The whistle blew at the end of the ‘Hyundai Steel 2022 WK League Championship Game 2’. I quietly left the arena. I couldn’t bear to raise my head. My footsteps were extremely heavy. The high sense of collapse made my whole body lose strength and I barely got behind the wheel. The cell phone was ringing incessantly. It was a message of consolation from acquaintances and psychologists.
I am a sports psychology expert who provided sports psychology support to the Gyeongju Hansuwon women’s soccer team last season. After the WK League season ended, many people inquired. I was curious about how sports psychological support was provided and the empirical basis obtained in the process. However, in a place where she was not seen for about a year, she poured a lot of affection and immersion, so problems occurred in her body and mind, and she hesitated. To be honest, in a situation where she mobilized all of her academic knowledge and empirical evidence, she couldn’t bloom in the end, and her heart ached so much. She kept quiet for a while and spent more time with nature than meeting people. 토토사이트
The purpose of sports psychology support for the Gyeongju KHNP women’s soccer team was to improve team cohesion and create a winning mentality. In other words, all members of the team began to provide psychological support to unite to achieve the goal and to create confidence and belief in victory. What was very good about the process of providing psychological support was that director Joo-hee Song of Gyeongju KHNP had a very high level of understanding and use of psychological support. If the team’s coaching staff has a high level of understanding of psychological support, they can systematically proceed with psychological support and receive requests and feedback from time to time for each situation. This process is a very important point when providing psychological support. In fact, this course was a great help in conducting customized psychological training for the team. Coach Song was able to maximize the effect by instructing the players once more on the psychological technique strategy and team mental plan he learned in psychological education during team training and game situations.
Even if a sports psychology expert conducts high-level psychological education, it is difficult to expect an effect unless the coaching staff understands and utilizes it. The reason is that it is difficult for sports psychologists to participate in team training every day like the coaching staff and give mental guidance from the bench or locker room during games. Coach Song used these elements effectively and led the team in a positive direction. On the other hand, in order to improve these limitations, sports psychology experts must put a lot of thought and effort.
The method of psychological support for the Gyeongju KHNP women’s soccer team was divided into team education, individual counseling, team observation report, championship dispatch, and psychological measurement analysis. The psychological support schedule was planned and set in advance through consultation with the coaching staff, and then the schedule was digested by modifying and supplementing little by little according to the results of the WK League matches. The most difficult part when providing psychological support is sharing and checking the psychological support schedule in advance. For most sports teams, the team schedule for the following week is often determined by the results of league matches. As a result, there are many cases in which psychological support schedules cannot be shared in advance, which makes it difficult to increase the level of preparation for psychological support. However, with this psychological support, as these aspects went smoothly, we were able to prepare for better education in advance.
Team training was conducted once every two weeks for a total of 12 sessions. Most of the team training was conducted face-to-face, and depending on the situation, non-face-to-face (video conference) was also conducted. Team training topics were selected based on the results of preliminary psychological measurements, and training worksheets were provided to the coaching staff and players whenever team training was conducted. The team education process introduced psychological skill strategies that fit the theme in each session, and helped the players understand and actively utilize the psychological skill strategies in team training and game situations. Also, through group activities, the team created meaningful materials and shared them with each other. Examples include setting team goals by position, team winning routines, and the roles of team unofficial and mid-leaders. In addition, a team mental plan that all members of the team can recognize and intentionally practice in the WK League game was presented.
Individual counseling was conducted after the team training was over or after adjusting the schedule with the players, it was conducted non-face-to-face. The most difficult part of the psychological support process was individual counseling. Because they are female players, it was a very big burden to consult in an enclosed space. Every time I had a consultation, I left the door of the meeting room wide open. I also put in a lot of effort to be careful of words or actions that could be misunderstood. I still have clear memories of consulting while shedding cold sweats in a very stiff situation. The most disappointing thing while conducting personal counseling was that I had no choice but to do a lot of personal counseling with the players recommended by the coaching staff. Since I did not reside on the team, I had to rely on the coaching staff for information. In the next psychological support, there is a need to improve these limitations.
I observed all of Gyeongju KHNP’s games in the WK League last season. Observation was made by visiting the stadium directly or through relay broadcasting. Just as criminal profilers often visit crime scenes to catch criminals, sports psychologists must keep an eye on team training and official matches. This is because team observations can provide important clues. If you observe the team, you can check the information about the team, and through this, you can diagnose the team and provide the necessary help to the team. For example, by analyzing various factors within the promised team mental plan, positive factors can be further strengthened, and negative factors can be corrected and supplemented to help solve problems quickly. Team observation reports were provided to the coaching staff and players during the week following the game.
I still have a smile on my face when I think of the dispatch to the championships held in Changnyeong last July. It was the time when Gyeongju Hansuwon’s first victory was confirmed at the closest distance. During the championship, I accompanied them and provided close psychological support. Team training was conducted non-face-to-face in each room because the place was not convenient, and on days when there were no games, individual counseling was conducted to restore the players’ minds and thoughts. On the day of the game, he participated in a team meeting and explained the mental strategy, and when the players were warming up, he approached them as close as possible and applauded them to convey their courage. The best thing about being sent to the championship was that I got to know more clearly what the team was asking for as I talked a lot with the coaching staff. Through this opportunity, I was able to provide psychological support with a little more confidence.
For the psychological measurement analysis, pre-post psychological measurement was conducted to verify the effect of psychological support. The psychological test papers used performance strategies (TOPS), performance profiling (IZOF), and athlete self-management behavior tests that secured reliability and validity in domestic accredited journals. As a result of analyzing the pre- and post-psychological measurements, it was confirmed that the psychological factors were improved during the post-period compared to the pre-period. In particular, it was confirmed that all psychological factors of performance profiling (IZOF) were noticeably improved. In addition, a team cohesion test was also used. The team cohesion test was measured a total of 5 times in a 60-day cycle, and through this, the team’s cohesion level was confirmed and managed. For example, by analyzing the changes in the four factors of team cohesion (individual society, individual task, group society, and group task), solutions were provided to the coaching staff.
I experienced a lot of memorable things while doing psychological support. First of all, it’s a pity that I couldn’t give fresh stimulation when the team was on a winning streak. When the team was doing well and was on a winning streak, I realized desperately that more management through psychological support was needed. I missed these golden times twice. It is also memorable that team building activities were added during the WK League to increase the sense of belonging to the team and manage team cohesion. Team building activities they used include watching a movie as a group, playing table tennis as a group, and dining at a restaurant as a group. In addition, the warm stories I had with coach Song on the bench right before the WK League game are memorable.
After the game of the ‘Hyundai Steel 2022 WK League Championship Game 2’, coach Song said in an interview with the media, “I felt that despite the disappointment of the runner-up, I felt that I was becoming the original team.” His heart ached so much. I mobilized all my abilities, but there are still regrets and regrets. And I feel even more sorry.