-class master, must at the stage of in-depth improvement actualize in his consciousness the need for self-affirmation through sports. The coach must convince the parents that sports will allow the boy to fully self-realize, to reveal himself as a socially useful, unique person. Moreover, sports for a talented person can become the subject of satisfying his material needs, since at the stage of in-depth improvement society, understanding the difficulty of achieving high results in sports and their social value, begins to actively stimulate those who devote themselves to this difficult activity.
The formation of motivation for sports activities is not limited to the actualization of the leading needs of the athlete. The expansion of his abilities is no less important. By this we mean not only his physical condition, skills and abilities, but, above all, the comprehension of the secrets of martial arts itself. In this matter, the role of the coach is irreplaceable. True, there is a type of mentor who sees his task only in pointing out mistakes to the student or suggesting how to act in a particular situation. They do not know that there is a huge distance from words to deeds, from understanding to execution. The coach's task is to build the training process in such a way that the student does not just know about this or that possible solution to a motor problem, but solves these problems himself in conditions close to competitions or even more difficult. In a word, the coach should skillfully organize the training process so that the athlete is not theoretically, but practically versed in all the subtleties of martial arts. This will serve as a strong stimulus-response for the formation of sustainable motivation for sports activities.
Thus, a coach working at the stage of in-depth improvement must be able to actively form sustainable motivation for martial arts.
In sports psychology, there is an incorrect understanding of what determines the formation of the mental qualities necessary for a given activity in an athlete, such as courage, purposefulness, discipline, independence and many others. The mistake is that the issue of developing the listed qualities is considered in isolation from motivation. From the above concept of "motivation" it is clear that purposefulness as the fact of the presence of a goal in the consciousness of an individual and its manifestation, completely depends on the nature and level of a person's motivation. The point is that the goal is a constant attribute of motivation, its real manifestation in consciousness and activity. Similarly, other mental qualities depend on the nature and level of motivation. If a person is motivated, it means that he realizes the personal meaning of what he is doing, therefore, he will be both decisive and courageous and will show all the other mental properties that are necessary for victory. This idea, of course, does not exclude the need for special work on the formation of important mental qualities for a martial artist, but it will be beneficial only if the athlete has the motivation to seriously, professionally master a specific type of martial arts. Otherwise, these efforts will not yield results.
Another important feature of the psyche is related to the fact that all the most important qualities are formed only in the activity itself and in this regard have their own specificity. This can be demonstrated by the example of such an important property for an athlete as courage. In practice, there is even a belief that courage is an innate trait of character. How many labels about unpromising prospects have been given to athletes when they have revealed certain signs of fear, confusion, and indecision at competitions? While it has been proven that uncertainty, fear, as a rule, are a consequence of the unpreparedness of a particular athlete to perform at a given competition. They are companions of an athlete who has gaps in skill, there are serious, perhaps undetected, shortcomings in preparedness. The idea that courage is not an innate quality, but a quality determined by the conditions of activity, is confirmed by numerous examples when the same person in one situation may turn out to be a coward, and in others, a desperately brave fighter. Therefore, instead of putting labels on the athlete, the coach needs to understand the causes of the athlete's negative mental states and, by purposefully eliminating gaps in preparedness and skill, form a sense of self-confidence, courage and determination.
Psychological preparation of a beginner for competitions. Psychological and volitional preparation
Without a clear understanding of the entire psychological complexity of sports activities, the variety of relationships that are conditioned, it is impossible to create a rational training methodology that meets modern scientific and pedagogical requirements.
The peculiarity of psychological training in martial arts is:
responsibility to the team for personal actions;
a large number of strong distracting factors during competitions;
strongly expressed components of sportsmanship and their interaction (technique, tactics, physical and psychological preparation).
Boxing as a sport places exceptionally high demands on the athlete's psyche. It is much easier to achieve a certain level of physical and technical-tactical readiness for a tournament than mental readiness. Not every boxer can be said to be a "fighter", even if he has high technique, tactics and physical training.
As is known, the subject of psychology is: a) mental processes; b) psychological boundaries of a person; c) psychological features of human activity.
Mental processes include: sensations, perception, imagination, thinking, memory, attention, emotions, desires and so on.
