Some say being an athlete is a very selfish pursuit - you have to sacrifice your normal involvement with partners, friends and parents to go about the tasks you need to do to improve your performance - things like training, resting, eating, training, resting and eating.

And if you’re an athlete’s partner, parent or friend, you’ll notice that at different times your athlete will be stressed, anxious, fatigued, and seem low in mood for a number of reasons.

This is especially the case in the led up to the target event for the year. The time you will spend with your athlete in the final weeks until the end of the event will usually be limited. And, depending on the individual all they will be interested in talking about will be their sport, or anything but their sport!

Here’s a few tips for these extra-stress times in the lead up to big events like World Championships or Olympics:

• Make contact with your athlete consistently - not excessively.

• Always give praise and encouragement to your athlete at all times rather than give advice on performance.

• Always remind your athlete of your support.

• Be available to support your athlete at anytime.

• Athletes will have bad days – they like to express frustration to parents, partners, and friends – provide support by listening rather than trying to provide solutions.

Sometimes, things won’t be going well and so here are some things to be wary of:

• The athlete is describing poor performances, worry about performance outcomes, or injuries and this is consistent over a period of time (i.e., 2 weeks).

• The athlete is uncharacteristically expressing negative thoughts such as “I don’t know what to do” “I am not good enough to do this”.

• Athlete is not providing any strategies or solutions to improve current situation – e.g., communicate with coach, communicate with other athletes, communicate with the psychologist working with the sport.

If any of the above should appear on the radar, then suggest your athlete attempt the following strategies:

• Make an appointment to see the psychologist working with team.

• Speak to other senior athletes from the sport and ask for advice.

• Speak to coach about identifying one thing to focus on in training and/or competition.

• Identify three things they can focus on doing tomorrow in training or competition.

• If injured, ask whether goals and exercises prescribed by the doctor and physiotherapist are being followed. If not – speak to a doctor and physiotherapist about more specific (shorter term – day to day) goals for rehabilitation.

(If your child plays sport, be sure to check out Wayne Goldsmith’s Fifty Things You Can Do to Help Your Child Achieve in Sport ).

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