In contrast to the USA, where many top sportsmen and sportswomen have their own personal psychology coaches, the importance of sports psychology is not generally acknowledged in Switzerland. When most people hear "sport psychologist" more often than not they think of a self-styled guru "à la Rainer Harnecker", trying to bring his fledglings to their full potential with orange juice and esoteric exercises. This negative attitude is understandable when one considers that, until recently, sport psychologists usually worked in the background and were rarely heard of or known to the general public.

Hanspeter Gubelmann from the ETH Institute of Sport and Biomechanics (1) belongs to a group of recognised sport psychologists, who belong to the Swiss Association of Sports Psychology (SASP) (2), which was founded in 1968. Gubelmann, one-time athletic trainer for young sportspeople, studied sport at the ETH Zurich and gained a diploma before going on to the University of Zurich to study applied psychology. Subsequently he gained practical experience in the United States. He has worked at the ETH Zurich for the past 12 years.

Port of call for top athletes

Hanspeter Gubelmann is the contact person at the ETH Zurich and, with his counterparts, Roland Seiler in Magglingen and Mattia Piffaretti in Lausanne, a port of call in Switzerland for the issues surrounding sport psychology. In this capacity he has helped a number of top athletes, such as Simon Ammann or Bruno Kernen. It is a coincidence that these two are both winter sports stars, especially since the priorities of sport psychological support can vary depending on the discipline involved. "Certain overlying issues are relevant to all sport disciplines and at all levels of sport," explains Gubelmann. One such requirement, common to all sport, for example, is that of the three C's: Confidence, Concentration and Committment. When a sportsman or sportswoman has to deliver a peak performance at a certain time, a healthy level of self-confidence, a high level of concentration and an appropriate preparation ritual are always helpful, regardless of discipline." In addition, specific profiles exists that vary from sport to sport. "If a gymnast, for example, does not have the capability of mentally going through the exercise, she will find it difficult to rise to the top," says Gubelmann.

Mentally supported technique training

This can be seen very clearly when it comes to the "mentally supported training technique" of a gymnast exercising on the bars. During training the sport psychologist is present and supports the athlete, together with the trainer, to improve her or his technique. Gubelmann explains, "One theory of biomechanics states that athletes cannot execute the exercise if they can't accomplish it in their imagination first."

For sport psychologist Hanspeter Gubelmann it is not the sports results that are at the centre of his work but the individual athlete. This is also true in his charge of Simon Amman, winner of two gold medals at the last Winter Olympics. large

In order to build up this mental image an athlete must first be totally aware of each and every single movement and then create the means for connecting them. For this the athlete sets out a "protocol" of the exercise, shortens the whole sequence to a few simple catch words that can be connected to the key points of the exercise and, finally, strings the whole together in a rhythmical way until is becomes automatic. This mentally supported training technique then has to be built into the athlete's daily training. "The parameter is constantly alternating from the mental to the practical", says Gubelmann, "and the old maxim 'train, train and train again' still applies."

"It's lonely at the top..."

It is not only on a day to day basis that the sport psychologist fulfils an important function for his top charges. He also stands at the disposal of the athletes in a wider context. They can talk to him and he tries to enter into their problems. "Our talks can include anything that the athlete has on his or her mind," says Gubelmann. These talks often touch upon problems with the trainer, the media or the growing pressure to succeed, which weighs on all top athletes. Issues can come up that have nothing to do with sport: Gubelmann is certain that "there is an inherent potential for loneliness at the top levels of sport." And he adds, "Top athletes are generally very young, and during the year they are often on the road moving from one competition to the next. Naturally, these displacements lead to a certain degree of uprooting."

Identification

Simon Ammann, winner of two Olympic Gold Medals, who is with the ski jumping team (3), is away from home for around 200 days a year, mostly outside Switzerland. Gubelmann has taken over a comprehensive function, keeping Ammann's back free and co-ordinating his public appearances. The conclusion that the mixed success of Ammann's past winter season reflects on his own work, is erroneous: "I didn't define myself or my work with Ammann's success the year before, nor do I doubt the value of my own work," states Gubelmann emphatically. Ammann as a person stands at the centre of Gubelmann's efforts and not his results in sport, because, when it comes to the crunch, results are up to the athlete.

For this reason, Gubelmann does not always accompany the ski jumping team to competitions. After all, the goal of a good sport psychologist is to bring into existence an independent athlete who can call down a top performance at a given moment. However, the sport psychologist Gubelmann plans to be present in the next winter season: "The team was asked whether they wanted to carry on working under the current constellation and they didn't hesitate for a moment."