This positive psychology intervention involved working with an elite Gymnastics Club in Australia that has 4 of the top 6 gymnasts in the country all competing for 1 place in the Australian Olympic team.
Three coaches, a high performance manager and four athletes in the Club Olympic Program undertook training in Positive Sports Coaching to learn about the science of positive psychology and how this could help build resilience and performance under pressure in the athletes. This was followed by regular one on one sessions with each coach and athlete in the build up to the Olympic trials. The trials were subsequently postponed due to COVID19 and the intervention continued with a focus on ensuring the athletes were able to initially process the disappointment of the delay and then refocus on the new Olympic trials timeline.
Qualitative analysis of athlete and coach experiences was conducted for stage 1 (pre COVID19) and analysed via Deductive Thematic Analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006).
Initial results have indicated that the Positive Sports Coaching intervention shifted the coaches to focus to athlete’s strengths to which helped them build confidence and resilience during the build up to Olympic trials. Athletes reported greater confidence in the capacity to cope with uncertainty and the pressure as well as an understanding of how they could focus on what they could control during training and competition resulting in reduced anxiety and greater excitement and belief.