A mental block is a phenomenon where a pole vaulter loses the physical ability to jump entirely. Often times the vaulter will run through over and over and over again at practice and in meets. This can last for a week, a month, or in extreme cases years, potentially ending a vaulter's career if the run through becomes a habit written over the original habit of actual vaulting.
This video is an example of a run through:
As a result of training for years, most aspects of the pole vault have become habit. The "cue", standing on the runway with a pole ready to go, the "routine", running a certain number of strides followed by the plant, take-off, swing and turn and the "reward" - clearing a bar and the "craving" is elicited by the adrenaline rush and satisfaction of clearing a new height. The cue is a trigger that tells the brain which pattern to use, the routine is the automatic process, the reward tells the brain whether the process is worth repeating and the craving is a powerful sense of anticipation that powers the whole loop (Duhigg, 2012, pp.13,25).
(Duhigg, 2012, pp.13)
A mental block can occur when an event interrupts the normal loop, for instance getting rejected by the pole and landing back on the runway, a pole breaking, or an injury. If this event creates a new cue, often anxiety or fear while standing on the runway, it can change the routine and stop the vaulter from being able to complete the jump.
A track magazine called Technique wrote an article on mental blocks in the pole vault
"If an accident or pole break occurs, it is likely that athletes will tend to suppress these traumatic experiences. Oftentimes, they ignore them as if they've never happened. However, these experiences can lead to an unconscious conditioning process that will result in fear and anxiety" (Technique Magazine, 2017, pp. 12).
I have personally been struggling with a mental block and one of the most difficult parts of overcoming it is figuring out what the specific cue is that has interrupted the normal vault habit loop, and finding a way to cue the correct habit loop without triggering the cue of the mental block.
One tactic that my coach and I have developed is breaking the routine into smaller parts, the approach, the jump etc, and cuing each individually to try to awaken the old habits that I have been training for years.
I have identified the root of the interruption; I tore my ACL at the end of last season and since returning to vaulting have experienced painful popping in my knee while doing my approach. However, I have not identified a specific cue change that makes me run through. Running through has not become a habit for me, and most practices and meets I have been able to vault normally. But occasionally the habit loop for running through takes over. I have also found that high-stress scenarios can return me to the habit loop of running through, for example at a meet when I get to a bar that I have not yet cleared this season, or if I move up to a new pole. I have yet to figure out the exact cue that makes me run through, and I am still not sure how I can override that cue, or ignore it and simultaneously cue my normal vault routine.
From what I have seen in the pole vault community, mental blocks can go one of two ways. Running through can become a stronger habit than actually vaulting. For example my roommate fought a mental block for all 4 years of her college career and hardly ever finished a vault. The other way it can go is the vaulter finds a way to cue their normal vault and the mental block goes away. Understanding these two habit loops can help to train to overcome the bad ones, and cue the good ones. Habits are important in almost any sport because actions need to be made quickly, without time for decision making. So we practice repeatedly to form habits that we can rely on in high stress situations like championships. Coming into college, I had many habits in my vaulting technique that were bad, and I have learned how difficult it is to change these habits and how easily bad habits can resurface.
Works Cited
Duhigg, Charles. (2012, Feb 12) "The Power of Habit" (pp.13,25) New York City, NY: Random House Publishing.
Technique Magazine. (2017, Feb) "Over it: Variables that affect take off" in Technique Magazine (Vol 10 Number 3 pp. 9-12) New Orleans, LA: USTFCCCA
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ReplyDeleteYour experiences with running through and developing a fear that can turn into a habit remind me of when I used to swim in high school. I used to swim backstroke and one season while I was swimming backstroke I hit my head on the wall and got a concussion. After recovering, whenever I would swim backstroke I would look over my shoulder before getting to the wall, ultimately disqualifying myself (in backstroke, you cannot turn your head to look at the wall). My turning around without even thinking became a behavior that was acquired through habituation, the process by which continuous exposure to a stimulus affects the comprehension of and response to some stimulus (Babin, 2016, p. 76). The thought of hitting my head again scared me and I began to turn around during races without even thinking about it. It is a scary thought that just one incident can potentially result in the ending of someone’s athletic career!
ReplyDeleteBabin, B., & Harris, E. (2016). CB 7 (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Hey Victoria! I love your blog! I didn’t even know there was a phenomenon connected to this “run-through”. As a non-sport person who gets all of her information from the Olympics, I loved learning about this new world. Not the same but definitely similar, a few years ago, I dislocated my knee from the joint and completely tore the cartilage in the area so my knee pops when I walk now and makes it difficult to do the sports I love, like swimming and running. I fell into a different kind of loop as I had to change my stance, my extracurricular activities, and even my study habits just to cater to the needs of my knee that I couldn’t walk on. This habit caused me to drop in school productivity and physical health and well-being so it’s interesting that pole vaulter also get into a habit that can turn into a bad habit, even without the negative thoughts that turn it. I thought I was helping my body, just like you thought you were training your body, just to have them fail us. It’s interesting how even without thinking, our habits are formed and have such an intense impact on us, regardless if we’ve meant it to or not, they will always be a factor in our lives. Have you connected the run-through to keystone behaviors? (Duhigg, 2012 P. 100) Because they influence future decisions and processes, I wonder if it could be something you carry with you forever or if it was trained into you during your first practice or last or every practice up until the point of a run through? Since Keystone habits start a process that transforms our habits, perhaps this habit has always been a part of you?
ReplyDeleteDuhigg, Charles. (2012, Feb 12) "The Power of Habit" (pp.13,25) New York City, NY: Random House Publishing.