Ed Coughlan: The mindset in sport when there's no second chance often separates the best from the rest
Context is key in everything we do; it is the very reason why we should be slow to judge anything without finding out first what is going on. For example, to many people a 4-foot jump from one point on the ground to another point on the ground would be executed with little or no effort, in fact, it would probably be cleared by a couple of feet, by most.
However, if that 4 feet was the gap between two rooftops 50 feet off the ground, most of those same people would take a very different approach to making their jump. Physiologically, their bodies would reflect the change in context with an increase in their heart rate, breath rate, and sweat rate. The landing point would quickly become a sharp focus of their attention and they may even move towards the edge to peer carefully down to see what the landing would behold should things go horribly wrong.
Why is this?
The safety net is gone and when it goes, for most people, it results in a more cautious approach. There is minimal risk with the first jump, worst-case scenario may see you fudge your landing and stumble and tumble over. At 50 feet, the worst-case scenario is unthinkable.
We see the impact of context play out everywhere at the moment with all the sport going on, between the football championship running without a backdoor, Wimbledon which are head-to-heads from the get-go, and the European Championships which this week moved from the safety of the group stages to the no holds barred knockout stage of the competition. Even the golf at Mount Juliet for the Irish Open, those first two rounds have a different feel to them than the weekend rounds once everyone has made the cut.
Unless of course you’re Spain and you like to make things difficult for yourself and you appear to only perform when your back is against the wall. After forgettable draws against Sweden and Poland, it was the reality of an early exit that seems to have kickstarted the Spaniards into life, scoring 10 goals in their next two games against Slovakia and Croatia, firstly to come out of the group, and then to set up an unlikely quarter-final clash with Switzerland, themselves a surprise package.
No one would have blinked an eye if the Swiss capitulated in their last 16 encounter against France once Karim Benzema struck twice in two minutes to put the French ahead, before Paul Pogba scored one of the goals of the championship for good measure and all but secured a place in the quarter-final with 15-minutes remaining.
But Switzerland had other ideas and were not to be overwhelmed by the context of the situation and could be seen to stick closely to their game plan, helped a little along way by France. But images of their captain, Granit Xhaka, vigorously gesticulating to reset and go again and push on, paid dividends with two goals in 10 minutes and a flawless penalty shootout saw them deservedly go through.
The mindset in sport when there is no second chance often separates the best from the rest. Their capacity to do the ordinary under extraordinary circumstances reflects the intensity and context of their practice environment. This is not to be confused by the freak results that many can experience out of the blue, but more for those who consistently can overcome the context of a situation and reduce it down to the simplicity of what lies ahead. As the old saying goes: You don’t rise to the occasion, you sink to the level of your training.
It may be for this very reason that the Republic of Ireland have such sporadic participation in events like the Euros and the World Cup. Because over the course of a qualifying campaign they are found out and between the intermittent peaks and troughs, the level from which these grow out of is just too low. Less so for their current manager who deserves more time and less injuries before judgement is passed.
However, for a manager such as Gareth Southgate, who has far more quality at his disposal, it came as no surprise to hear him speak about moving into a different kind of competition, almost a different gear, following their victory over the Czech Republic to advance to the round of 16 as Group D winners.
Their convincing 2-0 win over Germany is as good an indication as any as to the level his team are operating at, as they remain one of four teams unbeaten teams of the last eight still in contention. That streak will play its part if and when their backs are against the wall before the end of their tournament. Winning and at worst not losing, builds confidence among other things.
Southgate appears to have a good mix of knowing when to be in control and when to allow the players to take control, trusting them to do a job. He’s not afraid to adapt his team’s setup to match the demands of the opposition as he did with a 3-4-3 line up against the Germans, and his substitutes have that that air of buy-in to them that suggests they accept his decision and immediately turn their energy to be a force of good for the team’s focus.
Happy players lead to a happy camp, but more importantly, respected players lead to consistent performance. Respected players know exactly where they stand at all times and so they can get on with the job of being present in everything they do. This presence of mind becomes critical when the context of a situation intensifies, and victory or defeat nears. We will no doubt see context play out in Wimbledon when an unseeded player steals a march on a top seed and has to serve out for the match. How often do they play to their ranking in that moment of moments and inevitably the familiar name comes through after a scare.
It may happen in Mount Juliet over the weekend as it has so often before in golf events. A player comes out of the pack to play the golf of their dreams for three, even three-and-a-half rounds, but when the context and reality of what they’re about to do presents itself to them, the question will be asked whether they can quieten their mind and see it for what it actually is, just another golf shot, and not what it means should they see it through to its hopeful conclusion.
The same goes for England with possibly three games remaining and an opportunity to speak about something more recent than 1966. They have the players, but of course, they’ve had the players before too. The difference now may be that they finally have a manager who is a part of the past but is special in that he appears to have learned from it. If Southgate can keep his charges in the moment their moment will come.