Psychological boundaries of a person include a person's orientation, temperament, character, interests and abilities.
Psychological features of activity include features of perceptions, thinking, reasoning and other mental processes associated with a certain type of work (for example, creativity).
Mental processes and psychological features of a person and human activity in their totality are called consciousness or, in a broader sense, psyche.
Psychological features, mental processes and limits of the person are most fully revealed under strong mental and physical stress, under constantly changing environmental conditions, which is observed in sports, in particular in martial arts.
The state of psychological preparedness plays a special role, often decisive in a fight. An athlete who cannot cope with excessive excitement on the eve of entering the ring, is unsure of his abilities, will not be able to quickly mobilize and act wisely during the fight. On the contrary, if a boxer is well psychologically prepared, calm, self-confident, easily controls his mood and actions in battle, even with factors (missing a strong blow, failures in attacks, etc.) that are strongly acting, he will be able to mobilize, correctly assess the situation, take into account his own and the opponent's capabilities and successfully solve tactical and technical tasks.
In the psychological preparation of a boxer, his individual qualities come to the fore; Therefore, the coach must be sufficiently erudite in the field of psychology, pedagogy, physiology and medical control in order to thoroughly study his ward and most individualize the training taking into account his abilities and the conditions of their development.
Currently, it is customary to divide the psychological preparation of an athlete into two stages - the stage of general psychological preparation and psychological preparation for competitions. Both stages are interconnected, at the same time, each of them has its own characteristics that must be taken into account in the methodology of sports training.
General psychological preparation is aimed at forming the necessary properties of a person: a variety of interests, strong-willed character traits; it should stimulate the development of mental processes that contribute to the successful performance of boxing tasks: sensations, perceptions, and so on.
The psychological preparation of a boxer for the upcoming fight is naturally dictated by the tasks that must be solved in a particular competition. These include:
awareness of the uniqueness of the sports tasks of the upcoming competition;
studying the strengths and weaknesses of opponents and preparing for actions in accordance with these features;
forming a firm confidence in one's own strengths and capabilities to achieve victory;
overcoming negative emotions caused by the upcoming competition, and creating a state of psychological readiness for the fight;
acquiring readiness for maximum volitional and physical tension and the ability to demonstrate them in competition conditions;
the ability to relax as much as possible after the fight and mobilize again for the next fight.
So, the essence of the athlete's psychological preparation is reduced to the direction of his consciousness and actions to solve training and competition tasks.
The result of the boxer's psychological preparation should be a state of mental readiness, which finds its expression in the athlete's maximum mobilization, the return of all forces to achieve the best results in competitions.
It is necessary to be interested in the motives for boxing and participation in competitions. Motives are understood as thoughts, aspirations and feelings associated with the awareness of certain needs and motivating them to activity. Such motives may be the pleasure of superiority in martial arts over others, sports fame, the desire to develop oneself physically in a variety of ways, certain qualities (endurance, strength, agility); to cultivate courage, confidence, determination, and so on.
The most significant motivation is to learn to box skillfully, to get into the national team of the country, to achieve high sports results, to pass on experience to other boxers. Of course, the given motives are far from exhausting those aspirations that encourage athletes of different ages and experience to engage in boxing and improve their skills. Knowledge of motives has great practical and pedagogical importance, since it allows the coach to assess the personal qualities of those who are engaged.
The coach should promote the development of positive interests through proper planning of the educational and training process, adherence to pedagogical principles of teaching, formation of aspirations for independent training, for creative thinking, discussion of competition results, interest in the boxer's life, assistance in training, work, establishment of good relations with teammates, and the like.
An important factor for victory is will, which means the ability to control oneself - one's actions, deeds, thoughts, experiences - to achieve consciously set goals.
A boxer has to constantly overcome all kinds of difficulties, in particular, enormous physical exertion, fatigue, endure pain, and in difficult conditions instantly think over the situation and make decisions. His activity has a purely volitional orientation, therefore, the education of will in a boxer is one of the central problems of modern training. To do this, it is necessary to know and take into account the driving forces or motives that help a boxer overcome difficulties on the way to achieving goals.
Having developed a serious attitude and interest in boxing, a boxer should develop a desire for self-education of will.
