Wisdom of the Ages: Reclaiming Sports Psychology

Now here on the blog we are at an age when certain things get them going. A difficult age, in training for being grumpy old men, railing against the mad and the bad world we live in – and in our sights this week ….Sports Psychology.

For those who have been around long enough to remember a time when cricket gloves had green spikes the last thirty years have seen great changes. These have reached down to touch the game on the Village Green.

For those of a certain generation there is an instinctive pull toward the sepia tinted good old days – but many changes have been for the better: Junior coaching and participation, the rise of the Women’s game, funding and grants, the opportunities provided by social media and perhaps the best of the lot - the increasing use of end of season beer festivals for fund-raising.

The influence of the game, good and bad, at the top percolates down: pre-match drills, sponsored kit (sometimes with a player’s name on it) and people trying things they have seen on the TV – a dilscoop or a switch hit – a slow bouncer or a sliding stop - there’s little doubt that the standard of ground fielding has improved, even at village level.

But for all its ability to imitate the game at higher levels the Villager holds out against one thing - the rise of sports psychology. In many ways the Villager pushes back against the golden rules of this increasingly prominent discipline. The Villager remains decidedly old school in the ‘between the ears’ department and quite rightly so.

It’s not that the Villager doesn’t recognise that it’s a thinking man’s game –the Villager has this particular t-shirt - in fact he is part of the movement that pretty much invented sports psychology, but like all good ideas it’s been dressed up, made over, re-packaged and marketed as something you need to pay £125 an hour for.

So what is it?

Common sense.

Yes, that’s not what you need to answer the question. That is the answer to the question.

Around about 0.0001%of sports psychologists DNA differs from that of management consultants. What holds them together is their time together at the University of the Bleeding Obvious and ability to re-format common sense into a power-point –and have the brass neck to try and flog it as insight and wisdom.

For those who are at risk of being reeled in here’s what some of those sports psychology terms mean in everyday Village parlance – and just think of the money you are saving….

‘Positive Images’ or ‘Visualistion’ is, in simple terms, thinking about things going well.

Well blow me down with a gentle breeze from behind the off-spinners left shoulder. It’s what we do all week. That full length mirror hasn’t seen many catch the shoulder of the bat during the week. We dream, we are Village Cricketers. It’s all we have.

Next!

 ‘Power’ or ‘Cue’ words seek to address your ‘inner critic’ but as we know your main critic is the Skipper, not yourself – and for the experienced Villager they know that talk is cheap. A good example is the distain they show for that increasingly common phrase that has emerged from junior cricket ‘Wicket coming’. A phrase with a statistically significant relationship with the opposition being 145-1 off 32.

‘Focus’ sometimes called ‘Present Focus’ is what we used to call concentration: Why do you need to think about ‘focus’ when the skipper is already all over it?

Typical skipper focus phrase, directed to his chortling fielders:  ‘will you lot bloody concentrate’.

For the individual player the there is no shortage of opportunities to regret your lack of focus – or more accurately concentration: The returning batsman so often repeats one of those super accurate Village insights:  ‘I don’t know what I was thinking about’. 

Yes focus is concentration   Focus is central to sports psychology and apparently essential to success – but the Villager at heart is driven by impulse, a love for the game and a short-lived shot at glory every Saturday or Sunday – or both if they are single.

‘Chunking Goals’ is when you focus (that word again) on your immediate target or break things down into a sequence of tasks. This is when the skipper says ‘Pitch it up’ repeatedly or the other batsman shouts ‘yes, no, get back’ as he focuses on his immediate target – not being run out. Classic Villager ‘chunking’ would go like this for a batsman at the non-striker’s end.

(a) This guy’s quick (b) ask ump how many balls to go (c) find opportunity to encourage partner to dig in (d) start to back up less (e) stay put.

Another key point is (apparently) ‘knowing what you need to focus on’. Firstly there’s not forgetting your kit, then the list of jobs to do on arrival, then there is turning the urn on, then there’s nipping home at tea to pick up the wife and then there’s the playing bit. So for the villager it’s an easy one to answer - ‘pretty much everything and I am not even the skip’.

So there it is in a nutshell. The obvious for the oblivious.

Just add it to the list of things you don’t need like a chest guard or being told that you shouldn’t have played that shot…

So what’s the alternative?

In a word.

Nets

Follow your dreams, they know the way (what like Sat Nav?)

If only talking (or tweeting) a good game translated into runs, wickets and scoreboard pressure.

But while his best days are behind him the true Villager is resolute in not just talking a good game, he has big plans for all aspects of his cricketing life, his team and his club. They say a man is not old until regrets replace his dreams - and the true Villager is a dreamer and for many the dream is a proper pre-season tour. It might not stretch to Barbados in March but there is some guy a the club who has been arranging a trip to some four team tournament  in Majorca for the last 10 years…and was there ever a better time to look to sunnier climes?  

