Mediocre Performance in Elite Athletes: Long-term Benefits of Mental Preparation

Two of the world’s most influential people and leaders who constantly debate about EQ and IQ was Plato and Aristotle. The Roots and Branches of Psychology: Historical and Contemporary Views on Human Nature and Psychology written by Griffin (2004) discussed about the early debates about psychology or what was once called human nature by Plato and Aristotle. Plato believed that mind and body interact with each other of which mind is superior to the body. He believed that there is already knowledge and idea stored inside the mind of which the body only confirms and imitate from what’s in the mind. On the other hand, Aristotle believed that the knowledge stored in our heads were the result of the body’s experiences through our senses.           While Aristotle argues that a person’s knowledge is gained through experience, observation and experimentation, Plato believes that thorough thinking and analyzing the world’s phenomenon is the way to gain knowledge.

In today’s situation, a person’s level of experience, observation, experimentation as well as dealing with problems or the Aristotelian idea is measured through Emotional Intelligence (EQ). The level of thinking and analyzing or Plato’s idea is measured through Intelligence Quotient (IQ). The only thing in this world that is constant is change. This is a pretty well known saying which existed as long as I can remember. This is the result of humans’ endless search for improvements and updates. It is an integration of economy, labor and technology all over the world, even across international borders. The drive to improve athletes performance pattern is still the same drive or factor which triggers international firms to institutionalize their operations and with that, today’s latest technology makes the company’s and consumers life easier. It enables sponsors to reduce cost by using increasing productivity, efficiency and morale of its athletes.

Change is the very basic function of athlete development. Going back to the saying that the only thing in this world that is constant is change, we understand that change is inevitable. And just like the billiard balls, it is change which moves people to experiment and innovate, making the world more comfortable and luxurious, yet complicated. It is organizational development and change that gives both companies and workers a win-win situation. It increases performance and efficiency for the company, it also gives education, increase self-esteem and self regard to elite and non elite players. With proper training and communication, these sports development approaches to athletes are exemplary tools to create a harmonious and organized team that achieves its goals using the proper tools. Change, constant as it is, has the power to move, improve and change lives. Change through organizational development increases the teams’ morale.