The desire for self-education of will should be an essential motive for a boxer's activity. The most important task of a coach is to educate boxers in purposefulness, which is expressed in a clear understanding of goals and objectives, active and steady improvement of their skills, and in diligence.
A necessary quality that ensures the achievement of the intended goal is perseverance. To cultivate perseverance, it is important that the boxer believes in the prospects of his sports activities, is convinced that diligence in training and perseverance in battle will contribute to the formation of his skills.
In order to make timely decisions in the most critical moments of the fight, to carry them out without hesitation, overcoming fear and inertia, a boxer needs courage and determination. It is advisable to start cultivating these qualities by developing in the boxer confidence, faith in his own strength, revealing his positive sides and advantages, and teaching him the ability to know himself in a combat situation. Will is manifested in self-control, endurance, initiative and discipline.
Self-control and endurance are necessary for a boxer to successfully overcome negative emotional states: confusion, depression or overexcitement, which can arise before and during the fight. These qualities are also necessary to overcome increasing fatigue during the fight, to withstand blows.
A boxer's initiative is expressed in the ability to introduce new technical and tactical techniques both during training and in battle, to creatively use the learned combat technique.
The listed volitional qualities are inextricably linked and mutually influence each other. With insufficient development of one of the volitional qualities, the latter cannot be well developed.
Assessment of psychological indicators of fitness
The psychological indicators of boxers' fitness include various kinds of data on sensorimotor, perceptive, mnemonic, emotional and other mental functions that reflect the level of fitness of athletes.
In boxing, great attention has been paid and is being paid to the assessment of psychological indicators of fitness. First of all, attention is focused on the assessment of boxers' motor reactions, since these reactions are closely related to the level of fitness. Motor reactions can be simple, complex and anticipatory. Simple reactions reflect the level of fitness to a lesser extent, since they are almost never found in pure form in boxing.
Recently, equipment has been used to determine specific reactions, which allows modeling the conditions characteristic of boxers' activities. In particular, as a certain stimulus, not a simple light bulb is used, but certain boxers' poses (fighting stance, right-hand headshot), which are displayed on special slides. The subject must react with a certain action (or inaction) to this or that pose depicted on the slide.
The sense of time in boxers can be determined using a decatron millisecond stopwatch. The subject is asked to stop the arrow or the charge of the stopwatch at a certain point several times, and then repeat all this, but without visual control.
The magnitude of the error and the number of premature, delayed reactions are taken into account.
Tremorometry and measurement of electrocutaneous resistance are most often used to assess mental states, and in particular the emotional state.
The tremorometry technique is based on the registration of involuntary trembling of the hands or fingers (tremor). Tremor meters of various designs are used as devices for measuring tremor. They are most suitable for assessing the mental state of boxers.
The assessment of mental indicators should be approached especially carefully, since they are very variable and are largely determined by the individual characteristics of the person. The assessment of these indicators requires in each specific case a special comparative analysis, on the basis of which the diagnostic value of the test is determined, and the data obtained with its help is interpreted.
Preparing a novice directly for the competition
Every performance in the competition is a responsible test for the physical, technical-tactical and psychological preparedness of the boxer and at the same time serves as a means of its further improvement. In particular, participation in competitions is an important means of forming motives for boxing, a means of cultivating the basic qualities of will. However, performances in competitions contribute to the cultivation of strong-willed traits of character of the athlete only if he has a sufficiently good technical-tactical, physical and psychological preparedness. If the boxer performs insufficiently prepared, feels that he cannot fight with rivals of the same qualification, then, losing fights, he loses confidence and in the future no longer strives to achieve victory at all costs. Having become accustomed to defeats, the athlete loses the ability to mobilize his will, and it weakens more and more [3, p.102-104].
It is also bad when a boxer often performs against weaker opponents. Confident in himself, in his superiority, the athlete does not seek to exert all his strength for victory, he becomes carefree and self-confident.
In order to optimally adjust the psyche of a young athlete for successful performance in competitions, psychological preparation of wrestlers for competitions is used. It is a continuation of general psychological preparation in certain conditions.
The main task of psychological preparation of an athlete for competitions is to create in him readiness for performance, which must be maintained in battle.
As a rule, athletes with a purposeful, firm character, with well-developed strong-willed qualities perform successfully in competitions.
