Tags: music, mindset, ice hockey, athlete, footballer, science, psych up
By Alfie Dunn
Music is an integral part of an athlete’s preparation for a match or event. Whether you’re following on with BBC’s coverage of the Olympics or the weekend football – the classic shot of the sports stars arriving at the arena almost always show them wearing headphones as they mentally get themselves into a competitive mindset.
However, we never really hear about what the athletes are actually listening to before going out and performing at the highest level? Is it high energy music to get the blood pumping and excited for the game ahead, or is it calm, mellowing music that relaxes the mind and body into a state that channels all their training up until this moment?
Footballers and music:
Well, in terms of preparing for a football match, it appears that a mix of the two is at hand.
Taelor O’Kane is a midfielder for AFC Fylde who has broken into the first team this season. The 18-year-old has made 22 appearances for the National League outfit, scoring 4 goals from defensive midfield.
When discussing pre-match music, he said: “Before the game we always have music on in the changing room getting us pumped for the match.”
Although not being allowed to be in control of the pre-match music just yet due to being a relatively junior member of the first team squad, listening to music as a team pre-match certainly will help the Fylde squad get into the right mindset before a game and also create a sense of togetherness throughout the team.
In terms of before arriving at the stadium before the game, O’Kane told The Equaliser that his listening habits often vary.
“If I need to ease my nerves, probably some rap music but if I need to get pumped, normally house music does the job.”
This will come as no surprise that many professional athletes often choose to listen to house music in preparation for an event, especially ambient house music.
“Using music before a game helps my mentality massively – it helps me get my mind in the best state possible to give myself the best opportunity of playing at my best, music has to be in my routine on a match day”
Taelor O’Kane – AFC Fylde
A scientific study authorised by global music management company, MN2S, found that ‘ambient house, chillout and downtempo can help you focus’ and that the ‘repetitive patterns and ambient soundscapes are unobtrusive and stimulating, aiding concentration without distraction’.
The ability that house music has to help the brain focus on the task at hand is extremely beneficial to pro-athletes and especially useful for O’Kane as he attempts to help his team steer away from their current precarious position, 3 points clear of the National League drop zone.
O’Kane emphasised this by revealing just how much pre-match music can really influence an athlete’s mentality.
He said: “Using music before a game helps my mentality massively – it helps me get my mind in the best state possible to give myself the best opportunity of playing at my best, music has to be in my routine on a match day.”
However, it’s not just pre-match music that can motivate players, the songs that the fans provide can be just as influential.
O’Kane said: “Chants definitely give me a boost when I’m playing, especially if it’s my own chant. It gives you such a big adrenaline rush and makes you want to run that little bit harder.”
In summary, it’s apparent that footballers tend to enjoy more upbeat with a good tempo to them to really get into the zone for a match and commit themselves physically and mentally for the team and the club.
Ice Hockey players and music:
Alternatively, it’s an obvious statement to make that if anyone has attended or followed along with a broadcast of an ice hockey game, that it is much more physical and intense than an average football match.
So, what sort of tunes do professional ice hockey players use before a match to prepare themselves for the gruelling 4 quarters of non-stop action and physicality ahead of them?
Well, ex-professional player Shaun Thompson told me. Thompson played for Basingstoke, Hull, Nottingham Panthers and semi-professionally for Bracknell and Basingstoke across his impressive 14-year long career.
He told The Equaliser that not even just on a personal level in terms of preparation, that music is huge in the sport of ice hockey.
He said: “It’s massive. It’s massive in the room, it gets the crowd going and it’s played in between every stoppage. The DJ will play a song to keep the crowd entertained and it’ll be played in between the period break – so it has a massive influence on the sport and players as a whole really.”
However, in terms of matchday preparation, ice hockey players and teams – or at least Thompson and his teammates throughout his career – have very specific genres that they use to prepare.
He said: “Quite often what we found is that, in training, with the group that we’re in, we would often to listen to old school garage and anything like that… so music that was a little bit more slower paced.
“But then game times, because we were around a lot of European players as well, they liked heavy metal. So, you’d find it got a lot heavier before a match day.”
Thompson also told The Equaliser, that it often depended on how much was at stake in each of the games at hand. For example, local derbies, semifinals and finals all warranted different music in order to get the team mentally prepared for the matches.
He said: “You’d find it got a lot heavier the more important the games were. You’d have, you know, all sorts of kind of Slipknot and Metallica and that sort of stuff going on – and yeah, it massively helps you.”
It’s important to recognise that every athlete and sports person has a different opinion on how to prepare for a game in terms of music. Even Thompson revealed that these heavier tunes are not his ‘main kind of music’ but it is always what he uses when he’s ‘working out and needs to get pumped up’. Everyone has a different routine and even a different taste in music so finding what works best for you is important.
Thompson commented: “Everybody’s different. Some people won’t want heavy metal – they’ll want stuff a bit slower because they don’t want to psych themselves out. They want to relax into the game – every athlete is different.”
However, almost every sports person does listen to music before the game, whether it is independently or in a team environment, with Thompson also seemingly suggesting that it is an essential part of match day preparation for him.
He said: “It’s part of your routine and in sport that’s a big thing – having your playlist, having your consistency. Some people call it superstition, but if you call it a routine and then things go wrong, it’s not the end of the world. But yeah, it’s definitely a big part of preparation psychologically.”
The Science
So, what’s the science behind these tunes having such an influence on professional athlete’s mindsets before they participate in their respective competitions?
Sophie Gibbett is a HCPC registered Music Therapist who has previously applied her trade in the Royal Marines Reserve, helping those who need it through her musical methods and can shed more light onto this topic from a scientific perspective.
Music can not only help with getting an athlete into the right mindset for the task at hand, whether that is a relaxed state or getting pumped up – but also with the actual movement of the body.
She said: “There’s a part of your brain that can be stimulated by pulse and that can control movement. It can act as, sort of a metronome that can help to stimulate movement.”
As Shaun Thompson mentioned earlier, this can very much come into play when the DJ in the stadium is playing music to entertain the crowd, sometimes even whilst the puck is in play,
However, in terms of preparation, Gibbett told The Equaliser that music is ‘really unique’ as it can ‘activate everywhere in your brain at the same time’ and according to her expertise, ‘there’s not really much else that has the ability to do that, it’s pretty all encompassing’.
When discussing the psychology of listening to music to prepare for a match, especially a big match, she also said: “It’s a classic case of that you can be more resistant to doing something if it feels like hard work. But if you’ve got an ‘absolutely banging’ soundtrack to listen to beforehand or during in – it feels less like hard work and causes the release of all these great chemicals in your brain that makes us feel amazing and high energy and just generally pumped.”
However, the expert also warns readers of The Equaliser and athletes that if you’re listening to music whilst competing or warming up, to be considerate of what it is you’re listening to.
For example, Gibbett herself when competing in half-marathons in the past had different music planned for different parts of the route she was running.
She warns: “Don’t have the tempo too high at all times because it can run away with you and actually have a detrimental effect on the brain as you get into the mindset that you just can’t keep up with it anymore.”
In conclusion, it’s clear to see that music is a great tool to prepare yourself for matchday and competitions, whatever sport it is you’re competing in – and now you know what the pros are listening to!