Conquering the silence: Getting in the right frame of mind for playing in an empty stadium

Renowned mindset and performance coach Dr Maurice Duffy says the side that copes best with Sunday’s surreal surroundings and atmosphere will surely come out on top. He spoke to Joel Slattery

A VISION THAT WAS PLANTED IN MY BRAIN: For Limerick and Waterford, playing in this unique All-Ireland final, the side that can cope best with the surreal surroundings and atmosphere, with the absence of 80,000 roaring fans, will surely come out on top. Picture: INPHO/Cathal Noonan

THE sound of 80,000 people roaring at full volume is just one of the sensory challenges for a player in an All-Ireland final.

Kilkenny legend Eddie Brennan reckons Limerick’s entrance onto the pitch in the 2007 All-Ireland final was the loudest roar he had ever heard at Croke Park.

And ahead of Limerick’s semi-final against Galway last month, former Treaty midfielder Dave Punch reflected on the final between the two counties from 1980: “The biggest thing I remember was the noise in Croke Park,” he told the Irish Examiner.

“When the first goal went in, it was a sonic boom, turned up and down, up and down. I wouldn’t say it was scary but it was a startling experience.”

Background noise so loud you can’t hear someone shouting five yards away has been the soundtrack to big games for decades, of course.

Until now.

Sunday’s behind-closed-doors final offers different challenges for the players of Limerick and Waterford.

That absence of noise, the “deafening silence“ can have an impact, says mindset and performance coach Dr Maurice Duffy, especially if players haven’t mentally prepared for the unique occasion.

“I work with a couple of Premiership players right now and they will say it’s like a practice match,” he says.

“Nobody will tell me that Liverpool would lose by seven goals (against Aston Villa) if there was a crowd in that stadium. It’s because the intensity is missing and it is very difficult to get that level of intensity up.

“The mental preparation going into it has to be there. Where are you going to get your energy from? Where are you going to get your intensity from? Where are you going to put yourself under stress because nobody else is? The crowd isn’t there.

“Whether you’re winning or you’re losing, where do you go looking for that? The only place you can go looking for that now is yourself.

“If you haven’t prepared, if you haven’t mentally adjusted to that, you won’t perform to the level you would expect.” 

Mayo native Duffy helped Australian cricketer Steve Smith’s comeback last year. Given a year-long suspension for his part in a ball-tampering scandal in March 2018, Smith returned to the Test arena 18 months later, inspiring Australia to retain the Ashes against England.

Greeted by booing crowds throughout the six-week tour, Smith was the top-scorer in the series and awarded the prestigious Compton–Miller Medal for being the best player over the five matches.

The mental strength required for the comeback and change in mindset was credited to Duffy.

“Preparation is absolutely critical,” says Newcastle-based Duffy. “When we looked at the Ashes, we looked at the crowd. We learned the songs of the crowd, we knew exactly what the crowd was going to do.

We prepared mentally for the fact that the more they sang, the louder they became, the more energy he took from it, he fed off it.

"That was a whole set of preparation.”

Limerick and Waterford won’t have to deal with opposition supporters jeering, but they’ll also be robbed of the roar of their own supporters when things are going well.

The key is to avoid surprises, Duffy says. Players must know what they’re getting into without having to over-think things on the day.

Dr Maurice Duffy: In the absence of the crowd, players may lack that intensity if not fully prepared.

“About 99% of it is about muscle memory— what has your brain been trained to perform?

“Most of those guys will be used to performing in front of a crowd so in the absence of the crowd, they may start thinking too much, rather than reacting. They may lack that intensity, they may find it’s difficult to keep that stress level up.

“I’m sure they will be well prepared before the game, I’m sure in that dressing room and in the days leading up to it, coaches will be talking to them about it.

At that moment when they walk out, what is their brain saying to them? What we want to do with high performers is to stop them thinking. I don’t want a player on the pitch thinking.

“I want them doing what they have trained themselves and rehearsed and practised on, (to do) what they see in their minds.”

Should those players stay away from a public who can’t get enough or is the pre-match encouragement to be embraced?

“We don’t want to diminish the energy,” Duffy says, “we don’t want to take out the intensity but what we want to do is to live in the moment so they’re not over-anxious or they’re not fretting about what has happened.”

Once the occasion comes and players get on the pitch, it’s about making their presence felt — especially when their team’s under the cosh.

“It is all rehearsed in their mind,” Duffy says. “When it is going against you, how do you get bigger? How do you impose your presence on the other person? Sure, you can do it physically, but how do you do it mentally?

“It’s the way you carry yourself, it’s the energy that you put out. It’s the way that you stand, the way that you run, it’s the attitude that you have because, remember, even in a game, even when you’re not on the ball, your body language says so much about you.

“Are you calling for (the ball)? Are you shouting for it? Are you screaming for it? Are you making your presence felt? Are you talking to other people? What are you doing?”

For Limerick and Waterford, playing in this unique All-Ireland final, the side that can cope best with the surreal surroundings and atmosphere will surely come out on top.

In fact, the winners have already visualised the final whistle and celebrations over and over in their minds as the management teams put the final preparations in place for Sunday.