The coach must be able to very subtly reveal the reasons for the deterioration of the boxers' condition before the performance and choose methods for their improvement. It must be borne in mind that if the boxer does not undergo general psychological preparation, avoids difficulties, does not try to manage his mental state during training, then no methods of psychological preparation for competitions will bring him to a state of readiness. The effect of an athlete's psychological preparation for competition is closely related to the content and results of his general psychological preparation, and especially volitional.
In the psychological preparation of a boxer for competitions, it is necessary to distinguish: psychological preparation in the period before the competition, psychological preparation for the fight, psychological preparation in the breaks between rounds, psychological action after the end of the fight and psychological preparation during the tournament.
The most important task of the coach, preparing a boxer for performances in the pre-competition period, which forms his psychological readiness, is to develop the right attitude towards future competitions, to tune in to victory; to strengthen the fighting spirit, to create confidence in success, to prepare for maximum mobilization of forces in the fight, and so on. Because a boxer cannot be in sports form if he is poorly psychologically prepared for competitions, does not strive for victory, is not confident in himself, is afraid of opponents, is oppressed by the prospect of performing in competitions, and so on.
The psychological preparation of a boxer in the period before the competition consists of a number of sections or links. These include:
1. Correctly determining the main goal of the athlete's performance in the upcoming competition;
2. Formation of socially significant motives for performing in this competition in accordance with the tasks set;
3. Programming the athlete's future actions based on information about the expected competition conditions and the characteristics of future opponents;
4. Preparation for overcoming various difficulties;
5. Verification and clarification of the planned program during training - in the process of general and special physical training, conditional and free fights, sparring, exercises on shells and paws;
6. Teaching athletes to accept self-regulation of adverse internal states;
7. Ensuring physical and "nervous freshness" at the beginning of the competition.
A boxer preparing to compete may have different goals, one of which is the main one for him at the moment: - to fulfill the category standards, win the title of master of sports, take first place in the tournament or become one of the prize-winners, defeat outstanding athletes, and so on.
A large role in the necessary combat attitude of a boxer in the period before the competition is played by the creation of a stable positive emotional state.
The most important problem of the psychological preparation of an athlete for competitions is the improvement of his ability to regulate his internal state in accordance with the attitude to the upcoming competition. Teaching the ability to regulate his mental state should not be carried out during the period of preparation for competitions.
There cannot be a general universal recipe for the direct preparation of boxers for a fight. After all, the characterological and typological features of the speakers, their level of preparedness, attitude to competitions and emotional state are different. Therefore, the methods of action on their psyche should be different.
However, boxing practice has proven that it is inappropriate to "pump up" and excite a boxer for the upcoming fight long before the performance, since excessive excitement is most often replaced by inhibition during the meeting, which reduces the "fighting tone".
Excessive stimulation of victory before the fight by the coach also often leads to the boxer's stiffness in the ring, to a one-sided perception of the fighting situation.
The task of the coach preparing boxers for the performance is to relieve excess nervous tension that appears before entering the ring, to develop reasonable confidence in their abilities and combat readiness.
This task is solved differently for each boxer. For example, one needs to be calmed down, convincing him that he is much stronger and better prepared than his opponent; another - to reprimand for distrust and lack of confidence in his own strength; a third - to excite immediately before the fight, to raise his "fighting spirit", and so on. It is necessary to ensure that the boxer is tuned optimistically and self-confident. However, it is impossible for confidence to be replaced by self-confidence, which leads to complacency, loss of vigilance and weakening of attention.
It is important to ensure that the boxer always has a pleasant prospect of a future meeting with any opponent.
In the practice of psychological preparation of boxers for a fight, there are a number of techniques that can be selectively used by the coach.
First of all, for a number of athletes (especially with an easily excitable and unbalanced nervous system) it is advisable to use a number of techniques to divert their attention from thoughts about future performances.
Practice shows that in boxers with an unbalanced nervous system immediately before the fight it is better to evoke an idea of the tactical course of future actions, of the peculiarities of the technique and tactics of their opponents and ways of countering them, without orienting such athletes to the result. And, on the contrary, it is better to "stress" phlegmatic, balanced athletes before entering the ring with the prospect of a successful victory in the fight, drawing their attention mainly to the productive side of the meeting.
