KNP Sport Psychology

It’s no secret: Manchester United have been in turmoil this season.

I’ve watched the matches closely, trying to understand the differences between United at their best, and United at their worst.

One think you can easily identify in a team are the behaviours they demonstrate on the pitch.

I was mesmerised when I watched them perform against Liverpool.

Every player in sync. Pressing together with intensity. Tackles with full blood. Playing on the edge. Sustained pressure with effective decisions.

It was a masterclass.

The question is: WHY DONT THEY DO THIS MORE OFTEN?

When change occurs, a key way to integrate new behaviours into a team is by painting a picture and reflect on what success looks like…

What does a Man United press look like?

When we re-gain possession, what is the Man United way?

When we’re under pressure, how do we restore order?

Asking great questions can help players think critically about their actions and behaviours on the pitch.

Finally, once everyone has bought in: trust of communication, capability and character are the mediators. Get everyone believing that the next man will do their job!

Coordinating this across a team can lead to gradual but significant changes in performance!

The message:

Never underestimate the power of great questions.

Never underestimate the power of body language.

In our pursuit for performance, we can become obsessed with tweaking our process in order to achieve the results we desire.

The problem is, how do we know if a process truly works unless we give it a fair chance?

I can speak from experience as an amateur golfer - constant changes to the way I practice because there’s always something new I feel I need to work on. In fact, some of the best golf I’ve played is when I’ve kept my practice and routines consistent over a period of time!

It’s natural to want to change things when you don’t see instant results. The immediacy of life and high-performance sport has driven us to seek ‘quick fixes’, meaning that the craft of creating, testing and trusting our process has become much more challenging.

In most circumstances, you’re probably doing the right things but it just hasn’t ‘clicked’ yet.

Results and performance take time. Nothing worth pursuing in this world is instantaneous.

Be patient. Make marginal gains. Trust you know what you are doing…but ultimately understand that success takes time to come to fruition.

Manchester United (A) 🔴

In sport we talk a lot about nurturing high-performers through setting up high-performance environments.

It’s no secret that you can turn mediocrity into gold when the right environment is created.

This week I was lucky enough to travel to Carrington - The Manchester United training ground.

This place is iconic because the likes of Ronaldo, Ferdinand, De Gea, Keane have all been nurtured in this hallowed facility.

As drive in, you just get hit with this feeling that something special is happening there.

Everything was immaculate and it’s easy to see why United are one of the biggest clubs in the world…It truly was out of this world and my pictures don’t do it justice.

I learned a key lesson: you can bring an organisation a long long way by setting up the right environment for people to thrive in. Emphasis on infrastructure is just as important as investing into the people who run the infrastructure for you!

It’s easy to see why United are such a hub for producing bright young talents which go on to have successful careers in the game.

A very productive trip in terms of understanding players and hopefully the first of many as we move into the 2022/23 season.

Guess this psychology stuff isn’t too bad 😂

This season I’ve worked closely with several managers in professional and academy football.

Footballs a tough environment, not just as a psychologist but also for the players, the staff and the manager themselves.

I genuinely believe that the role of the manager is one of the most misunderstood roles in the whole world of professional sport.

Their role in performance isn’t exclusive to tactics and development…it’s about helping talented, hardworking individuals be the best version of themselves.

Management at the highest level is about understanding PEOPLE!

If you look at the best managers in the world, not only do they have an excellent appreciation for the technical, tactical and physical aspects of the game…they also emphasise the importance of psycho-social management - UNDERSTANDING PLAYERS BEYOND THE PITCH.

Leadership and management as roles go beyond your game understanding. High-performance leaders are the best ‘people people’ in the world!

Thought I’d share some of my March Madness with you all.

This month I’ve had the pleasure of:

1. Delivering Pressure Training workshops

2. Did my first formal recording in front of the camera on the psychological aspects of performance in football (I definitely don’t have a career in acting to fall back on!)

3. Travelling to to work with the legend &

4. Observe 1st team training and work with the coaches and goalkeepers on how psychology can influence development and performance.

4. A visit to Lilleshall National Sport Centre to observe and see how operations run at GB Archery.

5. U18/U23 match observations.

Excited to start preparing for the 2022/23 season, and of course the golf season.

Lots of events coming up so it will be exciting to see how clients perform.

Also buzzing to hopefully finish chartership in July. The paperwork is killing me 😂

I’ve recently been working with a player who cares way too much about what other people think.

Naturally we do this as human beings.

We all like to be liked.

The problem with being agreeable and wanting to be liked by everyone is that agreeableness is a predictor of low success in most professions.

In business, people high in agreeableness on average get paid less than disagreeable people.

Disagreeable people are more combative and therefore are more likely to reach the top.

The reason I love this quote so much is because we should be relentless in our pursuit of excellence.

We should be mindful of our actions, but stop at nothing to reach the top.

Academy football is exactly like that - you’re an individual operating within a team, but you’re all competing for contracts.

Should you care if your teammate likes you?

Probably not…

Should you work together with them to achieve yours and the teams goals?

Absolutely.

Sport is unfortunately a selfish business where everyone is trying to climb the ladder.

If care about what other people think, or you’re too giving, you’ll get left behind and people will take advantage of you.

In the wise words of .b.peterson : “Be a monster”.