With the next low pressure system clattering in and the flood waters gently lapping against the TV cabinet the village cricketer isn't doing the sensible thing like calling the insurance company or the local builder . He is dreaming of the pre-season tour.

His plans will not be knocked off course by some triple vortex Atlantic superstorm.

‘I’ve played in worse’

His gear is in the loft, safe and dry. He’s even looking forward to scraping the moss from the artificial wicket at this month’s working party if the flood waters subside. He’ll use the opportunity to meet up with team mates not seen since September and dream.

‘This time next year we’ll be in…..’
 

Well the scale of the pre-season tour varies.

Your County side packs up bags and bags of new matching sponsored kit and is driven to the airport on the team coach, from where they speed south to Johannesburg or Capetown for warm weather training and a knockabout on flat tracks against various tired District XI s

The clubs that nestle in the heart of footballer’s wives territory might jet away and grab some cricket in the West Indies –  having to work hard to avoid the distraction of all-inclusive cocktails,  sea fishing trips and the inevitable "Who can do the best Freddie?" nocturnal pedalo competition.

The Villager dreams of La Manga but – as per last year - have booked themselves into a one night DB&B break under the guise of a bonding/golfing trip that for vague sporting reasons includes a brewery tour.

These excursions have replaced the 5 games in 5 days (with no rest day) tours of the 1980's due to the fact that they have all grown old at the same time and the youth of today (who could easily cope with such a hectic physical schedule) don't travel further than their wi-fi coverage – and the dreaded Xbox has replaced late night card and darts games.

All this said the clamour amongst the clubs stalwarts and inner management circle to be part of these trips was momentous. Holiday requests are placed at work and if the boss is not forthcoming it is no coincidence that an estranged but dear old relative passed away just at the same time to enable special compassionate leave for the funeral. Yes good old great Uncle Alf, slipping this mortal coil on time every time - third weekend in March.

It is on the tour that hopes and dreams of our VI's for the forthcoming season are vocalised along with classic tales of glories past whilst partaking of many late night beers and even an impromptu game of Kwik Cricket in the car park. The season's first "in jokes" are developed, new nicknames given and stories of not so youthful exuberance are passed into folklore.

"Remember the trip to see Crazy Mick's house in Hampshire and not being allowed out of the car even when we were bursting for the loo?!"

"Remember the chairman falling asleep at the foot of the hotel stairs or on the toilet after the ill-advised mass consumption of Leffe?!"

"Remember being sooo drunk that we were asked to leave a Yates' wine lodge for playing an imaginary game of cricket in the bar when the bowler insisted on coming off his long run?!"

This bonding is essential for the Village Idiot as it steels the members and gives them 36 hours of joy prior to the long slog that is yet another season strapped to the Relegation Rollercoaster.

As a concession to the sporting nature of the Village Idiot’s pre-season, there still has to be a little exercise, even nowadays, on any tour. This may come in the guise of a gentle stroll after breakfast to work off that 3rd sausage at breakfast and a round of golf.

This will be this year's first expedition into the sporting arena for most of our ageing Village Idiots and is the catalyst to set the competitive juices flowing once more. Many hold and swing their clubs in an identical fashion to their Gray Nic or Mongoose and in July or August would be delighted to see the ball disappear over the trees at extra cover.  In golf though, that is a bad thing.

Golf is not a game that one can excel at when doing it just once a year (much like the 20/20 cup cricket, where a fleeting and traditional preliminary round exit beckons). There are members of the tour party who have completed their clandestine preparation on the range or with on course lessons as they take a golfing victory to be the first important step towards topping the averages in September.

Such seriousness is frowned upon in VI circles – as we have heard before taking it too seriously is as much a sin as tanking. Middle of the road respectability is a good place to be.

Let’s be honest you want to share the great joy the party when the "pro" gets the yips on 17 & 18 and thus gifts victory (and the coveted prize of 3 Top Flite balls) to the self-confessed hacker who was only playing "to be sociable" or simply ‘to have a weekend away’

So, the pre-season tour, even at Villager level, has completed its vital function. It has got the players out of hibernation and had got them talking to each other. The greyhounds have glimpsed the hare- or perhaps more realistically the mutts have found the cupboard open and gorged themselves on winalot.

They have played a little sport, they have drank a lot of beer and they can see that the light has, once again, been switched on at the end of the close season tunnel (thanks to the electricity board who have been working round the clock)

The long Winter may yet have another sting in the tail with the book being open as to how many inches of snow will be covering the outfield on the 1st Saturday of April but our VI, thanks to the pre-season tour, is turning his mind to balmy evenings in June as opposed to barmy ones in February….

And then the prospect of a pre-season cricket excursion rears its head. The Sunday skipper has e-mailed the Committee as they meet. Pre-season game on offer just over the border in North Wales. The sun block is going in the bag right now.

If you could pick just one player....