It is known that a person's mood is to some extent connected with his posture, the nature of movements, gestures. Fast, "lively", energetic movements, "unstressed", "cheerful" postures not only express cheerfulness, good mood and determination, but, to a certain extent, contribute to maintaining a certain "nervous tone", just as constrained, sluggish movements, "relaxed" postures not only serve as a manifestation of internal disorganization, depressed state, etc., but also contribute to their intensification.
Therefore, the coach must ensure that the boxer preparing for the fight not only tries to be optimistic and confident about the performance, but also expresses this desire with his whole appearance, movements and gestures.
However, it should be borne in mind that the excessive artificial "cheerfulness" of some boxers, not corresponding to their inner state, sometimes leads to negative results; boxers waste so much of their nervous energy on "jokes" or tune in so complacently that they lose the sporting anger necessary for victory before the fight.
Of great importance for the psychological state of the boxer is the content of the warm-up before the fight, which should be carried out in such a way as to raise the mood, eliminate stiffness, relax the muscles, and maximize the readiness for quick and sudden actions. However, here too, depending on the boxer's individual characteristics and habits, emphasis should be placed on his favorite groups of exercises (for example, imitation, special preparatory, general development exercises while walking or on the spot, shadow fighting, exercises with a partner in gloves, punches to the paws, etc.).
During a warm-up fight with a shadow, it is advisable to draw the boxer's attention to the techniques that he may use in the ring, and to offer to perform several variants of his favorite attacking, defensive and counterattacking actions.
To regulate the emotional states of boxers, special breathing exercises and light stimulating or calming massage are very often used.
There are several systems of breathing exercises that have a positive effect on the nervous system of athletes. These exercises are performed sitting or lying down, involve deep inhalations and exhalations, arbitrary delays in the phases of breathing, complete relaxation of the muscles and distraction from thoughts about the upcoming performance.
Depending on the method, place of application and intensity of the massage, it calms or excites the nervous system. For calming, it is useful to use light stroking in the back, nape, neck; for excitement - energetic rubbing of the muscles, body, shaking with arms and legs, beating.
A boxer will more accurately and quickly come into combat readiness and accept the intended line of battle if he treats his mentor with complete trust and respect.
In a fight, two extreme variants of a boxer's attitude towards his opponent are very often observed.
A boxer either overestimates his opponent, loses confidence, becomes constrained and overly cautious, and very often, as they say, psychologically loses the fight, completely subordinating his will to the will of the opponent; or, on the contrary, underestimates the opponent, behaves carelessly, carelessly and carelessly and may lose the fight to a weaker athlete.
In accordance with these moods, the coach must either encourage the boxer, instill confidence in him, convince him of his own superiority, or, without convincing the boxer of his superiority over his partner, advise him to be more careful and attentive in fighting.
A huge role in the psychological adjustment of a boxer during a fight is played by the correct instruction of the coach, which should be short, concise and convincing. By instructing and mobilizing the boxer's will for certain actions, the coach can influence his character traits, pride or use the most important motives for the student to perform.
It is necessary to use different methods of influence on the boxer's psyche and behavior more "flexibly".
Sometimes, for example, it is necessary to severely shame the boxer for indecision and weak character and order him to change his actions in the next round at all costs, remembering what awaits the boxer in case of winning (or losing) the fight, sometimes it is necessary to advise him to change tactics or gently reprimand him for mistakes. You can remind the boxer about how he boxed in training or in some previous won match, and say that he should act the same now. Sometimes it is advisable to resort to deception: to convince a boxer who has lost a round that he fought excellently, and the opponent is in a demoralized state, and only a little effort is needed to achieve victory. In another case, on the contrary, it is necessary to reproach a boxer who fought a roughly equal fight with his opponent, and point out that if he fails to step up in the next round, the match will be lost.
It is very important to be able to correctly understand the psychological state of a boxer during a fight and find that "Achilles heel", influencing which it is possible to mobilize his will for a masterful victory, and at the same time to preserve his fighting mindset and self-control.
In modern tournament competitions, psychological training during the tournament is of particular importance.
The physical and mental stress experienced by the participants is extremely high. It is not for nothing that many experts believe that the body of a trained athlete copes with the difficulties of a professional match more easily than an amateur tournament.
