The Performance Space in Action

The final chapter is a compilation of eight athlete case histories. Each one has been chosen to exhibit a particular type of issue that may arise and how the Performance Space Model can be used to deal with that specific presentation. The key to effective interventions is to start with the individual athlete in mind. Each one has their own personality traits and communication style. In conjunction with their psychological strengths, this provides a foundation from which to choose from the various processes, protocols and procedures in the previous chapters which seem to fit best in providing a performance solution. Each case includes the formulation of outcome, performance, mastery and process goals, turning a threat into a challenge, creating a pre-race plan, developing within-race self-regulation and post-event performance review. The range of cases presented includes: performance enhancement, performance anxiety, low confidence and self-doubt, perfectionism and self-criticism, emotional regulation problems (anger, frustration and panic under stress), external pressures (parent, coach and sponsor), mental skill deficits (lack of focus, goal-setting and performance routines), loss of motivation and burnout.