“Fail to prepare, prepare to fail” – Benjamin Franklin.
The football World Cup is, without a doubt, one of the biggest sporting events in the calendar. Following their success in the Euros, Team England have convinced their fans to set their expectations high. To ensure they can live up to this, it’s important that the team prepare effectively to give themselves the best chance of victory.
Here are the main areas we think the England team (and any sports team) should focus on if they want to enhance their preparation for their big games…
Get enough sleep
Getting the right amount of sleep is imperative for athletes to perform at their best. The recommended amount is between 7 and 9 hours per night of uninterrupted, good quality sleep.
Resting well every night means you are less likely to injure yourself whilst playing, because it increases your ability to make decisions, react to the opposition, and think of strategies. It has also been found that getting enough sleep increases mental toughness, which can then act as a buffer to stress during difficult game situations.
Sleep further helps you to improve your athletic ability. Research says that when sleep is increased to 10 hours, players are able to sprint faster and get more of their shots on target. This means that if the England team want to better their chances in the World Cup, they should try their best to get the recommended amount of sleep without any disturbance.
Easier said than done? Here are some tips that Team England could use to do this, and that you can try for yourself:
- Take a hot shower at night – This can help the players relax their mind and their muscles, making it easier to fall asleep.
- Have a regular sleep/wake schedule – Getting into the habit of going to sleep and waking up at a specific time (yes, even on the weekends) allows players’ internal body clock to stay consistent. Once they have done this for a while, their body will start to wake up naturally at those times.
- Try to stay away from your phone – The brain gets tricked when you are on your phone in the dark – it thinks that bright light means it’s daytime and will put more effort into keeping you awake. The players should try putting their phone away when it’s time for bed.
- Make sure you don’t nap too late or for too long – If naps go on for too long and they happen not long before going to bed, you won’t feel tired until very late into the night. To avoid this, the players should keep their naps under 30 minutes and try not to nap too close to their bedtime.
Eat the right diet
What athletes eat the night before a game could be the difference between good performance and great performance. Everyone will tolerate foods differently, so it’s important for athletes to test their meal plan well ahead of the game to find out what makes them feel at their best when they perform.
Athletes get most of their energy from carbohydrates. These are foods that you might class as “starchy,” such as bread, pasta, potatoes and rice. Eating plenty of these types of foods the night before a match will store up lots of energy in the muscles, ready to be released when it’s needed during the game.
It’s also useful to get a good meal on the day of the game. 2 to 3 hours before the match, the team should eat a balanced meal containing carbohydrates for more energy, as well as a little bit of protein.
The footballers should also aim to start their matches in a fully hydrated state, which starts long before the match. Exercise means sweating, which can make them dehydrated. To avoid this, the team should ensure they drink enough water the night before, and in the morning before the match.
As well as learning what foods work well, it’s just as important for the athlete to know which foods to avoid. Research has shown that during exercise, blood is taken away from the digestive tract to help power the more important muscles such as those in the legs. This makes foods high in fat or fibre more difficult to digest during times of exercise, and it could lead to some much unwanted stomach cramps.
Practise mindfulness and relaxation
Mindfulness is one of the keys to successful performance. England’s athletes need to have control of their thoughts and emotions to be able to relax and therefore perform well. Negative thought-stopping enables athletes to activate their mindfulness, calming them down and allowing them to have agency over their emotions. They feel more in control of the game as their performance is not hindered by negative thoughts. Here are two main techniques you can use to stop negative thoughts:
- Positive and helpful self-talk
This technique counters negative emotions through the creation of positive ones. It acts as a source of motivation for the athlete as they are encouraging themselves. It also keeps athletes more relaxed by reducing anxiety levels before match play.
Research shows positive self-talk does have a beneficial impact on performance, especially when done just before. It develops self-confidence and allows athletes to have better control of thoughts, therefore making them more successful in performance.
- Mental imagery
This places importance on how an athlete visualises things to reduce stress and anxiety. This can mean mentally taking themselves to their “happy place”, or visualising positive images such as scoring a goal or successfully defending against strikers.
The use of positive imagery has been shown to raise confidence levels and reduce negative thoughts, therefore increasing the athletes’ mindfulness – as a result, they have agency over their emotions and thoughts, which improves their performance. Research also found successful athletes use imagery before a competitive event rather than during or after to get the best results.
Final thoughts
The England team can employ a number of strategies to help them prepare effectively, ensuring that they can deliver on match days when it really counts.
By following our tips on sleep, diet, and mindfulness and relaxation, we have no doubt that they’ll be in tip-top shape for the World Cup.