In different athletes, depending on their individual characterological and typological characteristics, personal orientation, the mental state during the tournament changes differently. In some it is relatively stable, in others it is very variable.
According to the results of the action on the psyche of the athlete of various factors, means and methods of psychological training during the tournament are selected, taking into account the individual psychological characteristics of the participants.
For example, if a boxer has fought well and won against a strong opponent, he feels in a good mood, his fighting spirit and vigor increase. In this case, the boxer needs to be trained so that he does not overestimate his strength in the future, and is alert and cautious.
If the fight is poorly conducted and the boxer, without showing his skill, wins with a minimal advantage over a lower-class opponent, then the athlete feels dissatisfied with himself, confused and depressed. The coach should calm the boxer, talk about the advantages of his partner, slightly exaggerating his positive qualities and not scolding for mistakes. The coach should only focus on analyzing mistakes together with the athlete and develop a plan for the next meeting in the ring.
An unexpected change in the schedule for the worse caused by a sudden illness or injury of one of the participants has a particularly bad effect on the boxer's mental state. If the boxer's performance schedule is unsuccessful, he should be distracted from the prospect of difficult fights and ideas about them and set up for the fight shortly before its start. The coach needs to use the above-described means of regulating the boxer's pre-start state and help him spend time interestingly between fights. It is very important to be able to encourage one boxer, reproach another for lack of confidence, use the leading motives of the third's performance, convince the fourth of his weakness, the partner, etc., taking into account the individual characteristics of each of them. Accordingly, it is necessary to provide athletes with the opportunity to engage in their favorite pastime in the breaks between fights: warm-up, sleep, walks, leg exercises, going to the cinema, etc. There are many options for the correct organization of free time.
During the tournament, close friendly relations, relations of mutual support and assistance are formed between team members, the coach, the doctor, and the masseur. The coach is obliged to strengthen these relationships, to observe tact, to be attentive to each athlete.
It is very important that the coach can restrain the manifestations of his negative pre-start states, which are very quickly transmitted to his charges. It is also necessary to ensure that the participants do not become infected with a bad mood from individual athletes who have lost fights and dropped out of the competition. Strong boxers who have authority among the participants can provide great help in the combat attitude of the team to victory.
The question of further adjustment of boxers who have successfully or unsuccessfully completed the competition is very important.
It is necessary that the coach has the right psychological effect on both the winners and the losers of the tournament.
Special attention should be paid to capable, but morally unstable, weak-willed athletes, who usually, as practice shows, stop training as a result of several defeats. It is very important to set up boxers after their defeat in competitions so that they develop a desire to get revenge and rehabilitate themselves more quickly in the next performances in the ring.
If the coach has the necessary tact, is able to psychologically influence boxers, knowing the peculiarities of their character and behavior, he can always achieve that even a boxer who has "badly" lost a fight will actively want to overcome his shortcomings, improve his skills and systematically continue his sports improvement.
Competition is an event that is acutely perceived and worries a beginner. In the psychological preparation of a boxer for competitions, it is necessary to distinguish: psychological preparation in the period before the competition, psychological preparation before the fight, psychological preparation in the breaks between rounds, psychological action after the end of the fight and psychological preparation during the tournament.
Psychological preparation in the period before the competition, which can be called early psychological preparation for the competition, begins approximately one month before the performance (it is meant that the boxer will definitely take part in the competition) and ends with the moment of the draw. Psychological preparation for the fight (first), that is, direct psychological preparation for the competition, takes the period of time from the announcement of the results of the draw to the start of the fight.
The most important section of psychological preparation for the competition is the psychological effect of the coach on the boxer after the performance in the ring, since the athlete's further attitude to the competition and behavior during the fights of the competition is very often largely determined by the complex of experiences after the end of the previous performances.
Psychological preparation during the tournament involves a psychological effect on the athlete during several days of the competition (after the end of the fights, during the athletes' rest, during training exercises, before entering the ring and in the breaks between rounds).
It is clear that such a division of a boxer's psychological preparation for competitions is somewhat conditional. In match fights, the athlete usually knows with whom of the opponents he will have to box in a single fight, and he tunes in to a specific encounter during early psychological preparation.