You are talking one of the greatest: Malcolm Marshall

There have been strong words exchanged in the score hut over the last week. The Atlantic gales rattling the timbers have drowned out the heated debate as Farmyard and Crofter have failed to find consensus on which of the greats they think could cut it at village level?

It’s a big question. From the history of the game which one player would you add to your list of eligible players to be submitted to the league by 1 April?

Now for Wisden picking their 5 players of the last century it’s pretty easy – it’s primarily about playing. ICC world ranking (so we are told) are based on an algorithm (that’s a complicated sum type thing) so must be right …..but for the Villager it’s more complicated.

Your ideal player needs to contribute with bat and ball – so ideally an all-rounder or at the very least a proven ability to chip in, be a partnership breaker or ‘be a useful bowling option’.

Being a big character is another asset. Unlike the ECB the Village Dressing Room cannot just manage egos, it thrives on them.  Most importantly we need a man that ‘is a great laugh’ and ‘doesn’t take himself too seriously’ and most of all ‘is a good club man’ and the watermark that runs through the paper we write these rules on?

It’s one of the Villages commandments.  You could write it on the dressing room wall.

‘If you give it out you have got to be able to take it.’

Its 6 hours on a Saturday for us, there’s no tour bus, no team hotel, no breakfast briefing – we want to pack it all, have a beer and go home.  Just keep the language decent in front of the kids, try to have the correct change for subs and you are in.

So you can play, you have a personality and you can take a bit of stick, but you will need to contribute off the field. That outfield doesn’t cut itself – although the two people that do cut it will point out that most Village players think it does.

Now being a John Deere sit on mower accredited maintenance engineer is probably asking too much – but if we can trust you on the roller or with the scarifier then that’s a big help.  So while Flintoff ticks almost every box can you let him loose on the roller following the pedalo incident?

If the technical stuff isn’t your strength – can you turn on the charm in the raffle ticket sales department? Or could you be the man to man the barbeque at the beer festival (or you may have a significant other who is willing and able?)

Australia’s Matthew Haydn has published his own recipe books –and if it wasn’t for a lack of bowling he’d be nudging our top ten on this basis alone –and appearing on The Bake Off hasn’t done Michael Vaughn’s Village Index rating any harm.   

Coaching (loosely defined) is another asset - are you the man or woman to control 45 kids on  a Friday night who have just celebrated breaking up for half term with an espresso and a can of red bull?

So you are starting to get the picture – we need a maintenance man, a renaissance man, a polymath and a good laugh who isn’t going to leave the barbeque needing Red Adair to come out of retirement

We know you can play sunshine…but do you know someone who knows someone who can sort out the guttering?  

So a great bloke whose a great player. In that order.

So the arguing has to stop…here’s Crofter’s Quintet – five men on his all-time list, and he starts with his favourite player of all-time. A man who uttered the greatest cricket quote of all time, the greatest sports quote of all time, the greatest quote of all time.

‘I'll tell you what pressure is. Pressure is a Messerschmitt up your arse. Playing cricket is not.’

It goes without saying that if you can fly a Mosquito under enemy fire then you could probably master the sit on mower. An all-rounder, a massive character, Crofter thinks it hard to look past Keith Miller as your fantasy pick. So he’s a definite in Crofter’s quintet.

So who else? Fans of the blog will know that Farmyard and Crofter get misty eyed about the 80s and those big name players, especially the Windies. One thing the Villager really loves is turning up with some serious pace in the team – but who to pick?  That’s a tough one – but add in a bit of batting, a willingness to play when injured and a man with a record that’s never been bettered – you have to think of the late great Malcolm Marshall.  

One of the all-time greats who famously displayed a quality of playing on when injured – one hand in plaster, the other holding the bat.

From the same era Crofter thinks you’d have to have Sir Viv – doubts remain about his skills in the raffle ticket sales department – but has any player been as feared by the opposition? Would any team not be improved by that swagger? Top fielding skills, occasional bowling and batting in a slot all Village teams struggle to fill – 3.

Also up there – legendary fundraiser, hell raiser, wine expert and all-rounder Sir Ian Botham. Obviously a risk that he’d ask you to walk from Lands’ end to John o Groats in the off season – but a bottle or two of his 2008 Botham Merrill Willis Cab Sav for post-match re-hydration is a winner. He’s a definite.

So who makes up the final slot in Crofter’s quintet – well we know that a Club needs to be frugal with its money and you need some grit – so we turn our heads East to Yorkshire and look to see if there is a player with good availability and embodies another of our golden rules.

You just don’t retire.

An example to the juniors with six hour nets – a man custom built to ensure you use up all your overs. It has to be the legendary Fred Boycott who captained the all-conquering Pudsey Plodders back in 1958 and 1959 and has gone from block to block ever since. Whether Fred would take the step down to our level – who knows – but he is in this top 5.

So there you go – Miller, Marshall, Richards, Botham and Boycott (F).

We’ll see what Farmyard’s list looks like in due course