London 2012

Dr Chris Shambrook: Sport psychologist

Published 10 July 2012

Dr Chris Shambrook completed a sport science degree in 1991 and a PhD in psychology at the University of Brighton in 1995. He is now the sport psychologist for the GB rowing team for London 2012, a role he has held since 1997, meaning London is his fourth Olympic Games.

Psychologists are now an essential part of almost every Olympic team. Athletes’ mental attitude can make the difference between winning a medal and losing a career, especially in endurance sports like rowing.

“Being an Olympian is about being obsessed with performance,” said Chris, who has previously coached GB rowing teams to medal success at the Sydney, Athens and Beijing Games. “Winning is critical, being constantly on top of things, being on top of your competitors, that obsession comes to life in different ways.

“An Olympian training for London 2012 will already know what the goals are; it’s what needs to be done to achieve them which will be their focus,” he said. “Performance is all about doing the things you need to do in order to get the things you want.”

In the build-up to the Olympics, it will be Dr Shambrook’s role to keep the athletes focused and maintain a tried-and-tested routine. In the past, psychologists weren’t even considered. But nowadays, in a rowing team, coordination is essential because everyone has pull together as though they are one – physically and mentally – and the role of a psychologist is commonplace. Chris says the right frame of mind is essential.

“Just from a communications point of view, where you’ve got two, four, eight people in the same boat trying to deliver the same plan under pressure, how effectively have you made sure that all of those psychologies have met together to be completely one hundred per cent clear in their thinking under pressure to respond as one?”

Chris added: “There’s an underpinning philosophy to help inform someone how to develop their mental fitness, but it’s also got to be delivered through an understanding of the specific psychological demands of the sport. I want to make sure it is very accessible and easily applicable to either training or competitive situations, so it’s finding what works mentally for the athlete or the coaches, and then explaining that by the theory, as opposed to trying to foist a theory on them.”

“We will be making sure that there is a very clear understanding about the role of psychology in delivering performance when it matters and how to take the lessons learned from those competitive situations, so when it comes to the Olympic environment the athletes are going to have a very clear idea of how to get their minds right.”